Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ THE SEACH FOR AERIS RECOVERED ❯ One-Shot

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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 stuckbehind 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 well. 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 her 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.

They fought for some time, neither team seeming to get the upper hand.

After a while they all were beginning to tire, with neither side seeming to

gain an advantage. Cloud was just beginning to think that maybe he should

have brought some of the others, when, as if by mutual consent, the Turks

suddenly broke off the attack and turned and fled up the path.

Cloud hesitated for a moment, surprised by the suddenness of the

retreat, Then he was after them. Not even looking to see if the others were

following, he ran up the path and around the turn the Turks had just

disappeared beyond.

Cid was right behind him. Red trailed a little behind.

"That seemed awfully easy," he commented, but the others did not

appear to hear.

They came around the turn. There was no sign of the Turks, but a cave

mouth loomed on the left ahead.

"That must be the cave," Cloud said. "C'mon."

He ran for the cave, the others following not far behind. About twenty

yards in front of the cave mouth the ground suddenly opened up below them

and they plunged down into darkness.

Cloud hit the water with a splash. The others almost landing on top of

him. He came up to the surface immediately.

Not more water, he thought.

He looked around. They had fallen into a pool of dark water in what

appeared to be some sort of deep shaft. The was a rotting wooden platform

to their left, and beyond it a tunnel that led into the darkness. He looked

up to see a square of light perhaps thirty feet above them.

Reno, Rude and Elena stepped out from behind some nearby rocks and

walked over to the mine entrance they had so cleverly concealed. They looked

in to see Cloud and the others looking up at them.

"I guess I forgot to tell you to watch that first step," Reno said with

a smile.

"Cowards," Cid shouted. "You knew we were going to kick your ass. And

I guarantee you we will as soon as we get out of here."

Reno laughed.

"I don't think you're in any position to make threats," he replied

calmly. "We'd be happy to supply you with a rope, in exchange for the

Crystal Materia, of course."

"Still trying to negotiate?" Cloud answered. "We don't need your rope.

We'll find a way out ourselves."

Elena looked at them skeptically.

"Not likely," she stated.

"Have it your way," Reno said. "I didn't think for a minute that you

would listen to reason. That mineshaft goes on for miles, but there is no

other way out. If you go into those tunnels all you'll do is get yourselves

hopelessly lost. You won't get far in any case. There's some very nasty

creatures down there who don't like visitors. Say hello to them for us when

you see them."

Reno laughed again and the they turned and walked away down the path.

As soon as they were away from the mineshaft he turned to the others.

"We'll let them rot in there for awhile. It's likely that something

down there will kill them all and save us the trouble. Then we can just go

down and help ourselves to the Crystal Materia. In the meantime I think we

might want to head back to Rocket Town. Cloud is no fool. It just might be

that he left the materia with the others."

"I'm sure they're fine," Barret said.

Tifa did not reply, but continued pacing nervously around the room. She

would have felt better if she had gone with Cloud. And she would have felt

much better if he hadn't given her the Crystal Materia. For some reason just

knowing that she had it filled her with foreboding. She wished he had given

it to someone else. She had almost asked Barret to take it a several times,

but had changed her mind each time.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. They all looked at each other.

No one had any suggestions as to who it might be.

Barret shrugged and walked over to the door. Cait and Yuffie went to

either side as Barret opened it.

"Well, I'll be damned," Barret said, suddenly breaking into a grin.

"This really is turning out to be just like old times."

He stepped out of the way as Vincent Valentine walked in.

"Vincent," Cait and Tifa both said in surprise.

Vincent smiled at them as he came in.

"It is good to see you all again," he said. "But I am afraid this is

more than a social visit. It appears we both need each other."

"What do you mean?" Barret asked. They walked over and all sat down

around a table in the living room.

"Cloud is walking into a trap. The Turks are going to lure him into an

abandoned mine, then either finish him off or let the creatures in the mine

do it. Then they'll take the Crystal Materia for themselves."

Tifa shook her head. .

"They can't get the materia from him."

"Why not?" Vincent asked.

"Because he doesn't have it," Tifa replied.

"I see," Vincent said. "Then he'll have nothing to negotiate with. In

any case, if he ends up in the mine he'll never get out by himself. The mine

is a huge maze. There are ways out, but you have to know the way. I can get

him out, but it's too dangerous to go by myself. I also know where they're

holding Shera. If you come with me, I think we can get them all back

safely."

Barret was looking at Vincent with a strange expression on his face.

"That's all well and good," he said, "but how do you know all this?"

Vincent returned his gaze evenly.

"I know because I know who hired the Turks. I know because it's someone

I'm very close to, or was. I know because it's..."

He paused, and for a moment Barret thought he saw a great sadness in

Vincent's eyes.

"Lucrecia," he said finally. "Lucrecia hired them."

Yuffie looked at him with both puzzlement and shock on her face.

"But why would Lucrecia hire the Turks to fight us?" she asked.

"She didn't hire them to fight you," Vincent replied. "She hired them

to get the Crystal Materia."

