THE SEARCH FOR AERIS
THE UNOFFICIAL SEQUEL TO FINAL FANTASY VII
by Frank Verderosa
CHAPTER I
The Mayor of Corel sat back in his chair and looked vacantly at the
heap of papers that lay on the desk in front of him. He had been working
diligently, or as diligently as was possible for him, to make a dent in
those papers all day, yet looking now it seemed as if he had made almost
no progress. He glanced out a window to his left and saw that the sun now
hung low in the sky, just peaking over the mountains of North Corel. He had
been working on this paperwork all day, but he hated it, and it was slow
going. How he wished he were out in those mountains right now and not stuck
behind this desk!
With a shrug he turned back to his papers. He had too much work to do
to let his mind wander. He reminded himself (for the millionth time, it
seemed) that he had responsibilities now, and couldn't take off and leave
everything on some whim like he used to in the old days. No, those days were
gone, even though he had come to realize that they had been the most
exciting in his life.
Still, a man had to move on. He idly scratched his right arm just above
the gun grafted on it. He looked at the gun for a moment, holding it up
until the sun glinted off it through the window. For all he had used this
lately, Barret mused, he might as well have replaced it with a letter
opener.
The door to his office opened. He turned with a frown. He knew he had
to get this paperwork done, and he also knew that he would jump at any
interruption as a chance to get away from it. To prevent that he had left
his secretary with explicit orders that he not he disturbed.
A girl stood in the doorway, but it was not his secretary. He
recognized her and his frown immediately turned into a grin.
"Tifa!" he exclaimed, getting up and striding over to her. "It's so
good to see you again. I didn't know you were in town."
Barret wrapped her in a bear hug, and though she was by no means a
fragile girl, she gasped for breath until he let her go.
"I just got here," she replied after a moment.
"Well, make yourself at home," he said, indicating a seat in front of
his desk. He sat down behind the desk, his paperwork forgotten. "How long
has it been since I last saw you, about a year I guess, eh? I can't believe
it's been that long. How's everything back in Kalm? Are you doing well with
your new bar? How's Cloud? Everything well, I hope?"
Tifa sat down slowly in the chair. She did not speak for a moment, and
at first he thought she had just been overwhelmed from his barrage of
questions, but then he realized this was not so. He and Tifa went back a
long way from their days in Avalanche, and even when things had been
bad Tifa had always been cheerful and optimistic. But now he saw a troubled
look in her eyes.
"Is everything OK? How are things between you and Cloud?:" he guessed.
"Ok, I suppose," she said with a shrug.
Obviously not good. He saw that he had guessed correctly.
"What did he do, run off on you?" The pokey haired kid had a good heart
but he was so immature. Barret wondered if he was going to have to knock
some sense into him.
"No, nothing like that, " Tifa said quickly with a small smile, as if
she understood his thoughts. She sat back in her chair and glanced out the
window. Now that it came down to it she was reluctant to speak. She had
never been very good about expressing her feelings for Cloud, and did not
feel comfortable talking about it, even with her close friend. But after
all, that was the whole reason for her being here in the first place. If she
couldn't talk to Barret she couldn't talk to anyone, and if she didn't talk
to anyone she thought she would go crazy.
"It's just that he's so distant," she said finally. "Sometimes it seems
like he's in another world, and it's happening more and more lately. He can
sit there for hours just staring into space. And the dreams. He doesn't
discuss them, but I can tell he has them almost every night. He's convinced
she's trying to contact him."
Barret nodded sympathetically. Tifa didn't have to tell him who 'she'
was. Aeris death had hit them all hard, and no one really got completely
over it. He had seen so many good people lose their lives. He still thought
of Jessie, Wedge and Biggs often, and how they had talked about the good
times they would have after it was all over. That would never happen now,
but what could one do but go on?
"We all lost people we were close to," he said softly.
"But he's convinced she's alive," Tifa said.
Barret looked at her sharply.
"How could he think that?" he questioned. "We were all there. We all
saw it. Sephiroth ran her... well, you know.. No one could have survived
that."
Barret shuddered at the memory.
Tifa bowed her head, obviously remembering also. But then she looked up
again.
"No human could have survived it," she responded. "But Aeris was an
Ancient, a Cetra. Who knows whether the same rules apply."
Barret looked at her in surprise. He had never thought of that.
"So you think it may be possible?" he asked.
"I don't know!" she answered. "I don't know what to think. I don't see
how she could have survived, but what do I know about the Ancients? All I
know is that Cloud is convinced she is, and he won't be whole until he finds
out for sure, one way or the other."
Barret sat back in his chair. He had never been able to follow all
that Ancient Cetra stuff that Aeris had spouted. It had all seemed much too
complicated and not worth the effort, not when there was a gun in his hand
(or on his hand, as the case may be) and a clear enemy to fight.
"So what do you want to do?" he asked.
She didn't answer at first. She got up and walked over to the window.
Dusk had faded into night, and a few brighter stars now twinkled in the sky.
When she spoke her back was still toward him.
"I want to find out if it is possible she survived. And if it is, I
want to help Cloud find her."
Barret had kind of figured that was coming.
"How would you feel about that," he said slowly. "I mean, if it turned
out she was alive?"
Tifa continued looking out the window, and for a moment he thought she
wasn't going to respond. But then she turned and looked at him.
"I don't know," she said. "But Cloud can't go on like this. He has to
be whole, even if it means..."
She fell silent, but Barret could finish the sentence easily enough.
Still, it seemed unlikely to him it would ever come to that.
"Well I can see your dilemma, and I have to say I admire your decision.
Of course I'll help you any way I can, but I don't see that there is much I
can do. I never paid much attention to all that Ancients talk, and I
certainly wouldn't have the slightest idea of how to look for Aeris, even if
I thought there was even the slimmest chance that she was still alive."
"I know, " she said, nodding. "I didn't come here to have you find me
a solution. It may be that there is no solution. I just needed someone to
talk to."
"I understand," he said, then stood thinking for a moment. "Is Cloud
with you?"
"Yes," she said. "I left him at the Inn. I wanted to come see you
first. I was going to make some excuse but he didn't even ask me where I was
going."
"It'll be good to see him again," Barret replied. "You know, I have no
clue what you should do, but I think I know someone who can tell you, if
anyone can. I think it might be time for us to visit another old friend."
CHAPTER II
It was night. Cloud stood on a treeless hill in the dark. Rain pelted
down around him, he could feel it but not see it. He could see nothing but
darkness all around him. He looked up, but there was no sign of any stars
or moonlight.
He turned in a slow circle, but saw no hint of where he was, or how he
had gotten here, or anything at all except the darkness. But then a light
slowly grew ahead of him. Faint at first, but then growing until he could
see a small figure.
The light continued to brighten. He could see Aeris clearly now, for
the light seemed to emanate from her. He took a step toward her but then
stopped. In the growing light he saw that he stood on the edge of a chasm.
The ground dropped off in front of him as if it had been cut by a knife, and
he could see nothing below but inky blackness. Aeris stood on the other
side, close, but unreachable. She seemed to be beckoning to him.
He looked around, but the chasm seemed to stretch in both directions
for as far as he could see He could not reach her.
He looked at her again, and it was then he saw the dark shadow growing
behind her.
He shouted a warning, but though she didn't appear that far away, she
did not seem to hear. The shadow grew deeper and larger behind her while she
continued to beckon to him, unaware of the danger. Burning green eyes
appeared in the blackness behind her and a long sword materialized out of
the darkness and hovered above her head.
"Look out," he yelled as loud as he could. "Look out, behind you!"
She didn't hear. The sword swung up slowly and he knew in an instant
it would descend.
With a cry of rage he flung himself into the chasm. He felt himself
falling, and suddenly he could hear her voice calling his name, echoing in
the darkness as he plummeted downward.
"Cloud!:"
He awoke with a start to see Tifa looking at him, concern on her face.
"You've had another dream," she said softly. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, " he said quickly. "I'm fine."
He stood up and looked around. They had camped beneath a small stand of
elm trees at the foot of a hill. The sun, low in the east, cast long early
morning shadows around them.
Tifa waited, hoping maybe Cloud would say more, but not really
expecting it.
He didn't.
"You better pack up your gear," she said finally, "We need to get an
early start if you want to be there by noon."
He nodded and started to get his gear together.
"So you're finally up!" Barret came striding over and gave him a slap
on the back that nearly sent him sprawling. "Thought you were going to sleep
away the whole morning. And a fine morning it is, I might add."
Tifa was glad that Barret had insisted on coming along with them,
although she had been kind of surprised that he could leave his office on
such short notice. But when she had broached the subject to him he had just
snorted dismissively and told her he had only taken the job in order to get
Corel back on it's feet, and it was doing well now. He hadn't taken a
vacation since he had become Mayor, and if they didn't like it they could
just fire him and find someone else to take the job, though personally he
doubted they would be able to find someone foolish enough.
He took a deep breath and filled his lungs with the cool morning air.
"Ahh," he said pleasantly, "It's good to be on the road again."
Cloud smiled in spite of himself at his old friends enthusiasm. It was
good to see Barret again. He had been surprised when Tifa had brought
Barret back to the inn, even more surprised when they told him their plan.
He had tried to hide the visions he was getting from Tifa, but obviously he
hadn't done a very good job. He had been half afraid if he told her she
would have dismissed it as nonsense, or perhaps even thought he was losing
his mind, as he had to admit he sometimes thought himself. He should have
known better. He was grateful she understood and was trying to help him,
though he hadn't told her so.
"We better get going," was all he said.
They finished packing their gear and were soon on the road again.
Though Shinra Corp had been sucking the planet dry and no one in the party
was sorry to see it go, having had more than a little hand in bringing about
it's destruction, there were some disadvantages. The roads were in poor
repair and vehicles were scarce. Not that any of them minded very much.
They had done quite a bit of their earlier traveling on foot, and were well
accustomed to the road.
Soon the flat plains around them began to rise up and the vegetation
become scarce. The road wound up slowly into the hills and passed into a
steep sided canyon. They came around a bend and saw a town carved into the
hillside ahead, covering the entire side of the mountain. Perched at the
very top they could just made out the dark silloutte of an observatory.
"Its good to be back," Barret remarked and led them up a rough cut
stairway into Cosmo Canyon.
"Welcome, friends"
"Red, it's so good to see you," Tifa exclaimed, walking up beside him
and rubbing the fur under his neck. He lifted his head for her to get better
access. Cloud couldn't help but smile at the sight of this huge fire red
beast, with rapier sharp claws that could tear a man apart in an instant,
being petted like a housecat. Even though he knew the look was deceiving and
Red was just about the calmest and most peaceful person (or creature, but he
really couldn't think of Red as anything other than a person) he had ever
met..
"Indeed it has been a while," Red replied. :"Too long, in fact. My
studies have kept me busy, but that has not stopped me from thinking about
you all often. You are all well, I hope?"
He looked quickly at each of them in turn. Barret responded in the
affirmative. Tifa just looked at Cloud, who said nothing.
"Ah yes," Red said quickly. "I have been looking into your theory. If
you wish we can go up to my chambers and discuss my findings, or perhaps you
are too weary from the road and need to rest first?"
"No, " Cloud said quickly before the others could speak. "We're not
tired at all. Let's go."
Red slowly led them through the town and up to the observatory. Tifa
and Cloud had readily agreed with Barret when he had suggested that they
contact Red, and they had sent word ahead to let Red know they were coming
and the nature of their quest. Cosmo Canyon held a huge storehouse of
knowledge about the planet and all who had lived on it, including the
Ancients. If there was anyplace in the world where they could find out what
they were looking for, this would be it.
The observatory hadn't changed at all since they had last seen it. Red
had kept it just the way it was in honor of Bugenhagen. He walked into the
laboratory and sat down on the floor, the others gathering around him.
"I have been searching through the records since you first contacted
me, " Red stated getting right down to it. "I am afraid that what I have
found is not promising. There is no way she could have survived Sephiroth's
attack. However, " he said quickly as Cloud started to speak, "there is some
evidence that in certain circumstances an Ancient can be brought back from
the dead. Although there is precious little information about death and/or
resurrection of an Ancient. I have come across a few items that hinted at
it. There is one thing I could find that seemed to hold some promise. There
were two references to a special type of materia, a Crystal Materia, that
apparently could revive the spirit of an Ancient. Both references were from
some of the oldest books here in the Canyon, both written in ancient
languages that were difficult to translate, but the fact that it was
mentioned on two separate occasions, in two separate books, leads me to
believe that it could exist, though whether it actually can bring Aeris back
is unknown."
"But you think it might be possible," Cloud asked.
"Maybe," Red replied. "There is so much about the Ancients that is lost
forever. I can't say for sure what is possible when it comes to them."
"So how do we find this Crystal Materia?" Barret asked.
"The books did not say," Red answered.
"You mean you have no idea where to find it?" Tifa asked.
"Correct," Red said.
"So we're basically right back where we started from," Cloud said
gruffly.
"Maybe not," Red replied. "There was a reference in one of the books to
another tome. I have looked though our archives and it is not in them. But
a long time ago, when Cosmo Canyon was threatened with invasion, some of
the books from our libraries were stored away in a secret chamber. Even
after the danger had passed not all of them were returned to the library.
I'm not sure what books they were but I know they were some of the oldest in
the Canyon. It is quite possible that the book we are looking for is among
them. But it is not a safe place, and I wanted to be sure of your
determination to follow this quest before I suggested it. It is not in a
place where I would go on a whim."
He sat up and looked at each of them carefully.
"So where is it?" Barret blurted out.
"In a chamber below the cave of the Gi."
Tifa felt a touch of fear rise unbidden within her as the door to the
Gi cave slowly opened. She remembered full well how close they had come to
death the first time they had crossed this threshold. She glanced quickly at
the others, but they were all looking at the door as well. It was all right
to feel some fear, she thought, as long as she didn't show it.
"Do you really think anything is left in there?:" Barret questioned.
"I thought we cleaned the place out the last time we were here."
"The dead abide here," Red replied solemnly. "There may be fewer than
last time we entered, but you can never remove them permanently. Shall we
go?"
Red slowly padded into the cave, and the others followed. Cloud first,
then Tifa, with Barret acting as rear guard. Tifa looked around quickly as
they entered but saw nothing out of the ordinary in the dim light. The only
thing she noticed was the musty smell and the abundance of cobwebs.
Apparently the dead, just like some living she could think of, were not fond
of dusting.
They proceeded down into the lower chambers without incident. Well, not
entirely without incident. It was true that nothing disturbed the party as
it moved through the darkness, but Tifa could not shake the feeling, that
grew stronger as they slipped deeper into the caverns, that something was
nearby. She felt... she could only describe it as some kind of presence, and
the feeling soon became overpowering. She kept glancing sharply around, for
she kept thinking that she could see something just out of the corner of her
eye, but when she looked that way there was nothing there. And there were
sounds too. Furtive movements in the darkness around them. Or so it seemed.
Yet even when she concentrated solely on listening, she could not really be
sure what she was hearing was real.
They reached the bottom cavern and followed Red into the maze of
tunnels.
The others said nothing, and for a while she thought that she was the
only one who felt it. But gradually she noticed the others looking this way
and that, and stopping for a moment to stare off into the darkness. The
feeling of a presence was so overpowering now that she almost wanted to
scream.
The others must have felt exactly the same, for Barret suddenly called
out from behind her; "Quit yer sneaking around and show yourself. Then we
can get this over with and all go home!"
The others stopped and tensed, looking around in all directions as
Barret's words echoed through the caverns. The words died away into
silence, but still no one moved. Finally Red turned to Barret.
"That was unwise," he said casually.
They continued on their way. Red turned suddenly to the left and
slipped through a narrow opening that they had not seen on their first
visit. He had been leading them at a cautious pace up to this point, but now
he sped up, as a man tends to do when his goal is in sight.
"We're almost there," he commented.
At first Tifa was glad for Barret's outburst, for it had broken the
tension, and the presence seemed to have disappeared. She began to think
that it had all been in her mind, and that she had been getting nervous over
nothing. But now the feeling suddenly came back with a vengeance. She
stumbled for a moment, almost overwhelmed by it. Furtive sounds and shadows
surrounded her, whirled around her in every direction, everywhere!
Get a hold of yourself, she thought angrily. She took a deep breath and
forced herself to look only at Cloud's back. Then she marched deliberately
after him, resolutely ignoring the dark movements in the shadows around her.
The party came to a sudden halt, and Tifa almost stumbled into Cloud.
She had been concentrating so much on his back that she hadn't seen they had
come to the end of the corridor and now stood in front of a rough cut stone
door.
Without hesitation Red pushed the door, which opened smoothly and
without a sound. When they entered the room beyond Tifa saw that it was
circular and lined with dusty books.
"Here we are," Red said with satisfaction.
The feeling of the presence had not diminished, but now it seemed to be
coming only from behind them, through the door and the corridor beyond.
"Please close the door," she heard herself say.
But even before the sentence was finished Barret had done just that.
There was a heavy wooden beam beside the door and Barret used that to bar
it as well. For some reason Tifa felt tremendously relieved.
Red was already carefully looking over the books. Tifa glanced at the
books for a few moments, thinking maybe they could help Red look, but she
saw that they were all in some strange language she did not understand.
Barret walked around idly poking in corners and knocking softly on
bookcases, apparently looking for some secret compartments, or walls. Cloud
just stood near the center of the room and stared at nothing in particular.
It seemed like a long time, but it was only a few minutes before Red
broke the silence.
"I found it," he said. "Now we have to..."
He was interrupted as the room shook. They all jumped, startled by the
booming sound that reverberated around them. Something had pounded on the
door!
It took only a moment for Cloud to compose himself.
"Something wants in," he remarked.
Barret stood back, looking at the door.
"Something big," he commented.
They all looked at Red.
"Apparently there is something still down here after all," he said
thoughtfully.
"Is there any other way out of here?" Barret asked.
Red shook his head.
"Figures," Barret replied.
The room shook again, and the door shuddered.
Cloud took a step toward the door.
"Who's there?"
He jumped back as the blow came again. This time they heard the
splintering of wood from the beam holding the door closed.
Cloud looked at Red again.
"Don't suppose there's much chance it'll just go away," he asked.
"Not likely," Red replied.
"Kind of figured that. All right folks, get ready."
Cloud slid his sword silently from it's sheath. Barret moved to stand
in front of the bookcases directly opposite the door. Red moved to the left
of Cloud and Tifa to the right. She felt her nervousness rising again. It
had been a while since any of them had done this, and she wasn't really sure
how much their skills had deteriorated. She had spent plenty of time
practicing, but that was always different from the real thing. She tried to
clear he mind of doubts and focus only on her opponent as she had been
taught.
Cloud edged up closer to the door, then used his sword to slip the
beam off. For a moment nothing happened. Then the door opened.
It did not burst open, as they had all expected. It opened slowly,
almost casually, and for a moment they could see nothing beyond it. Dark
shadows seemed to swirl in the air out there, then, like dark tendrils, they
drifted into the room. Once in the room they thickened, until slowly they
took on solid form, and Tifa could see half a dozen skeletal faces staring
at them.
"Time to rock and roll," she heard Barret shout. Then there was a
blast of gunfire as he opened up.
Tifa leaped and kicked the nearest skeleton warrior in the face. For a
moment she thought her foot would just pass through it, but then felt a very
satisfying thump and the warrior back. For a short while there was no time
to think as she let her instincts, which apparently weren't as rusty
as she thought, take over. They all fell back into the battle pattern that
had been so familiar to them. Cloud in the center of things, swinging his
sword like a madman. No one, or thing for that matter, could stand in front
of him. Red and Tifa on either side of him, protecting his flanks. Barret
in the back, picking off any enemy when the opportunity presented itself, or
lending his firepower to any of the others if they seemed to get in trouble.
The battle was over quickly, but even after the last warrior fell, Tifa
could still feel the presence.
Barret apparently didn't share her feeling this time.
"Looks like we kicked butt," he said, grinning.
Then a figure appeared in the doorway. But it was not a skeleton
warrior. It was the last person anyone of them would have expected to see,
even though she had been so much in their thoughts lately. Tifa cleared her
mind and thought of Zangan's training, all the while concentrating on her
fist.
They all knew it couldn't really be Aeris, but the vision was so
startlingly real that the others just stared for a moment. But that was
enough. In an instant Aeris vision vanished, to be replaced by a huge clawed
skeleton that rushed directly at Cloud, who was closest to the door.
Cloud tried to bring up his sword, knowing it would be too late, but
just as the creature was upon him Tifa sprang in from the side and drove her
fist with all her power straight into the creatures breastbone. With a
horrible screech the creature rose up in anguish, and then suddenly
collapsed with a clatter into a pile of bones on the floor.
For a moment they all stood there in silence.
Finally Barret spoke.
"Nice form. Now, I think it's time we got our asses out of here."
Cloud, Tifa and Barret sat around the eternal fire of Cosmo Canyon
later that night. Red was up in the observatory poring over the book. He had
told them he would let them know when he found anything, but who knew how
long that would take. Of the three of them Barret seemed enormously pleased
with himself.
"Man, we were slicing and dicing just like old times," he said. "Cloud,
you haven't lost a step with that sword. I knew you were good, but I'd 3
forgotten how good."
"Thanks," Cloud replied. "You're still pretty handy with that gun as
well."
The truth of the matter was that Cloud felt better than he had in a
long time. Although, as noted earlier, he was more than happy to see Shinra
Co. destroyed, the fact of the matter was that peace was not the best of
times for a trained mercenary. With Sephiroth and Shinra out of the
picture, there was not much work available for him. Even the monsters that
had terrorized the land had mostly disappeared now that Shinra's Mako
Reactors were no longer creating them. He had spent most of the last year
helping Tifa with the bar, and it had been more satisfying than he realized
to finally get to use his real skills again. He had a feeling that Barret
felt much the same.
"And Tifa," Barret continued. "That was awesome. I hope I never get
you mad enough to use that on me."
Tifa just smiled. Cloud had not thanked her for what she had done. Not
because he was ungrateful but because he knew there was no need. He would
thank her by saving her neck in the next battle. It had happened often
enough in the past.
"Look, here comes Red," Barret said suddenly.
They turned to see Red padding down the stairway and coming over to
them. He sat down between Cloud and Tifa.
"Well, I have some information," he said. "the Crystal Materia was
originally in the Temple of the Ancients."
"Which we destroyed to get the black materia," Cloud reminded him.
"As I am well aware," Red replied. "There was nothing more about it's
location in that book. But with that clue I started looking in some more
recent books on the Temple. I found out that the Crystal Materia was removed
by Infalna."
"Aeris mother," Tifa said.
"Indeed," Red said. "Apparently sometime after Shinra killed Professor
Gast she escaped from them. She made her way to the Temple and took the
Crystal Materia. Why she wanted it I cannot say, but she was recaptured soon
after by the Turks."
"So Shinra got the Crystal Materia?" Cloud exclaimed.
"Yes," Red replied, "but they didn't know what it was. It does not look
like ordinary materia. They didn't know it was materia. They didn't know
what it was at all. They just knew it was some kind of Ancient artifact, so
they stored it with all their other Ancient artifacts."
"And just exactly where was that?" Cloud asked, sure he wasn't going to
like the answer.
"In a vault below Shinra Headquarters in Midgar," Red responded.
"Oh brother," Barret exclaimed.
"It figures," Cloud said, shaking his head. Midgar had nearly been
destroyed by Meteor, and now it was completely abandoned. Abandoned by
people, at least. It was probably the only city left on the planet, however,
that was still crawling with monsters.
"So we have to go to Midgar," Tifa said.
"I'm afraid so," Red replied.
"And you know what that means," Cloud said.
"We're going to need our Materia," Barret responded.
"And you know what that means," Tifa added.
"We're going to have to pay a visit to Wutai," Cloud finished.
CHAPTER III
It was mid afternoon two days later when they reached Wutai. The town
had grown considerably since they had last been there. The fall of Shinra
and their restrictive trade polices had opened the continent up to free
trade practices, and some shrewd bargaining by Godo with their neighboring
villages had greatly improved the economy. Looking around the party could
see that the town had probably doubled in size.
"This place is almost as crowded as Midgar used to be," Barret
commented as they walked through the busy streets.
"But at least there's no sign of slums," Red observed. The others had
been quite pleased when he had suggested he go along with them, and of
course had agreed immediately. He knew it would take time away from his
studies, but it seemed well worth it. The best way to learn of the world was
to actually experience it, and he knew that he had learned more than he ever
would from any books the last time he had journeyed with his friends.
They threaded their way through the crowd until they saw Godo's house
ahead. Even as they approached they saw a diminutive figure rushing out
towards them.
"I can't believe you're here!" Yuffie exclaimed as soon as she reached
them. "What a stroke of luck. I need your help. My father is very ill, and
the only way to save him is up on Da-Chou. C'mon!"
She took a few steps and then turned to look at them as they stood
there bewildered. This was hardly the reception they had been expecting.
"What are you waiting for?" she cried. "It's a matter of life and
death. Hurry!"
She turned again and ran off down the road. The others had no choice
but to follow.
She ran through the town and then out along the path the led up into
the foothills of Da-Chou. They finally caught up with her at she was
laboring up the steep path.
"Yuffie, hold on," Barret said gruffly, panting slightly. "What the
hell is this all about? If this is some kind of trick I swear I...."
"No trick, " she said, looking candidly at him, but not slowing down.
"My father is very ill. He will die soon unless something is done. I've been
told that he can only be treated with the leaves from a Minton tree, and the
only place they grow is up on the mountain top above Da-Chou. We've got to
go get him some."
They continued up the path, slowly passing the huge stone faces carved
into the native rock so long ago that no record of it's creators was in
existence.
"So why didn't you just come up here sooner," Cloud asked. "What do you
need us for?"
"The Minton tree grows above the path on top of the mountain. There is
no path up to it. I can't reach it," she answered.
She kept going up, and the others fell silent and followed. No matter
how deceitful she had been in the past, she appeared sincere this time.