"But why?" Tifa asked.

Again he did not respond at first. At last he spoke the words as if it

pained him to say them.

"You want to use the materia to bring back Aeris. But if it works it

can bring back any of the Ancients, including her son."

The others looked at him in shocked silence.

"Sephiroth?" Yuffie exclaimed finally. "She wants to bring back

Sephiroth?"

Vincent nodded.

"I'm afraid she's not thinking clearly," he said sadly. "In fact, it

may be that she is not in her right mind at all. She doesn't seem to realize

that Sephiroth nearly destroyed the planet, and was only out for his own

gain and would have killed her along with all the rest of us. She's obsessed

with the idea of bringing him back. She told me of her plans, she told me

all about it. That's how I know so much, you see. But she turned against me

when I opposed the idea. She called me a traitor, said I didn't really care

about her at all. I wanted her to stop, I begged and pleaded with her to

stop, but I couldn't get through to her. She's even attacked you, my

friends, to get what she wants. I can't just stand by and watch her do it,

I have to try to stop her, no matter how I may feel about it."

He ended lamely. The others looked at him sympathetically. All except

Tifa, who was thinking about the Crystal Materia. She had never thought

about the possibility that it could be used to bring back anyone but Aeris.

It seemed to her now that obtaining it had been a foolish and dangerous

thing to do, and their innocent quest to save her could turn into something

dark and deadly, not just for them but for everyone on the planet. It would

have been better if they had never found the materia, or if they just

destroyed it. They would not be able to use it then, but no one else would

either. She took it out and held it in her hand. It might be better for them

all if she just smashed it right now.

She knew she couldn't do that. Whatever might happen, she couldn't

destroy their last hope of resurrecting Aeris. At least not without Cloud's

consent. She would just have to make sure the materia didn't fall into the

wrong hands, but now the burden felt twice as heavy.

"So what can we do?" Barret asked.

"Come with me into the mines. I know them well. We can rescue both

Shera and Cloud that way, but it is too dangerous to try by myself. It will

still be dangerous, but we may be able to make it together. In any case, we

should leave right away. The others are in grave danger."

"Good," Barret agreed. "But I don't think we should all go. Cloud

wanted the Crystal Materia to remain here, and I don't see any reason to

change that. Yuffie, you come with Vincent and me."

He turned to Tifa.

"You and Cait stay here. This way the materia is safe and someone is

here to tell Cloud where we went, on the chance that he escaped the trap and

comes back."

"I don't want to stay," Tifa protested.

"Don't argue with me," Barret retorted. "You know as well as I do that

the materia has to be protected now more than ever. We just can't chance

it."

Tifa sighed but said nothing. She did not like this latest development

one bit, however.

"Okay, lets get going," Barret said.

They got up and started out the door.

"Take good care of things while we're gone," Barret said to Cait.

"Don't worry," Cait replied. "We'll make sure nothing happens to the

materia."

Tifa said nothing, but just watched them walk out the door, more

worried than ever.

"Well, it looks like we're not getting back out that way," Cloud said,

looking up.

They were standing on the wooden platform next to the water. Red looked

down the tunnel which was the only other way out. Cid sat on the edge of the

platform smoking a cigarette.

"Do you think the others can find us here?" he asked.

"I suppose," Cloud replied. "But it might be hours before they get

here. I don't think we have the time to waste. We've got to try to get

ourselves out of this."

"So into the tunnels it is then?" Red asked.

"Into the tunnels it is," Cloud agreed.

The tunnel sloped slightly upward as they walked into it. Cloud was in

the lead, his sword ready, Red behind him and Cid in the rear. Cloud didn't

know whether the Turks had been bluffing about the creatures down here, but

he thought it wise to be prepared for anything. It seemed unlikely that Reno

would trap them down here without some sort of nasty surprise waiting.

The tunnel turned sharply and then divided in two. The right hand side

plunged downward while the left seemed to remain level.

"So which way do we go?" Red said.

Cloud peered down each tunnel, listening carefully. Finally he shook

his head.

"I guess we'll just have to pick one at random. We'll just keep making

lefts," he decided. "This way at least we'll be able to find our way back."

He led them down the left hand passage. It was narrow and twisted, so

they could not see very far ahead. They passed side tunnels half a dozen

times, and each time chose the left hand passage. They went on for quite

some time this way, always on guard but seeing nothing threatening. Time

seemed to crawl by. Cloud wasn't sure how long they had been down here, but

it seemed like hours. He was just thinking that maybe they would have been

better off waiting for the others when they came around a turn and saw a

flickering light ahead.

Cloud moved forward cautiously. He could see a large chamber ahead of

them. It flickered with light that was obviously cast by fire. He edged up

to the end of the passage and peered out. He could see fires burning

brightly at either end of the chamber. In the center of the cavern stood

a square wooden cage. Shera sat in one corner of the it, unmoving. At first

he thought that, except for her, the room was deserted, but then a shadow

flickered though the air. He looked up and saw that the ceiling was crowded

with dark figures. He retreated back to the others.