They reached the top of the path. Here the trail led into a narrow
cave, but she stopped before it and looked up.
"There," she said, pointing at the sheer cliff that rose up above them
for perhaps twenty feet until it reached the pinnacle of the mountain. They
could make out a few twisted branches covered with gold tinted leaves on a
small tree at the top. "That's it."
They all looked at the cliff in silence for a moment. Then Barret
spoke.
"What do we look like, mountain goats?"
"I don't see any easy way up, " Cloud agreed. "This isn't exactly our
line of expertise."
"You've got to help," Yuffie said desperately. "You're my only hope.
He'll die if he doesn't get the cure soon."
Tifa looked up at the cliff, then at Cloud.
"We've got to do something," she said.
Cloud shook his head and looked carefully at the cliff face. Finally he
nodded.
"It's not completely sheer, " he said. "There are some handholds. I
guess it couldn't hurt to try."
His slipped off his sword and laid it on the ground. He ran his hands
along the rock, looking up to try and see which way afforded the most
handholds. Then he slowly started to work his way up.
Even though it wasn't that far it was a painstakingly slow process. He
had to test every handhold and toehold carefully before he could trust it
with his weight. He almost slipped twice, but each time caught himself just
in a nick of time. In this way he slowly inched his way within six feet of
the top, but then the rock became smooth above him, and try as he might he
saw no way to cover the final distance from this position. He tried to move
sideways along the rock face to find an alternate route, but he couldn't go
very far.
"Damn," he muttered. He certainly didn't want to go back down and start
all over now that he was this close, but he could see no way to reach the
top.
"What's wrong?" Tifa asked from below.
Suddenly he had an idea.
"There are no more handholds. I can't reach the top, but if someone
else could come up here, I think I could boost them to the top," he replied.
Barret and Tifa both looked at Yuffie.
"What?" she said, then took a step back. "Oh no. Sorry, but I can't"
"Even to save your father?" Barret said pointedly.
"No really, " she said. "I can't. I'm afraid of heights."
"I'm surprised you admit to being afraid of anything," Barret replied.
"C'mon, Yuffie."
She looked up at Cloud, and it seemed she had real fear in her eyes.
"Please don't make me," she said softly.
They looked at her in silence for a moment.
"All right," Tifa said resignedly. "I'll go."
"Tifa!" Barret interjected.
"It's all right," Tifa replied. "She's too scared to go. I don't think
it would be right to try to force her. I wouldn't feel very good to see her
fall."
"Then I'll go," Barret said.
"Don't be an idiot," she answered. "You're no climber, and it would
take all three of us to boost you up there. Besides, I watched how Cloud
got up, and it didn't look too difficult."
Barret had no answer to that. He looked at Red.
"I'm afraid she's right," he gave his opinion without being asked.
"I'd go myself, of course, but I am afraid that climbing it not one of my
better skills."
"All right then," Tifa said, and walked over to the cliff face. She
tested some handholds and then started up. She went more swiftly than Cloud,
for she really did remember basically what path he had taken. It wasn't long
before she was directly below him.
It was a bit difficult to get up next to him, but eventually she
succeeded. Holding onto an outcrop of rock that he knew to be secure firmly
with one hand, he let her climb up onto his shoulders, supporting her with
the other hand. She reached up and pulled herself over the top.
"Good going," Yuffie cried from below. "Now get a branch with a couple
of leaves on it."
Tifa stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She looked out at the
expanse below and for the first time noticed what a gorgeous view they had.
She could see the entire town of Wutai and far into the hills beyond. Then
she turned and walked over to the small tree, only a sapling really, and
broke off a branch with half a dozen leaves on it.
"Throw it down," Yuffie called. "I'll take it right back to my father.
There's no time to lose. Then I'll meet you in my basement. We can talk
then."
Tifa dropped the branch and Yuffie caught it as it came down, then she
took off like a shot.
"Yuffie, wait for us," Cloud called. "I wanted to see your father."
"No time," she called back. "I've got to get this to him. He's much
too sick to see anyone anyway. I'll give him your regards,"
Then she was off down the hill as fast as she could go.
Tifa swung around and slid down to where she hoped Cloud could reach
her.
"She took off awfully quickly," he commented from below her.
"Well, she wanted to get the plant back to her father as quickly as
possible," Tifa replied. "That's understandable."
She held onto an outcropping of rock and swung her legs lower. Suddenly
she felt Clouds powerful grip.
"No, something isn't right," he said, his suspicions aroused. "It all
seems too much of a coincidence with us arriving here just in a nick of
time."
He swung her down beside him and held her until she got a grip of her
own.
"I'm going after her," he said.
He worked his way down as quickly as possible until he was less than
ten feet above the path, then let go and dropped to the ground. In a moment
he was after her.
Tifa tried to hurry as well but she found that going down was much more
difficult than up had been. It was harder to find toeholds below her than it
had been to find handholds above.
"I'm following Cloud," she heard Barret comment below. "If this was
some kind of trick I swear I'll strangle that girl."
Tifa inched her way down a little lower, then glanced down to see
Barret swiftly disappearing down the trail. After a moment she saw Red
following him.
"Uh, Guys?" she said loudly, but they weren't paying any attention.
They had just vanished out of sight when her foot slipped off it's narrow
toehold. With a cry she slid down the last few feet of cliff face and landed
hard on her rear end.
She sat there for a moment until the shock of it had warn off.
"Thanks a lot guys!" she yelled after them, even though she was sure
they were too far away to hear. Then she stood up and dusted herself off.
"Hey, wait for me," she called and, limply slightly, trotted off after
them.
Cloud caught sight of Yuffie again just as he reached the village, but
the streets were still crowded and he soon lost her. She seemed to be headed
straight for her home, however, which would make sense if she was bringing
the leaf to Godo. So that was where he headed.
The front doors were wide open when he arrived. He stood there for a
moment looking in, but no one was in the room. He heard voices coming from
the hallway to the right, and one of them was a deep voice he recognized
from his earlier visits. He went over to the hallway and walked down it. The
voices were coming from a room off to the right, and they were plainly the
voices of Godo and Yuffie.
"I am very proud of you for passing this next phase,:" he heard Godo
say, and then he stepped into the entrance to the room. Yuffie and an
extremely healthy looking Godo both stood in front of a window opposite the
door. Godo was holding the branch in his hand. They both looked at Cloud.
"Well, thanks a lot, Dad," Yuffie said immediately, strolling over to
Cloud. "But I've really got to get going. Cloud and I have some things to
discuss that really can't wait." She came up beside him and practically
dragged him along as she went by. "We can talk some more later, I'm sure,"
she continued. "It's just that this is real, real important."
They were out in the hallway now, Yuffie still dragging him along.
Suddenly he pulled up short.
"What the hell..." he began.
"Not here," Yuffie said as loudly as she dared. "I'll explain
everything outside. I promise."
Cloud looked at her skeptically, but then followed her as she walked
back out of the building. As soon as they stepped over the threshold,
however, he stopped and looked at her expectantly.
"I don't suppose you would believe me if I said that the Minton leaf
worked really fast," she suggested.
"You can do better than that."
"All right," she said with a sigh. "My father's not sick. Part of my
ninja training was to climb up on Da-Chou. I was supposed to bring my father
the leaf as proof that I had succeeded."
Cloud shook his head. I should have know, he thought, I really should
have known.
"So all that about him being on the verge of death was just a ploy to
get us to help you cheat on a test?"
"Not cheat," she answered defensively. "He never said I had to get it
all by myself."
"If that were true," Cloud countered, "then why didn't you just tell us
the truth?"
Yuffie shrugged.
"Because it wouldn't have been as much fun?" she suggested innocently.
It was at this moment that Barret and Red came up beside them.
Cloud turned toward them.
"Yuffie has something to tell you all," he announced.
When Yuffie told them the truth Barret was livid with rage. He lunged
at her as if he really were going to carry out his earlier threat to
strangle her, but she dodged nimbly out of the way.
"I think you've lost a step or two," she taunted, dancing away from
him. "Perhaps it's time you stared thinking seriously about retirement."
"Why you little wretch," he growled. "If I catch you I swear I'll make
you regret every lie you ever told in your entire life."
"That's a big if," she shot back.
It was at this point that Tifa finally caught up with them.
"Enough!" Cloud commanded. "Now that your little charade is over we
have important things to discuss. We came here because we need our materia.".
"Charade, what charade?" Tifa asked.
"My materia?" Yuffie questioned.
"Our materia," Barret said firmly. "Remember, we only gave it to you
because you needed it more than we did at the time. And you agreed that we
could come and get it if we needed it in the future."
"What charade?" Tifa repeated.
"That particular conversation seems to have slipped my mind," Yuffie
said innocently.
"Quit playing around..." Barret started, but Cloud held up his hand.
"Perhaps if we go back inside and discuss your recent adventure with
your father it will help to refresh your memory," he stated.
"All right, I remember," she gave in. "It's in the basement. C'mon,
I'll take you down there, and I promise, no tricks."
"There better not be any," Barret said menacingly, but Yuffie just gave
him a smile in return.
"So, why do you need all this materia all of a sudden, anyway," she
asked as she led them off. Cloud, Barret and Red followed close behind her,
with Tifa in the rear, a puzzled look on her face.
"What charade?" she said again, to no one in particular.
The group rose early the next morning and gathered in front of Yuffie's
house about two hours past dawn. Even this early there were still quite a
few people in the streets.
"Well, are we all set to go?" Yuffie commented.
"What do you mean, we?" Barretrrett growled, looking at her darkly. No
one had made any mention of her joining the party before this. He would have
noticed, because he had been listening for just such a suggestion with the
express purpose of squashing it immediately..
"Of course I'm going with you," she exclaimed, as if shocked that
anyone might have thought otherwise. "I have to keep an eye on my materia.
Besides, you guys need me. Let's face it, none of you are getting any
younger. If anything, your skills have gone down in the year since our last
adventure. But I'm still young, and I'm only getting better. You won't make
it halfway through the outskirts of Midgar without me."
"It's our materia, you conceited little thief!" Barret snarled. "And
it'll be a cold day in hell before we invite you along after all the trouble
you put us through."
Yuffie looked at him with a pained expression.
"C'mon, I was just having a little fun," she said plaintively. "Can't
you take a joke?"
"No," he replied forcibly.
"Well, what does everybody else think?" she asked, suddenly appealing
to the others, since it was obvious she was getting nowhere with him.
"I don't care what everybody else thinks," Barret said sullenly.
"So who made you the boss?" she said pointedly.
He just growled at that. Then he said, "Well, my vote is no, and I
won't change it unless everybody else is against me."
"That's not fair," she said.
"I don't care," he answered angrily. "It was bad enough I had to put up
with you for this long."
"Barret, you really need to lighten up a little bit," she commented.
Then she turned to the others. "Cloud?"
He didn't answer for a while, but just looked at her intently while she
gave him the most innocent look she could muster. In spite of all the
trouble she caused, she really was excellent in a fight and had helped then
a great deal in their previous adventures. Finally he broke into a grin.
"Yuffie, I have to say that you are the biggest pain in the ass I have
ever met. You stepped way over the line yesterday, but I have to admit it
was pretty clever. It's all right with me if you come along."
Yuffie gave Barret an 'I told you so' look, but he just shook his
head.
"Red?" she said sweetly.
"You have the exuberance and arrogance of youth, " he said
unhesitantly. "I can think of no better teachers for you than the people
here in front of you. It would be in your own best interests to join us."
Yuffie's eyes turned pleadingly to Tifa, who did not speak for a long
time.
Barret suddenly seemed to realize what she was going to say.
"C'mon, Tifa," he blurted out. "Don't let me down now."
"You let me down pretty rudely yesterday," she snapped back. Although
she was no longer limping, she still felt a little sore.
"I know I'm going to regret this, but it's all right with me," she
said.
"Yes," Yuffie exclaimed gleefully. "I promise I won't let you all
down."
"You better not," Barret said sharply. "Come along if you must, but
stay out of my way. Now, if we're all done with the negotiating, what say we
get this circus on the road?"
He turned and started down the street without waiting for a reply.
Cloud looked at the others, shrugged and then followed. They fell in line
behind, Yuffie last, as if to keep as much distance between herself and
Barret as possible. Though there were quite a few people in the streets,
everyone they noticed seemed concerned with their own business and didn't
pay much attention to them. It would have come as quite a surprise to them
to know that at least one set of eyes had been watching them carefully since
they had stepped out of the house that morning.
CHAPTER IV
Tarkin sat unmoving in his chair. His training at SOLDIER had given him
the discipline to ignore minor irritations and sit for hours while remaining
utterly still, especially when he was thinking, and right now he had a lot
to think about.
His spies had informed him the failed experiment was finally on the
move. It had taken much longer than he had thought. Cloud was apparently
stronger than he suspected, but he should have known. He realized he had
underestimated the young warrior, and he would have to be careful not to do
that again. Even a failed Shinra experiment still had power. After all, he
had managed, obviously by some fluke, to have defeated the mighty Sephiroth.
He felt anger inside him at that. He considered it for a moment and
decided it was proper. Sephiroth would have been pleased with his loyalty,
and slowly the anger dissipated to be replaced by satisfaction of what was
to come. He reached over and picked up the yellow materia orb from the
pedestal beside his chair, the last gift given to him by the great
Sephiroth.
He would have to monitor things carefully from now on. Very carefully
indeed. He needed someone to get close and report to him of Cloud's every
movement. He was pretty sure he knew just who could handle that job.
A smile slowly grew on his face He looked at the materia carefully,
stroking it as if it were a small pet.. As he did so his sleeve slipped
partway down his arm, revealing an old tattoo. It was faded now from wear
but still visible. It was the number 3.
"Very soon, my dear master, " he said softly to himself, "you shall
have your revenge."
Tifa did not feel good as they passed through the crumbling walls and
into the streets of Midgar. She had had some good times here at her bar in
the early days with Avalanche, but she would never forget the poverty of the
slums or the horror she had felt at the destruction of Sector 7 and the
death of her friends. On the whole she would rather never have had to see
this place again, she decided. True, things had changed radically since
then. Midgar was mostly ruins now. Meteor had done such fearsome damage that
it was decided it would be easier to just abandon the city than to attempt
to rebuild it. The streets were choked with rubble, and vegetation had
overgrown most the buildings that still stood. The streets were deserted for
the moment, but they were all on guard, for they knew that all sort of
strange creatures now inhabited the city.
Still, nothing seemed anxious to bother the well armed group as it
traveled down the center of the road in broad daylight. Tifa thought this
would chance quickly if they wandered very far into any of the old
buildings, or after night fell. She sincerely hoped that they would be done
and far away before the sun sunk below the horizon.
Though many of the buildings had been utterly destroyed, there were
still enough standing that they were in no danger of getting lost. Tifa kept
her eyes open as they headed unerringly toward Shinra Headquarters. She saw
movement once or twice in the rubble around them, but nothing challenged
them.
A short time later they stood in front of their destination. The
building was still standing, although the top floors had been torn off and
now lay in a pile of rubble completely covering the street to the north.
Perhaps the bottom twenty floors were still intact.
"It's a good thing the vault was down in the basement and not up on the
top floors," Barret remarked, looking up.
They walked up the cracked concrete steps that marked the entrance. The
doors of the main entrance lay twisted and broken on the ground in front of
them. Carefully they stepped over them and into the building.
The lobby was dark after the bright sunlight. Cloud looked around, but
he saw no sign that anyone, or anything, had passed through recently. Still,
he had a feeling that danger was not far away. He slowly drew his sword and
held it at the ready as he advanced through the lobby. He knew they had been
watched on the way here, and he had no doubt that even now a trap was
hastily being laid for them, a trap somewhere in an area where they would be
most vulnerable. The dark corridors of Shinra Headquarters seemed to be the
perfect place to him.
"So where do we go from here?" Yuffie asked tentatively.
"Not sure," Cloud replied. Though he had been a member of SOLDIER, he
had rarely been at Shinra Headquarters. And in his few visits here with
Avalanche he had had other things on his mind besides taking a tour.
"We'll just have to wander around and see what we can find," he
continued. "Stay together, and be ready for anything."
"Just look for anything that leads down," Barret suggested, not very
helpfully.
It took them a while, but eventually they found a narrow stairway
leading down into darkness near the back of the building.
"Why do I get the feeling we are walking right into the lion's den?"
Cloud asked before he started slowly down the steps.
The stairs led down into a large room full of machinery. The floor was
covered with about an inch of water, and they could hear dripping off to the
left. There was a door at he far end of the room.
They started in that direction but hadn't gotten very far when the
heard some high pitched sounds off to the left. Cloud stopped them and
turned that way. He saw something scurry between two pieces of machinery off
in that direction. The others took up battle positions without saying a
word.
The giant rats struck quickly from two different directions. As soon as
he had a clear shot Cloud sprang forward and swung his sword in a murderous
arc. Two of the rats instantly lost their lives. The others scattered around
him and tried to get at his friends, but Cloud flicked his sword like
lightening and took out another as they went by. The others were met with a
flurry of blows from Tifa to his right and the razor sharp claws of Red to
his left. In minutes all but two rats were laying unmoving on the floor, and
those two were scurrying off into the darkness to lick their wounds.
Cloud turned to see Yuffie fling her shuriken unerring at the last rat
that still remained on the other side of them. Barret turned around to look
at him, and they realized that the battle was over.
"Nothing to it," Barret said confidently. "We didn't even have to use
our materia."
"Not yet, anyway," Red commented. "Somehow, I think this may have just
been a warm up."
"That's what I like about you, Red," Yuffie said. "You're always such
an optimist."
"C'mon," was all Cloud said.
They walked on. They reached the door and opened it to see a narrow
corridor that went on for as far as they could see in the dim light. Both
walls of the corridor held numerous doors.
"If we have to search through all these rooms we could be here a very
long time," Barret said with little enthusiasm.
Cloud silently agreed, but he didn't see much of an alternative. He was
just about to say as much when they heard a commotion behind them. It
sounded like it was coming from near the stairs they had come down. They
heard the high pitched squeaks of the rats, and the unmistakable sounds of
battle.
"Looks like we're not the only thing on the rats menu today," Yuffie
said.
In spite of the fact that it was most likely none of their business and
it would probably just cause more trouble, Cloud could not stop his
curiosity from getting the better of him. He headed back toward the sounds
of the fight.
"Umm, I think we're supposed to be going this way," he heard Yuffie
protest, pointing down the corridor. He ignored her.
"Shut up, Yuffie," Tifa said as she walked past her after Cloud.
The others followed, Yuffie last.
Cloud swiftly went down the corridor until the sounds came from just
around a large heavily damaged and unrecognizable machine. He quickly
glanced around the corner of the machine then ducked back. He looked at
Tifa.
"I don't believe it," he said.
Tifa slipped past him and looked around as well. There she saw none
other than Cait Sith backed into a corner with three giant rats closing in
on him.
"Boy, am I glad to see you guys" Cait exclaimed. They all came up and
stood around him, ignoring the bodies of the three rats they had just
dispatched.
"It was quite a surprise to see you," Cloud replied. "What are you
doing here?"
"Actually I was looking for you," Cait replied.
"Huh?" Cloud questioned.
"I got a message from Wutai," Cait explained. "I assumed it was from
your father, Yuffie. It said that you were headed for Midgar and needed my
help. Here, I have it here somewhere."
He fished around for a moment and then pulled out a crumpled piece of
paper. Yuffie took it from him and gave it a hard look.
"This isn't my father's handwriting," she said after a moment.
"So who could have written it?" Tifa questioned.
"Could someone else have written it for your father?" Red suggested.
"I suppose," Yuffie replied.
"Well, who else knew where we were going?" Barret pointed out.
Cloud took the note and looked it over. It didn't say much, just that
he and his friends were headed for Midgar and urgently needed Cait's help.
"When did you get this?" he asked.
"Two days ago," Cait replied. "I set off right away."
"Two days ago," Barret repeated. "The day after we left Wutai. If this
wasn't from Godo, whoever sent it found out where we were going pretty
quickly."
"Well, " Cloud said thoughtfully, "we didn't make any secret about
where we were going while we were in Wutai. Someone might easily have
overheard us."
"But who, and why?" Tifa questioned. "And if it's not from a friend,
then what purpose could there be in sending Cait to us?"
"I don't know, " Cloud replied, "but I don't like it."
"Cait, do you know where the vaults are where Shinra kept all their
Ancient artifacts?" Red suddenly asked.
Cait turned to look at him.
"Sure," he said, "why do you ask?"
Cloud briefly explained the mission they were on.
"So maybe my father realized that we may need help finding the vault,
and thought Cait could help us," Yuffie said after Cloud had finished.
"Which would mean the message really is from him."
Cloud shrugged, somehow not satisfied with the explanation. If it was
true that Cait knew where the vaults were then he would be very useful, and
it would have made sense for a friend to summon him. Still, something just
didn't seem right, but he couldn't think of any better explanation at the
moment. One thing was for sure, they would have to be more careful about
who they said things in front of.
"We could debate who sent you for as long as we want, " he said to
Cait, "but it's just slowing us down. The fact of the matter is you are here
and can help us. Why don't we get on with it before every monster in Midgar
decides to pay us a visit."
They could all see the wisdom in that. They headed back through the
room once more, this time with Cait walking in front with Cloud. In this way
they worked their way slowly down four more levels. They were attacked three
more times, twice by packs of rats and once by some large spider like
creatures, but each time they beat them off easily. Still, Cloud had an
uneasy feeling. It seemed to him that the attacks were somehow coordinated.
As if an intelligence was feeling them out, sending lesser forces against
them to test their strength, while all the time it was gathering it's
strongest forces for an all out attack that would come.... when? Well, he
didn't really know, but he felt that it would be sometime soon. He tried to
hurry them on, thinking if they reached their goal soon enough the enemy
would have to be forced to attack sooner, before it was completely ready, or
risk the chance of them slipping away.
They descended yet another set of steps. When the reached the bottom
they gathered in a large vestibule whose only exit was a large steel door
opposite the stairs.
"This is it," Cait said. "The vaults are behind this door."
"I hope it's open," Tifa said..
"Easy enough to find out," Cait replied. He walked up to the door and
pulled on the handle. It did not budge. He let go and examined the door.
There was no sign of a lock, just an electronic keycard mechanism.
"It's locked, and it opens with a keycard," Cait said, shaking his
head.
"Not likely we're going to find one of them around," Barret observed.
"It wouldn't do us any good even if we did," Red stated. "The keycard
mechanism runs on electricity, and there is no power."
They all stood looking at each other for a moment, but no one came up
with any brilliant ideas.
"Well," Barret said finally, looking at the door dubiously. "Let's try
it the hard way. Cloud, give me a hand, will you?"
Cloud walked up next to Barret as the others moved out of the way. The
door looked much too solid for them to force, but he figured they had to
give it a try.
Barret counted to three and they both flung themselves shoulder first
into the door. They fell back, Barret grunting loudly, but the door didn't
even shudder. Cloud knew right away that this would get them nothing but
sore.
"Forget it, Barret, it's too heavy," he said. He suddenly produced an
orb and held it up for Barret to see. It glowed a faint green.
"I guess we'll have to use this," he said, "though it will let every
monster within a mile of us know that we are here."
"Yeah," Barret agreed, "but after they see that power they might think
twice before taking us on."
"You may be right at that, " Cloud responded. "Get back, everyone."
Barret led the others back up into the stairwell. Cloud waited until he
was sure they were a safe distance away. Then he turned toward the door. He
held up the ultima materia and concentrated on it. In seconds a green mist
seemed to fill the air around him. He felt heat build up inside him. The
green mist coalesced into a ball of green fire which rapidly expanded until
it was almost blinding. Cloud took a single step forward and released. With
a roar that rung in his ears the door was engulfed in the blast of raw
power, which tore it asunder.
The echoes died away quickly, leaving an eerie silence. After a moment
the others filed back into the vestibule.
Cait strode forward through the wreckage of the door. The others
followed. Inside was another corridor which led in two directions.
"Which way do we go now?" Red asked.
"Not sure," Cait replied. "These are the vaults. The artifact you're
looking for could be in any of these rooms. We'll just have to look through
them all."
"Great," Barret said unhappily. "There must be a dozen rooms here. You
told us you knew where to go."
"I told you I knew where the vault was" Cait replied testily. "This is
it, but I don't have an inventory of it, if that's what you're asking.
Perhaps there is one around somewhere if you care to look for it."
"We don't have time to argue," Cloud cut in. He felt more strongly than
ever that they had to get out of here as fast as possible. "We'll have to
split up into two groups. I don't really like the idea, but we can search a
lot more quickly that way. Tifa and Cait, come with me. Barret, you take the
others and look in the other direction."
Barret was going to protest about bringing Yuffie with him, but then
thought better of it.
"All right," he said. "Just don't get yourselves lost."
"You either," Tifa replied as she followed Cloud. The corridor went
perhaps ten feet and then made a left in front of them, but there were three
doors before then, one on the left and two on the right. Cloud reached the
first one on the right and grabbed the knob. He could see there was no lock,
and these were simple wooden doors anyway and he knew they would have no
trouble getting through them even if they were locked. But the door opened
easily.
There was a large storage room inside. Boxes lined the walls and were
piled up on shelves. They started methodically hunting though them.
"Most of these boxes are empty," Tifa said after a few minutes, holding
one in her hand for Cloud to see.
"Most of these too," Cloud remarked sourly. "I hope someone didn't come
through here earlier and beat us to it."
Tifa thought about that for a moment.
"But we just found out about it ourselves," she pointed out. "Who would
have known?"
Cloud shrugged.
"I don't think they knew what to do with most of the stuff they had
down here," Cait suggested "but they knew it could be valuable. Perhaps
someone came down here right before Meteor struck and just grabbed whatever
they could."
"That's possible," he answered. "Either way, all we can do is look."
It didn't take them long to finish with that room. They moved on to the
next, and then the next. Red had explained that the crystal materia did not
look like any other materia. It was not round but looked like a large
multifaceted jewel. And instead of the soft colored glow that emanated from
all other materia it was completely clear. But in each room they searched
they saw nothing that looked anything like that.
Each empty room they left behind made Cloud more and more uneasy. He
kept his ears open for any sounds in the corridors outside, and even though
he heard nothing he could not help but feel that the enemy was closing in
rapidly.
They searched though three more rooms with no luck. When Cloud went to
open the next door he was surprised to find that it was locked.
He pointed it out to the others.
"Maybe that's a good sign," Tifa said "Perhaps there's something
important inside."
Cloud took a step back and then lunged forward. His shoulder hit the
door solidly and it flew open. They stepped inside.
This room was smaller than the others. It only held one shelf along the
back wall. The only thing on the shelf was a metal box.
"At least this won't take long," Cloud said.
He reached over and lifted the box off the shelf. There was a key hole
set in the front of the box, and Cloud thought it would be locked, but it
opened easily.
He didn't say anything for a moment, then he looked at them and smiled.
"Jackpot."
"All right," Tifa said. "Let's get the others and get out of here."
They started for the door when Cait, who was closest to it, stopped and
tensed. Even before he spoke the others heard the sounds in the corridor
outside. Cait looked out the door and then turned toward them.
"We've got company," he stated.
"This is hopeless," Barret snarled, knocking some empty boxes across
the room.
They had already searched through four rooms and found nothing.
"I don't think getting angry will help the situation," Red observed.
Barret just grumbled in response
They were almost done with this room. Barret walked out into the
corridor, leaving the last corner of the room for the others. Just as he
came out something off to his right caught his eye. He turned to see
something vanish around the corner. He didn't see much, just a flash of
blue.
"There's something out here," he called out.
The others came out and he explained what he had seen. Yuffie boldly
walked down the corridor and looked around the corner, but the hallway was
empty. At the end of the corridor stood another metal door, slightly ajar.
"It looks like whoever or whatever it was went in there," Yuffie said,
pointing to the door. "Should we follow?"
Barret thought for a moment. There didn't seem to be much point in it.
They were here to get the crystal materia, not chase around after some
Shinra monsters. Still, perhaps this would give them some clue. It would
only take a moment to look, and he had to admit their search so far had been
fruitless.
"Yeah, why not," he said finally.
As they walked toward the door they heard the sound of rushing water
behind it. It echoed strangely in the corridor around them.
They reached the door and pulled it open. It seemed to lead into some
kind of service tunnel. There was a channel down the center of the tunnel,
and this was where the sound of the rushing water was coming from. A narrow
concrete path ran down the tunnel on either side of the channel.
They stepped over and looked down. The water rushed swiftly through the
narrow channel. The tunnel was not long, and the water passed through a
grate at the northern end of it and disappeared into an narrow opening at
the southern. The concrete path ended blindly at either end of the tunnel.
There was a rusty ladder leading up into the darkness on the other side of
the channel, but no way for them to get to it.
"Well, if anyone came in here they either flew out or swam out, and
either way I don't think we can follow," Red said.
"I suppose," Barret replied. He looked at the water again. The rushing
current would quickly sweep them away if they attempted to cross. Not that
he had any desire to. It now appeared to him that whatever he had seen had
not gone this way at all.
"All right, I guess we better..." he began.
Suddenly there was a loud thump as the door to the room was slammed
shut!
"Hey!" Barret exclaimed.
They ran over to the door, but it did not budge when they tried to open
it. Barret slammed up against it. The door shuddered slightly, but held.
"DAMN!
They were some type of zombie like creatures. Perhaps the residual
Mako energy from Meteor had reanimated them. Some of them still wore
tattered rags of what appeared to have once been Shinra uniforms. Whatever
they were, there were half a dozen of them in the corridor, and Cait could
see more coming around the corner.
He had just settled into his fighting stance when Cloud burst past him,
sword flashing. Three of the zombies went down before they had a chance to
react, and the others hesitated, surprised by the ferocity of the attack.
But as more and more of them came around the corner their boldness grew,
until once again they surged forward.
In moments the battle was joined in earnest. Tifa held back a little,
using his materia to cast defensive spells around herself and her partners,
only moving forward to attack when she was sure they were well protected.
Cloud fought with no thought of defense, always advancing, always striking
for the kill, and even though this tactic usually caused havoc among their
enemies, it left Cloud dangerously exposed. It was usually up to Tifa or one
of the other more methodical members of the party to protect him when he
did.
Cait was more deliberate, only advancing when the enemy was off balance
or at a disadvantage. His huge Mog body could take as well as dish out an
enormous amount of punishment. Not many of the zombies could stand in front
of him for long.
But in spite of their fighting skills they found themselves slowly
being forced back. There seemed to be no end to their enemy, and for every
one that fell two or three came around to replace them. It seemed that every
creature in Midgar had been called to the attack.
"There are too many of them," Tifa shouted.
Cloud swung viciously and another zombie went down. He glanced around
quickly.
"You're right," he called back. "Get back into the room. I'll slow them
down a little."
Cloud held up a green materia orb as Tifa and Cait bolted for the room.
They stepped to either side of the door once inside and stopped.
There was a flash of blinding green light from the corridor and a
tremendous roar, and then Cloud burst into the room.
He slammed the door.
"That won't hold them for long," he said, panting. "And neither will
this door. I wonder were the others are?"
Barret paced back and forth in front of the door, feeling like a caged
tiger.
"Damn, " he said again.
"That's not going to help," Yuffie pointed out.
"I don't hear you coming up with any ideas," he snapped in return.
"At least I'm not using up all my energy pacing and cursing," she
answered.
"And a fat lot of good all your energy is going to do you if we can't
get out of here," he replied.
Red ignored their repartee and looked at the water. He had to agree
that their original assessment was correct. It was running much too swiftly
for them to get across before they were dragged away. As he studied the
water he caught a glimpse of a dark shadow beneath the foam, and suddenly
the water started to bubble even more fiercely near the center of the
channel.
He stepped back.
"I think there's something...." he began.
The giant serpent burst up from beneath the foam with an ear splitting
cry, showering them in a spray of foam. Even though Red had been prepared,
he still was stunned momentarily. The creature reached back and swung a huge
clawed hand at him. He recovered quickly enough to attempt to jump out of
the way, but was not entirely successful. The hand struck him a glancing
blow, yet it was still strong enough the toss him hard against the stone
wall. He slumped to the ground.
"Shit," Barret exclaimed. He opened up with his gun, blasting away at
the creature. He saw Red go down but didn't get much of a look before the
creature swung at him. He dodged and then moved back to the wall to stay as
far away from the creature's claws as possible. He saw Yuffie fling her
shuriken and then run swiftly in the other direction.
The creature reared back and then let out another screaming cry. Then
it struck again, this time swinging at Yuffie, who stood there unmoving for
a moment, then desperately flung herself out of the way just in time.
Barret shook the cobwebs out of his head.
"It's using some kind of sonic attack, " he shouted over to Yuffie.
"Try to stay away from it when it screams!"
"If you see a place to hide, let me know," she called in return.
He had to admit she had a point. The path on either side of the channel
was narrow, barely six feet across. Well within the range of the huge
serpents claws. There was no place to hide.
Barret let go another blast, backing away slowly. They didn't seem to
be doing much damage. He had his share of materia, but what spell would be
best to use? The creature seemed to be at home in the water, so fire would
seem the appropriate choice. But he knew he didn't have the fire materia.
Who did?
He looked at Red, who still lay stunned on the floor in the center of
the tunnel. He pulled out a green materia.
"Yuffie," he called, "keep it occupied!"
She looked at him a moment, then threw her shuriken again and stepped
right to the edge of the channel. The creature turned and lunged toward her.
She dodged so desperately that she tumbled and nearly fell into the churning
water. In an instant she was back on her feet scrambling away.
"Thanks a lot!" she called back to him.
Barret did not respond, for he was concentrating on the green materia
in his hand.
Red felt a surge of energy when he was hit with the cure spell. He
shook his head and got up, feeling his mind clear.
"Red, use fire!" he heard Barret call.
The creature screamed at them again. Barret covered his ears, but it
didn't seem to help much. The serpent turned and slammed both claws down on
Yuffie, and for a moment Barret was certain she'd been crushed, but then he
saw her scrambling away again, apparently unhurt.
The creature screamed again, but this time in pain as it was hit by a
huge ball of fire. Barret stepped forward and started to blast away with his
gun again. There was a flash of light as Yuffie hit the creature with a
lightning spell.
The creature reeled back as Yuffie and Red hit it repeatedly with their
spells while Barret continued firing. With one final scream it twisted
around and sunk down below the raging water.
"We toasted him," Yuffie yelled with glee.
Barret sat down for a moment to catch his breath. They had killed the
beast but they were still trapped.
It only took a minute for the zombies to break through the door, but if
they thought at all it was likely they regretted it. For when they opened it
they were met by Cloud's flashing sword. The party was making it's stand
just inside the entrance, which was narrow and easily defended. The zombies
could only come at them two or three at a time, and for a long time they
stood their ground. But there seemed to be no end to their enemy. Even after
there was a pile of bodies in front of them that almost formed a solid wall,
they still kept coming.
Slowly the party was forced back in spite of all their attempts to
prevent it. Cloud continued to swing his sword viciously at any zombie
foolish enough to come within reach, but both Tifa and Cait had long ago
resorted to casting spells that caused as much damage to as many zombies as
possible.
Tifa risked a glance behind her and saw that the back wall was just a
few feet away. They could not retreat much further. She cast an ice spell
and stepped backwards, almost stumbling with weariness They were all
exhausted, and she knew she would not have the strength to continue for much
longer. It seemed impossible that they could have attracted so much
attention without Barret and the others hearing or seeing something. Or
perhaps they were in the same situation somewhere else in the vaults. She
was just beginning to feel desperate about their situation when the
seemingly endless line of zombies suddenly petered out. Cloud swung his
sword one more time and the final zombie fell. Then they all stood in
silence, hardly believing that the battle was finally over.
"We did it," Cloud said weakly, leaning on his sword for support. Cait
sat down while Tifa leaned against the wall. They were too tired to respond.
"Looks like we caught you at a bad time," said a strange yet familiar
voice. They all looked up to see a man in a neat blue suit standing in the
doorway. Behind him two other people stepped into view.
"Turks," Cloud said softly. "Great."
"So what do we do now?" Yuffie asked.
Barret sat with his back against the wall, while Yuffie, without
realizing it, was now pacing back and forth. Red was wandering around
staring at the tunnel around them.
"I'm thinking," Barret replied.
"In that case we could be here a very long time," she remarked.
Barret did not answer. He was too worried to be baited by her verbal
sparring. Someone had deliberately locked them in here, and the only reason
he could think of someone doing that was to get them out of the way. He felt
that Cloud and the others were in desperate trouble.
"We have to get out of here," he muttered.
Red strode over to them.
"Perhaps we can," he said. "Look at those pipes."
Barret followed Red's gaze. In the corner near one end of the tunnel,
almost hidden in the shadows, two narrow pipes ran up the wall. He looked up
and saw that they ran into the ceiling above, but another pipe ran out of
the wall not to far from them. This one ran across to the other side of the
tunnel into the far wall right next to the ladder.
He looked at Red.
"Someone might be able to make that," he said slowly.
"But those pipes would never support your weight," Red pointed out.
"And you, of course, have already mentioned that climbing is not one of
your talents," Barret returned.
They both turned to look at Yuffie, who had stopped pacing and was
looking at the water now, unaware of their conversation.
"Oh Yuffie, " Barret called pleasantly. "We've got a little job that
requires your ninja skills. It'll also give you a chance to get over your
fear of heights."
"Did somebody take out an advertisement in the paper announcing we
would be in Midgar today?" Tifa questioned.
Reno stepped into the room and looked them over, a sly look on his
face. Rude and Elena followed.
"I wouldn't know about that," Reno said casually. "The truth of the
matter is we have no quarrel with you. We were sent here to obtain a
particular item. An item that seems likely now to be in your possession. If
you would be kind enough to hand it over we can all avoid an unseemly
altercation."
Cloud gave a short bark of laughter.
"I seem to recall that the last time we had an unseemly altercation the
Turks came up at the short end of it," he said fiercely.
Elena stepped forward.
"I told you they wouldn't listen," she said sharply. "C'mon, let's just
finish them."
Reno held up his hand.
"Control yourself, Elena," he answered calmly. "In there weakened
condition it would hardly be a fair fight. Besides, they were kind enough to
open up the vault for us and eliminate any other opposition. We own them a
debt of gratitude. Give us the Crystal Materia and I give you my word as a
Turk that you will not be harmed."
"And if you are hoping that your friends will show up to give you a
hand," Elena added, "then you are in for a disappointment."
"What did you do to them!" Tifa exclaimed.
"Just led them astray with a simple ruse," Reno replied. "I assure you
they were unharmed when we left them. Now, I'm afraid I can't wait any
longer. Will you give us the materia?"
Cloud lifted up his sword and held it in front of himself.
"Not likely," he answered grimly.
"So be it," Reno stated, as if he had known all along.
The Turks attacked simultaneously. This fight was considerably
different from their battle with the zombies, who had used brute force and
large numbers to try to overpower them. The Turks attacked with a
coordinated well thought out plan. They did not press the attack at close
range, preferring to hold back and pummel Cloud and his friends with magic
spells. Tifa realized the wisdom in this. In their exhausted state they
would soon be too weak to use their own spells, and this was a safer course
then a direct physical confrontation, where even in his weakened state
Cloud was still capable of doing serious damage with his weapon.
Tifa saw Cloud fall backward as he was hit by a blast from Reno's
electromag rod. She turned to cast a cure spell but nothing happened. She
realized she no longer had the strength to use her materia. With a sinking
felling she realized they could not win this battle.
As if they could feel Cloud and his friends weakening, the Turks
pressed forward, increasing the power of their attacks. Suddenly Tifa felt
burning pain as fire flashed around them. She stumbled backwards and fell.
She looked over to see the other members of the party down as well. With
sudden resolve they all slowly got up, and stood with their backs literally
to the wall. If they were going to lose, they would sell themselves dearly,
she thought.
The Turks started forward but were interrupted by a blast of gunfire.
With a shout Yuffie and Red ran past Barret and threw themselves into the
fray. The Turks were instantly demoralized by the sudden appearance of
reinforcements, and immediately were put on the defensive. With renewed
vigor Cloud, Tifa and Cait sprang forward to join their friends, but the
Turks gave way, knowing that the battle was hopeless now. They turned and
retreated into the corridor, and Cloud was too tired to pursue them. Reno
stopped and turned toward them.
"Apparently our simple ruse was a little too simple," he said. "You've
won this round, but you know this isn't the end of it. We'll see you again
soon enough."
Cloud knew that was true, but he said nothing as they turned and
disappeared down the corridor.
"You guys got here just in a nick of time," Tifa exclaimed.
"That's apparent," Yuffie said, seeing their obvious exhaustion.
Barret resisted the urge to snap at her. After all, she had climbed
across those pipes in the tunnel and gotten out quickly enough to release
them and get them here in time. In spite of her character, she did have her
uses.
"Well, it's all over now," Cloud said. "We have the Crystal. I suggest
we follow the Turks example and get out of here as fast as possible."
CHAPTER V
Cloud was surrounded by white light. He looked down to see the world
far below his feet. He was suspended in the air far above the planet, but he
felt no fear or discomfort.
He looked up and saw Aeris standing a few paces away. He reached out to
her and tried to call out her name, but he heard no sound. Still, she seemed
to understand, for she looked at him and smiled. Then she looked down..
He followed her gaze and saw a large island below them. He recognized
it as one of the southern islands, the one that had held the Temple of the
Ancients, in fact, for he could just barely make out the small clearing
where it had once stood.
He looked back up at her. She looked at him expectantly, her face
showing no emotion except for her calm smile. It seemed she was trying to
tell him something, but he had no clue what. He tried to ask, but again no
sound came out. Then she looked down again and pointed.
He looked down one more time. And then suddenly he was falling. He
looked up to see her disappearing rapidly into the distance, the calm smile
still on her face. He looked down and saw that he was dropping not onto the
island but towards the water off it's southern shore.
He felt no impact as he hit the water, but suddenly he was below it,
sinking rapidly into the depths. He sank for a long time, but he still felt
no discomfort or need for breath. The sea was filled with life, but none of
it paid any attention to him. He looked down and saw that the bottom was now
in view, and then he saw a cave on a small rise in front of him, a faint
green glow emanated from it..
He drifted down to the bottom right in front of it, and then slowly
felt himself being drawn in. The glow grew brighter and sparkled in a
familiar way, and suddenly he realized it was the glow of the lifestream.
It filled the air all around him as he slowly drifted into the cave.
He felt the tug of the current become stronger. The cave seemed to be
filled with shadows that moved around him like living things. He had felt
nothing but peaceful contentment up to this point, but suddenly he felt
uneasy. The current grew stronger still, and for the first time he tried to
resist. He made an attempt to swim back the way he had come, but it had no
effect. He felt the current grow stronger still and now he was being pulled
swiftly through the tunnel. Suddenly he saw the lifestream fade away into
darkness and a black vortex opened up in front of him. He desperately tried
to halt his progress, for he knew that if he was sucked into the dark abyss
he would never return. His efforts were useless, and even as he felt himself
being swept helplessly to his doom, he heard a familiar laughter ringing in
his ears.
Cloud woke up with a start. He thought he had cried out, although he
could not be certain. He sat up in the bed, looking around the room for a
minute, confused. In a moment he remembered he and the others had headed
back to Kalm after their little excursion to Midgar, and he was now sitting
up in a bed in the backroom of Tifa's bar.
The sun was shining brightly through the window, and he wondered how
late it was. He got up and a short time later strolled into the bar proper.
The others were gathered around one of the tables in the center of the room.
Tifa came over to him as soon as she saw him.
"We knew how exhausted you were from the battle and didn't want to
disturb you, " she said. "Sleep well?"
He looked at her for a moment. It was obvious that she knew more about
his dreams than he had thought, and he wondered now if she was somehow aware
of his most recent one, but he could read nothing in her face.
"Well enough," he replied.
"Good," she said. "We've been waiting for you to get up so we can
decide on the next step."
They walked over and the others greeted him. He and Tifa both sat
down.
"Well, we've got the Crystal Materia," he said. "So I guess you're all
wondering where do we go from here. Red?"
"I'm afraid we don't have much to go on," Red replied. "I've been
working on translating the book but it is difficult work. From what I have
deciphered so far the Crystal Materia can only be used successfully in
certain locations on the planet."
"And where might that be," Barret questioned.
"There are several places mentioned," he replied, "but I have never
heard of any of them, nor can I find any reference to them in any other
book. I think this is because that they are not actually on the planet."
"What do you mean," Yuffie asked, puzzled.
"I don't think the locations mentioned are geographical locations on
the surface of the planet, rather they appear to be locations within the
lifestream."
"What exactly does that mean?" Tifa asked.
"I'm not sure," Red answered. "There are certain places within the
lifestream that are places of power. They are not tied to one geographical
location on the planet, but rather represent crossroads in the flow of the
lifestream."
"So if they're not always in the same place, then how are we supposed
to find them?" Cait asked quite reasonably.
"I said that they are not tied to one place," Red replied. "But that
doesn't mean they move. It just means they could move. If I understand
correctly, some do not move at all, or move only after thousands of years.
If we found a reference to the location of even one on the planet, chances
are it would still be there."
"But we don't know where one is," Cait pointed out.
"No," Red answered.
"It doesn't sound like we have much at all," Barret commented. "We
don't even know how to get into the lifestream itself, much less find a
major intersection."
"We were in the lifestream once before," Tifa pointed out, looking at
Cloud.
He said nothing, but just sat there, apparently deep in thought.
"That's right, at Mideel," Barret spoke up.
"Perhaps that would be a logical starting place for us then," Red
suggested.
"No," Cloud said suddenly.
They all looked at him.
"No?" Tifa said.
"No, " he repeated. "We have to go to Junon."
:"Junon?" Cait and Yuffie said at once.
They waited for him to explain.
"Cloud?" Tifa prompted, a look of puzzlement and concern mixed on her
face.
He hesitated a moment more, then told them about the vision he had
had that morning.
"So what are you trying to tell us," Cait asked when he had finished.
"That the dream was real?"
"It wasn't a dream," Cloud said sharply. "It was more than that. It was
so vivid, so real. I've never had dreams like this before. I can't explain
how I know, but I just know. Aeris showed me the entrance to the lifestream.
It's not in Mideel, it's in an underwater cave off the coast. If we go to
Mideel we'll just be wasting our time."
Some of the others looked skeptical, but none of them doubted Cloud's
sincerity. Whether it was true or not, it was certain that Cloud believed
what he had seen was the truth. Tifa just sat silently beside him, staring
off into space.
"So, even if you are right," Barret commented slowly. "Why do you want
to go to Junon?"
"In my vision," Cloud replied, "I could travel underwater with no ill
effects, but I doubt if that will occur in reality. We left the submarine at
Junon."
"Red."
Red turned as Tifa walked up beside him. The were alone in the bar
now, the others preparing for the trip to Junon.
"Do you think Cloud's visions are real?" she asked.
"I don't know," Red replied with a shrug. "As I said before, most of .
what we once knew about the Ancients is lost. It is clear, however, that
Cloud believes they are real."
Tifa did not respond. She sat down at the table and stared out the
window.
"What's troubling you?" Red asked.
She sighed.
"I think he blames himself for her death," she said finally.
Red wasn't surprised.
"That's nonsense," he replied.
Tifa shrugged.
"I think he believes he could have stopped it, should have stopped it,"
she continued. "I think he feels guilty that he didn't. I think..."
She stopped. He waited patiently for her to continue.
"I'm sorry," she said suddenly. "I'm ranting. Sometimes I think he's
losing his mind. Other times, I think I am."
Red looked at her with a sympathetic eye.
"You think he's having these visions because he blames himself for her
death," he said slowly.
She looked at him for a moment, then looked down at the floor.
"I guess so," she said softly. "I've really tried to believe that she
is trying to contact him, but I can't. She's dead, Red. Much as it hurts to
say so, but that is what I really believe in my heart. Does that make me a
terrible person?"
"Not at all," he answered immediately. "To tell you the truth, I had a
suspicion you might feel that way. You were the only one who did not
hesitate when Aeris vision appeared in the Gi cave."
"So what do I do Red?" she asked, turning to look at him once more.
"What do I do?"
He smiled.
"I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of advice," he replied. "I
would say that you should just keep on doing what you have been. I have a
feeling that in the end it will all work out for you. In the meantime, the
only thing I can tell you is to take your own advice."
She looked at him, puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
"There was a time in our last adventure when all of the people with
Hojo's tattoos seemed to be going mad. I was afraid that it would happen to
me too. Do you remember what you told me then?"
She paused for a moment in thought. Then she smiled.
"I told you to be strong," she said finally.
He placed a reassuring paw on her shoulder.
"Be strong, Tifa, be strong."
They reached the dockyard on the outskirts of Junon early the next
morning. None of them had been back here since their last adventure. After
all, it's not everyday you need the use of a submarine. Things didn't look
much different at first, but as they neared the docks they were surprised to
find that it was surrounded by a fence. In front of them at the end of the
road was a large gate with two guards on either side.
"That's new," Barret commented.
They walked up to the gate. A guard came forward and held up his hand
for them to halt.
"Do you have business here?" he questioned.
"We need to get into the dockyard," Cloud replied.
The guard nodded.
"Certainly, if you'll just show me your clearance."
The look they gave him made it obvious that they were lacking in that
regard. The guard looked at them sternly and shook his head.
"You can't pass without clearance."
"Clearance from who?" Barret growled.
"Why, Mayor Hart, of course," the guard replied. "We've had a lot of
cases of unauthorized use of government property. Mayor Hart is cracking
down. You can't go onto the docks without his permission."
"Hart?" Cait said. "What happened to the old Mayor?"
"He retired about six months ago," the guard replied. "Hart is the
Mayor now. He's started a lot of innovative programs."
"I'll bet," Barret replied. "Look, we just need to use the submarine.
We're not here to mess with anything else. We're from Avalanche, and I'm
sure your Mayor won't mind."
"You guys are from Avalanche?" the guard said, his eyes widening. "I
heard it was you who beat Sephiroth. I didn't think anyone would be able to
do that."
"Great," Cloud replied. "Now can we pass?"
The guard hesitated and looked at them, embarrassed.
"I'm afraid I really can't let you through without permission," he said
hesitantly.
"Oh good grief," Barret exclaimed, obviously starting to lose his
temper. "This is ridiculous. We're not thieves, and we need the sub. Now let
us through."
The guard stepped back as the second guard came over slowly. They both 3
realized that they would be no match for this group if it came to a fight.
"I'm sorry," he stammered. "I'm just doing my job. I'm sure if you go
see the Mayor you will have no problem getting clearance. But I can't let
you through without it."
Barret just stared at them with his hands on his hips.
"It's all right," Tifa said, walking over to Barret. "We can go talk to
the Mayor. C'mon, Barret. It's not their fault."
For a moment longer Barret glared at the guards, then he turned and
looked at Cloud.
"Tifa's right," Cloud said finally. "C'mon, let's go pay the Mayor a
visit.
They walked back down the road and turned north. In a few minutes they
were in Junon proper. The city itself didn't seem to have changed much since
their last visit. The cannon was gone, of course, decaying now in the ruins
of Midgar, but otherwise the city appeared virtually unchanged. It turned
out the Mayor had his office in the old Shinra headquarters, and Tifa
shuddered for a moment as they walked by the room that held the gas chamber
where she had almost perished. This was another place that she had hoped to
never see again.
They reached the Mayor's office and entered. The waiting room was
empty, except for a secretary at a desk in the front of the room. She looked
at them as they walked up to her.
"Can I help you?"
"We need to see the Mayor," Cloud said.
"Do you have an appointment?" she asked.
"No," Cloud replied. "We need to use the submarine and we were told we
had to get clearance from the Mayor first."
"I'll go see if he's available," she said, and got up.
"Tell him we're from Avalanche," Barret added.
She raised her eyebrows at this, but said nothing. She walked into the
next room.
"Let's hope this doesn't take long," Barret muttered.
She came out again in a moment.
"The Mayor will see you shortly, please have a seat."
Barret grumbled, but then they all sat down and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Barret fidgeted and grumbled the entire time. He kept giving the
secretary glaring looks, but she did her best to ignore them. Finally even
the others started to get impatient
"How much longer is this going to take?" Cloud asked.
"The Mayor is a very busy man," the secretary responded.
"Busy?" Barret exclaimed, "there's not even anyone else here!"
The secretary gave him an exasperated look.
"Considering the fact that you don't have an appointment, you're lucky
that he agreed to see you at all," she answered.
"Yeah, real lucky,' Yuffie chimed in.
"Did you tell him that we were from Avalanche," Barret asked.
"Remember, the people who stopped Meteor and saved the planet?"
"Yes, I told him," she answered with a sigh.
They sat back down and waited a little while longer. But then Cloud
looked at Barret and without saying a word they suddenly all got up and
walked toward the door to the Mayor's chambers.
The secretary stood up in surprise.
"You can't go in there!" she cried.
"Not likely you're going to stop us, sister," Yuffie exclaimed and took
a menacing step toward her. The secretary stepped back.
"The Mayor isn't going to like this, " she said lamely as they filed
by.
"You can say that again," Barret growled.
The Mayors office was a large well furnished room. There was a huge
desk at the far end of it. Behind the desk sat the Mayor with a young woman
in his lap. He looked up startled as they came in, then stood up abruptly,
almost dumping the woman on the floor. She righted herself a gave him a
dirty look.
"I thought I told April that I was not to be disturbed, " he said,
somewhat flustered.
"I'm afraid we took the liberty of coming in on our own," Cloud
replied. "And since we're here now and it doesn't look like you're all that
busy after all, perhaps you could find the time to have a little discussion
with Avalanche."
The Mayor looked like he would get angry for a moment, but then, seeing
the look on the faces of the six well armed people in front of him, appeared
to change his mind.
"Of course, " he replied with a smile. "Sorry to have kept you
waiting."
He turned toward the woman. "I'll continue my dictation later on,
Selene. You can go."
With a smile at the others, she turned and walked out of the room.
"So what can I do for you, my friends?" the Mayor asked.
Cloud explained the situation.
"Oh, so you need to use the submarine," Hart said when he had finished.
"I see. Well, this is a very serious request. I'm afraid I just can't give
you use of the submarine on a spur of the moment. We're conducting some very
important research right now, and I don't know whether it can be
interrupted."
"What sort of research is that, exactly?" Red questioned.
"Well, I'm afraid I can't say. It's all hush, hush, and all that. You
know."
"No we don't know," Barret said sharply. "We're not going to need it
for long. Besides, we were the ones who acquired the ship from Shinra, so
it's basically our submarine."
"Well, " Hart responded, searching for a moment for a response. "As
private citizens, you can't really own the submarine. It was property of
Shinra, and once that company was dissolved it reverted to the state."
"But I'm not a private citizen, " Barret responded with a sudden
smile. "I'm the Mayor of Corel And as such I believe I have the right to
claim the submarine as property of that city."
Hart looked at him for a moment before responding.
"But you were not Mayor when you acquired the ship. I don't think your
claim would hold up."
"Look," Cloud interrupted. He really was not interested in discussing
the finer points of any legal battle they might have over the submarine.
"Are you going to let us use it or not?"
The Mayor looked around his office for a moment, as if trying to think
of the proper way to respond.
"All right, I may be able to swing it," he said finally. "But you have .
to do something for me in return."
Barret looked at him skeptically.
"And what might that be?"
"I need you to get something for me," he said.
They did not respond, but waited for him to say more.
"I need you to get me the plans for the Mako reactor underneath Junon."
he continued.
"Whatever for?" Tifa exclaimed. "Surely you're not thinking of building
another Mako reactor?"
"No, not at all," Hart replied quickly. "It's just that some of my
engineers believe that they can use the plans to build a conventional
reactor that's more efficient."
Cloud looked at the others. They seemed as doubtful as he about this
new development. Tifa in particular did not look like she liked this idea
one bit. He turned back to the Mayor.
"Assuming we agree,:" he said, "just where are these plans?"
"Why, in the reactor, of course," Hart replied.
"Somehow I knew you were going to say that," Cloud said softly.
Mako created monsters had continued to haunt the city of Junon even
after the fall of Shinra. Some brave people had entered the reactor itself
to try to clean out this scourge, but none had ever returned. In the end it
had been decided it would be better to simply seal off the reactor and let
the monsters rot inside. Now Cloud and his friends found themselves standing
in the underwater passageway just outside the huge steel doors that the
Mayor's assistants were in the process of unbolting.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tifa asked, not for the first time.
"No, I'm not," Cloud replied. "But it doesn't look like we have much
choice. It's either this or take the submarine by force and probably have
the entire city of Junon after us."
"For all we know," Yuffie said, "the city might be glad to get rid of
this guy. I'm beginning to wonder how he ever got elected in the first
place."
"And besides," Cait added, "how do we know he's telling the truth when
he says he only wants the plans to build an improved conventional reactor?
I don't trust him."
"After all that's happened," Tifa said, "the people would never let him
build another Mako reactor. They'd kick him right out of office. That kind
of greed almost destroyed the planet once already."
"Most people thought Shinra should have been kicked out long before it
was," Barret observed, "but it took a long time for it to happen."
"I don't trust him either," Cloud said. "And I'm open to any
suggestions, if anyone has got one. I think we have little choice but to
take his word for it, and if we find out later on that he's lying, well, the
citizens of Junon won't be the only people he has to deal with. I'm sure
that you haven't forgotten that we have some experience at taking out Mako
reactors."
No one had forgotten.
The assistants completed unbolting the doors and now nervously opened
them just far enough for someone to pass through. They looked at Cloud and
his friends anxiously,
"All right, let's get this over with," Cloud said. He walked over and
slipped through the doors. The others followed. As soon as they were all
inside the doors was slammed ominously behind them.
"I got a feeling they're not expecting us back," Cait commented.
They looked around. They were in a large passageway. Machinery lined
the walls and a catwalk ran along the wall to their right. Except for
themselves, it seemed deserted.
"Well, I don't see any sign of Mako monsters," Barret observed. "This
place has been sealed up for almost a year, maybe they all turned on each
other."
"Maybe, " Cloud replied, the doubt in his voice obvious.
"So where do we go from here?" Tifa asked.
Hart had told him where the plans could be found, if of course they
hadn't been moved. Cloud thought that unlikely. The plans weren't something
that would be of interest to anyone, or anything, for that matter.
"This way," he said, and started walking to the left.
There was a corridor off in that direction and Cloud led them down it.
This led into another room filled with machinery. Tifa kept her eyes open as
they walked, but she saw no hint that the place was occupied. Nor did she
sense that they were being watched or followed. She felt that they were
completely alone down here.
Cloud led them down two more levels, and still they met no opposition.
Tifa was beginning to believe that maybe Barret was right, and the only
thing they had to worry about was getting lost. They had made a dozen turns
already, and without the others she would have no clue where she was going,
but Cloud seemed to know the way and he led them unhesitantly.
They entered the largest room they had seen yet. They stood on a metal
grating about six feet wide that ran along the wall on this side of the
room. Below them the rest of the room was filled with a clear green liquid.
A metal stairway led up to a catwalk that ran above the pool across the
room and into another corridor twenty feet above the pool on the opposite
wall.
"Must be coolant for the reactor," Red observed, looking at the liquid.
Cloud nodded and led them single file up the stairway and onto the
catwalk. They had still seen no sign of an enemy, and he had unconsciously
begun to relax a little. Even if he had been alert, he was looking for some
enemy, and not at the structure on which they walked. The reactor had had no
maintenance done on it in almost a year, and if anyone had looked closely
they might have been concerned by the rust covering the metal struts
supporting the catwalk.
But no one did notice, and the first hint they had was the grating
sound of metal on metal and a sudden shudder as one of the supports gave
way.
"Get back!" Cloud shouted in the instant he had before the section they
were standing on collapsed.
The catwalk gave way at one end and swung down like a trapdoor opening.
Yuffie, who was last in line, scrambled back madly and managed to make it to
an undamaged section. Red, who was next, made a tremendous leap as the walk
gave way and landed halfway on the undamaged part. For a moment he balanced
there, his paws flailing wildly to gain a grip, then Yuffie grabbed hold of
him and hauled him up.
The others were too far along to jump back. Cloud grabbed Tifa's arm
with one hand, then lunged and managed to grasp the swinging handrail.
Barret and Cait slid down, desperately reaching for the railing as they
fell. Barret managed to grab it and hold on at the last moment. He hung
there slowly swinging back and forth above the coolant. Cait scrambled to
get a handhold as well, but couldn't quite manage it. He fell into the
coolant below with a loud splash.
He came up gasping.
"Is this stuff poisonous?" he yelled anxiously.
"I don't think so," Red replied. "Just swim back to the platform and
you'll be fine."
Cait paddled back toward the metal grating. Cloud hauled himself up the
handrail, thinking at any moment the rest of the catwalk would give way and
they would all end up in the drink. But he climbed up without incident, then
turned and helped Tifa and Barret.
They stood up and looked back at Yuffie and Red. A good fifteen feet
now separated them.
"So what do we do now?" Yuffie asked.
Cloud shrugged.
"I guess we'll go on," he answered. "I don't see how you can get
across, so wait here until we get back."
She held out her arms and gave him a look of exasperation.
"So I'm just supposed to wait here with the furballs?" she said.
Cloud just shook his head.
"Let's get going, " he said to Tifa and Barret.
They move forward cautiously, but they reached the end of the catwalk
without further incident. They disappeared into the corridor beyond.
Yuffie and Red walked back down to the platform and helped Cait climb
out of the coolant. He shook his huge Mog body, and Yuffie cried in protest
as he showered them with water.
"Cut it out," she exclaimed. "If you weren't such a big lug the catwalk
probably wouldn't have fallen in the first place."
"Hey, don't try to blame it on me," Cait answered defensively. "This
body is big but it's very light. I bet it doesn't weigh much more than you
do."
Yuffie said nothing but looked at him skeptically. Then she turned and
walked back toward the doorway.
"Cloud told us to wait here," Red said.
"Well, I'm not going to just stand around here waiting for them," she
replied. "Suppose they get in trouble and need our help? I'm going to see if.3
there is another way through."
"You're more likely to just get yourself hopelessly lost," Red said.
"You're welcome to come if you want," she said sharply. "But I'm going,
regardless."
Red and Cait looked at each other, then turned and started after her.
"I've got a feeling we're going to regret this," Red said resignedly.
Cloud led them through two more rooms and down a flight of steps which
led into yet another large room. He stopped for a moment to get his
bearings. Then he pointed to the right.
"The reactor core is right in there," he said. "The plans are in an
office above them. C'mon, we're almost there."
They took a few steps but then stopped. A sound came from their left. A
rapping sound, as if someone was banging on metal. It was not loud, and
seemed to be coming from a corridor that led off to their left. It went on
for a minute and paused, then started up again.
` Barret looked at Cloud.
"Should we go check it out?" he asked softly.
Cloud stood listening for a few more minutes. The sound faded away, and
this time did not return.
He shook his head.
"I think in this case we'd be better off leaving well enough alone," he
said. "Let's just get the plans and get out of here."
He led them to the right and into the next room. The opposite wall in
the room was a convex semicircle. A large metal door stood on the wall with
the words 'CAUTION: REACTOR CORE' in red above it. A metal stairway led up
to another catwalk that ran along the wall above them. The upper portion of
the wall was covered with windows of offices that lined the area above them.
The glass in all the windows was smashed and scattered across the floor. The
metal stair was bent and twisted, although it still looked serviceable. The
dozens of machines that stood in the room were broken and in some cases torn
to pieces. The door below the sign was dented and appeared to have large
claw marks across it. The entire room was filled with debris. They looked at
it for a few moments in shocked silence.
"Whatever it was that came through here was real angry," Barret
finally stated.
"Yeah," Cloud agreed, looking around carefully. "But it doesn't seem to
be around anymore. Let's get those plans and get out of here before it
decides to come back."
They made their way carefully up the stairs. Cloud was worried now that
the plans would not be there. If whatever had come through had destroyed the
offices the plans might be nothing more than twisted fragments of paper
scattered on the floor. But when they got to the top of the catwalk he saw
that the offices were relatively undamaged.
They walked over to the third office and entered. Cloud quickly went
over to the desk and started to rummage through it as the others kept an eye
out for any visitors. With a grunt of satisfaction Cloud stood up, the plans
in his hands. They quickly strode back along the catwalk and down the stair.
He was sure that something would happen before they got out of the room,
but they made it without incident. Cloud wasn't about to say so out loud,
and they still had a long way to go, but in spite of that he was thinking
that maybe for just this once their little mission would go off without a
hitch.
Red was trying his hardest to keep track of the way back, but it was
difficult. There seemed to be no pattern to Yuffie's meandering. She
appeared to turn right or left as the mood took her. They reached another
intersection and Yuffie turned left.
"I think we're going in the wrong direction," Red said.
Yuffie did not respond, but just kept walking.
"Maybe we should just let her go on by herself," Cait suggested.
"No," Red replied. "We better stay with her. I just wish she wasn't so
stubborn."
They entered another room that appeared to have no other exit. Red and
Cait waited by the door while Yuffie wandered around. Maybe now they would
turn around, Red thought, but his thinking was premature.
Yuffie was at the far end of the room looking at a large piece of
machinery.
"It's looks like there's a door behind here," she said. "Give me a
hand with this."
Red walked over, followed by Cait. He could see the partial outline of
a door behind the machine. Red looked around. There was a trail of scrape
marks on the floor leading from the wall on their left over to the machine.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Yuffie questioned impatiently. "Help
me move this."
"Can't we just go back," Cait finally asked. "This seems like an awful
lot of work just to get lost."
"Nobody is stopping you from going back," Yuffie replied sharply. "But
you sure aren't going to help the others that way."
"It looks like somebody dragged this machine over here from the far
wall," Red observed. "Why would they do that?"
"How should I know," Yuffie replied. "And I don't really care. Now, are
you going to give me a hand or not?"
The three of them together moved the machinery with little difficulty,
even though Red had a feeling that this was an extremely bad idea. He could
only think that the machinery had been put there so that no one could get in
or out of the door behind it.
Once the machinery was out of the way they saw a solid barred metal
door. Yuffie walked up and lifted off the bar.
"I really don't think we should go in there," Red tried again, even
though he knew it was hopeless.
It was.
Yuffie opened the door and walked in. The others waited a moment and
followed. There was a large room inside. Yuffie stood a few steps in. She
turned around and looked at them.
"See," she said, "there's nothing to be afraid of. Now C'mon, you
scardycats, lets go find the..."
She stopped as she saw the look on their faces. Their eyes were wide,
and they were looking up. She turned and saw...
Knees?
She looked up.
Then she looked up higher.
"Oh boy," she said softly.
Cloud led them back as fast as he dared. With each step he expected
something to leap out of the shadows at them, but they made it back to the
coolant room undisturbed.
"Looks like the place might be deserted after all," Barret finally
said.
"We're not out of here yet," Tifa said quickly, even though she had
been thinking the same thing.
They walked along the catwalk above the pool until they reached the
point where it had collapsed.
"Where are the others?" Tifa asked with some concern.
"I don't know," Cloud replied. He had expected them to be waiting here.
"I hope they haven't gotten themselves in some kind of trouble."
No one spoke for a moment as they look across at the other end of the
catwalk. They all knew the only way across was into the pool.
"Well, we won't find out by standing here," Barret said finally and
launched himself off the catwalk. He hit the water with a tremendous splash
and headed for the platform.
Cloud looked at Tifa, who was looking down at the water. It was a good
fifteen foot drop.
"Barret's right," he said. He grabbed hold of her.
"No, wait, I'm..." she began, but then they were plunging downward.
They hit the water and it was cold! She came up sputtering.
"I wasn't ready!" she cried, but he was already swimming for the
platform. She followed and Cloud and Barret hauled her up.
"Now where the hell did they go?" Cloud muttered, walking out into the
hall. He looked both ways as the others came out behind him. He was just
about to complain about the fact that they hadn't stayed put when they heard
sounds down the hallway to the left.
Cloud felt relief when he saw Yuffie come around the corner, with Red
and Cait not far behind.
"Good, you're back, " Yuffie said, rushing right past them. "C'mon,
lets get out of here. We don't have all day, you know."
They looked at her for a moment, then turned as Red and Cait came up.
"You have the plans?" Red questioned.
"Yes," Cloud responded. "What's going on?"
A deep growl echoed down the hallway from the direction they had just
come.
"I'm afraid something followed us home," Red said.
Cloud had his sword out in an instant. A moment later he saw a huge
clawed hand at the end of the hallway. It was attached to a gorilla like
beast that growled again as soon as it saw them.
Cloud took a step forward.
"It's big, but it doesn't seem to be very fast," Red suggested from
behind him. "Perhaps it might be wise to retreat."
Cloud did not respond but stopped his advance.
"Red's right, Cloud," Tifa said. "We've got the plans, let's just get
out of here."
He glanced at them, then turned to look at the beast. It was still a
good twenty feet away. He took a step backwards, then turned and they ran
down the hall after the others.
"Yuffie, the next time we need directions somewhere, remind me not to
ask you, " Barret said with a smile.
"Very funny," she answered sharply. "I'm sure if it had been you
leading the group we'd still be lost down there."
"You may be right," Barret answered, refusing to be baited. "But I
gotta take my hat off to you. I don't think anyone else could have led us
straight to what was probably the only monster left alive down in that
maze."
Yuffie gave him a dark look, but said nothing more.
"Well, no harm done," Cloud said philosophically. "I just hope that
the next time I tell you to wait you'll do just that."
"Yes sir, General Cloud," Yuffie muttered with a quick salute.
They had been walking down the road to the dockyards, and now they
stopped as they once more stood in front of the gates. A guard came over to
them, different from the last one. They showed him their clearance from the
Mayor and the guards swung open the gates.
"That's more like it," Barret said with satisfaction.
They walked out onto the docks. The sub was tied up at the second dock.
The area was completely deserted.
"Cloud, do you think you still remember how to run this thing?" Cait
asked as they walked aboard.
"We'll find out soon enough," he replied. He pulled on the main hatch
and it opened with a grating sound.
"Doesn't sound good," Barret remarked. "You know, it looks like this
thing hasn't been used since the last time we used it. Must of been some
interesting research they were conducting."
"Yeah, I'm sure," Cloud muttered.
They entered the sub and Cloud had to agree with Barret's assessment.
The place looked completely unused. There were even cobwebs covering some of
the instrument panels. A minor nuisance, but a short time later he
discovered a real problem. The engines wouldn't start.
He related that information to the others, and then he and Red went
back to the engine room to take a look around.
Barret sat down unhappily in the helmsman's seat.
"I'll bet that lousy excuse for a Mayor knew the sub wasn't working all
the time," he said angrily. "I think we should go back there and kick his
ass."
"Satisfying as that may be," Tifa replied, "it's not going to get us a
working submarine. But let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe it's something
simple and Cloud and Red can fix it."
"Even if they can," Barret answered, "I'd still like to kick his ass."
It was quite a while before Cloud and Red returned, and when they did
they did not have good news.
"I'm afraid it's beyond our expertise to fix it," Red said. "We just
don't know that much about submarine engines."
"So what do we do now?" Yuffie asked. It seemed they had come an awful
long way to get stuck.
"We need someone to help us," Red replied. "Someone who knows about
engines."
They all looked at each other for a moment.
"Cid," Cloud, Barret and Yuffie all said at once.
They reached Rocket Town the next day. Like Wutai, it had grown, but
not nearly as much. As they walked down the street they saw perhaps a dozen
new houses. As they passed between two of them Cait stopped and pointed to
the north.
"Hey, look at that."
They saw the top of a rocket poking out of the treetops.
"He must be building a new one," Tifa said. "Let's go take a look."
They turned and hurried north. As they came out of the trees they saw
the new rocket in front of them. It looked quite similar to the old one, but
was obviously still under construction and a long way from completion. There
were still gaping holes in the hull, and they could see a dozen technicians
working on the interior.
The launch pad was covered with pipes, electrical lines and
construction equipment. They worked their way trough the maze until they saw
Cid talking to two other men at the base of the rocket.
"Cid!" Cloud called.
He turned and waved. They walked over to him.
"So, how do you like it?" he said as the approached, waving his hand at
the ship. "It's going to be a beauty! Twice as powerful as the old one. If
all goes well we should be done with her sometime next year. You guys up for
another trip into space?"
"I'm not sure we're quite ready for that," Cloud replied. "Looks like
you've been working hard. I guess one trip into space wasn't enough for
you."
"Ha!" Cid spate out. "That was nothing. That just gave me a taste and
now I'm anxious for more. Who knows, with this baby, we might even be able
to reach another planet!"
"Where did you get the funding?" Red asked.
"Well, we're still a little tight there," Cid admitted. "But I got a
lot of investors once they saw that the first rocket actually worked. Plus,
we're cutting expenses as much as possible. I've even used a lot of parts
from the Highwind."
"You took apart the Highwind?" Barret said in surprise.
"Yeah, we needed the parts. Anyway, who needs an airship when you can
have a spaceship. Besides, I've still got the Tiny Bronco."
"But the Tiny Bronco can't fly," Cait said.
"It can now," Cid replied.
"Sounds like you've been keeping busy," Red observed.
"Things couldn t be better, actually," Cid said. "So what have you guys
been up to. I hardly expected to see you all back here together. Are we
having some sort of reunion?"
"Kind of," Cloud replied. He explained the situation.
Cid nodded when Cloud had finished.
"I see. Well, it s kind of busy here but I'm sure I can find the time
to give you a hand. It shouldn't take too long. How about if we leave
tomorrow morning?"
"That would be fine," Cloud agreed.
"Okay, then why don't you guys head over to my place. No sense in
staying at the Inn. Just tell Shera to break out some extra cots. I'll be
back as soon as I can finish up here, but it'll probably not be till late."
Just then a man came running up, he seemed very agitated and was
shouting Cid s name. Cid called and waved him over.
"What s all this about?" he demanded.
"Captain, you've got to come quick," he shouted as soon as he saw them.
"The Turks have got Shera!"
"Why the hell didn't she have the sense to duck out of here when she
saw them coming?" Cid said angrily. The were all standing in the living room
of his house.
"I'm sure she would have if she had the opportunity," Tifa said.
"Don't count on it," Cid replied. "She never did have much sense. I've
half a mind to just let them have her."
"You can't be serious," Tifa cried.
"No, I suppose not," he replied grudgingly. "But we know it's not her
they want. What do you think they'll do it we don't show up?"
The Turks had left a message to meet them at the foot of the nearby
mountains if they ever wanted to see Shera again.
"It's the Crystal Materia they want," Cloud said. "And they obviously
have either a trade or a trap in mind. Shera is just a means to an end to
them, but that doesn't mean they would just let her go if we don't fall for
it. They can be ruthless if they have to. Remember, it was Reno who set off
the bomb that destroyed the Sector 7 slums."
"We haven't forgotten," Barret said grimly.
"So what are we going to do then?" Cid asked.
They all looked at Cloud.
"We'll have to go see what they have to say, at least," he said after
a minute. "But not all of us. Cid and Red, you two come with me. The rest
of you stay here. This way, if it's a trap, they won't get all of us, and
you'll have an opportunity to try to get us out of it if we have problems."
He walked over to Tifa, who did not look pleased with the plan, and
took out the Crystal Materia.
"Here," he said. "You better hold on to this. If we do fall into a trap
we have to be sure this doesn't fall into their hands."
She hesitantly reached out and took the materia from him. He turned and
motioned for Cid and Red to follow him.
"Cloud," Tifa said as he walked toward the door.
He turned to look at her, and for a moment he thought she was going to
protest.
"Be careful," she said finally.
"Later," he replied and led the others out the door.
They headed south out of town. The mountains loomed in front of them,
and it wasn't long before they were walking up a steep path that wound into
the foothills. They came around a narrow turn and saw the Turks standing
idly on the path in front of them.
Cloud drew his weapon as the Turks turned to face them.
"I told you they'd show up," Reno muttered to Elena.
"Where's Shera?" Cloud asked grimly.
"Give us the Crystal Materia and we'll let her go," Reno suggested.
"I'm afraid my answer is the same as it was last time you asked," Cloud
replied immediately. "Not likely."
Reno smiled.
"Where's the rest of your little party," he asked. "Sneaking around
behind us?"
"We leave the sneaking to you Turks," Cloud answered. "They're not
here. We don't need their help to take on the likes of you."
"Very arrogant of you," Reno replied. "Still, I think you may come to
regret that. Shera is in a cave just down the path behind us. She's there
for the taking if you can get past us. On the other hand, when we defeat
you, the Crystal Materia will be ours."
"Apparently I'm not the only one who suffers from a touch of
arrogance," Cloud replied. "Shall we have at it then?"
Cid and Red came up beside Cloud. This time Reno and Rude closed in
immediately to battle Cloud and Cid, while Elena and Red stayed in the back
and started out casting defensive spells. Reno knew Cloud's fighting skills
well, and did not stand toe to toe with him, but instead dodged quickly in
and back out, never giving Cloud a clear target. Most of the time Cloud's
sword, fast as it was, cut only air. Even when he did get a hit, it was
softened by the magical barriers, and Rude was quick to cast cure spells
whenever one of his partners was injured. Still, Reno was spending so much
time dodging Cloud's blows that he had little time to try to cause any
damage himself.
The others seemed pretty evenly matched as well. Cid and Rude were
trading blows to Cloud's left, but neither one seemed to be getting the
better of the other. Occasionally Red or Elena would attack one of the
others, or the whole group, with a materia spell, but each time the other
would counter with a defensive spell or a cure.
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