"We've found Shera. But she s being guarded by giant bat like

creatures."

He motioned for them to follow and led them back to the entrance so

they could see for themselves, then they retreated again.

"There must be dozens of them," Cid said. "I don't think we can take

them all on."

"If we can get Shera and get back into this tunnel we might be okay,"

Cloud said thoughtfully. "It s too narrow for them to use their numbers

against us. They could only come at us one or two at a time. We could hold

out a long time."

"A long time," Red agreed, "but not forever. It's not going to do us

much good if we get Shera and can't find our way out. We have to find an

exit first."

"We could spend hours looking for an exit," Cid countered. "And even

then there s no guarantee that we'll be able to find our way back here, or

that Shera will still be here when we do. I say we get her now while we have

the chance and trust to luck to find the way out."

"It'll be twice as hard to search for an exit once we have alerted

these creatures to our presence," Red retorted. "And it doesn't look like

Shera will be going anywhere anytime soon. The prudent thing to do would be

to find the exit first."

They both turned to look at Cloud.

He looked back down the passageway. It would make sense to find the

exit first, but he felt pressed for time. He wondered what the Turks were up

to while they were trapped down here. It seemed in hindsight that perhaps it

hadn't been such a good idea to split up the group. He had a feeling they

had to get out of here as soon as possible.

"We'll get her now and trust to luck," he said. "But there are too many

of them to just run out there. We need some kind of diversion."

They edged back to the entrance and looked out carefully. A narrow path

led down from the tunnel they were in onto the main chamber floor. Shera's

cage was perhaps thirty yards away, in the middle of the room with nothing

around it.

"If one of us ran out there and attracted their attention," Cloud

whispered," the others may have time to get Shera out."

"That's fine for everyone except the person who attracts their

attention," Cid replied. "It won't do us any good to exchange one prisoner

for another."

"If he could keep moving, he might be able to get back to the tunnel

after we get Shera out," Cloud said. "It s risky, but I don't see what else

we can do."

"So who s the poor fool who gets to go out there?" Cid asked.

"It's my idea," Cloud replied. "I'll go. As soon as you see them come

after me, get Shera, then get back in the tunnel. I'll circle around the

chamber and join you here."

"No," Red cut in. "I'll go. The job requires speed and agility more

than strength. With my four legs I'm more than twice as fast as you. I'm the

logical choice."

Cloud hesitated. He had not expected anyone to object, but he had to

admit that Red had a point.

Finally he nodded.

"Okay," he said. "You just have to keep their attention for a minute or

two. As soon as you see us get Shera, get back here as fast as possible."

"Right," Red replied. He crept up closer to the entrance and crouched

down. He remained still, staring out into the chamber for a moment, only his

tail twitching occasionally. Suddenly he leapt out as one of the bats flew

by. He caught hold of it with his claws and they both tumbled to the floor

together. Then he was up and dashing across the room. There was a flurry of

activity above their heads and suddenly shadow began swooping down all

around him.

Cloud waited a moment to give Red time to get far enough away from the

tunnel entrance.

"Now!" he said, and ran out of the tunnel straight toward the cage,

with Cid close at his heels. Shera had looked up at the commotion when Red

had run out, now she stood and turned toward them as she saw them coming.

Two bats swooped down out the sky, but with a flash of sword and spear

they fell to the ground. Cloud and Cid ran on until they were next to the

cage.

"Get back," Cloud said.

Shera stepped back and Cloud swung his sword. The wooden poles of the

cage where no match for hardened steel In seconds the poles were kindling

and Shera was free.

"Now quickly, back to the tunnel," Cloud shouted.

They turned and ran back. Cloud chanced a look over to see how Red was

doing. He could barely make him out in the tangle of shadows across the

room, but he could see he was still on his feet. Some of the bats saw them

and came back to attack, but most of them still clustered around Red. The

few that got in their way were quickly dispatched. They reached the tunnel

and stopped safely inside. Cid and Cloud turned to see Red fighting for his

life against more than a dozen bats at the far end of the chamber. They both

pulled out materia orbs.

Red scrambled along the wall, desperately trying to keep from being

trapped. He knew the bats would overwhelm him if he had to stand and fight.

He was quicker than they were, but their flying ability made up for that to

a great extent. In spite of his speed he eventually found himself cornered.

Just then a double flash of fire and ice blasted the bats that had

blocked him in to the left. Clawing ferociously at the bats nearby he broke

free in that direction, then dashed back to the relative safety of the

tunnel, where he paused with the others, panting.

"That wasn't as easy as I thought," he said.

"It s not over yet," Cloud replied. "Shera, are you okay?"

"Yes," she said. "I'm unhurt. Thank you."

"Save the thanks for later," Cid said. "Right now We've got to get out

of here. Whichway?"

"Like we said before, we have to trust to luck," Cloud replied. "Let's

go."

He led them back the way they had come as fast as Red and Shera could

go. At the first turn off he headed in a different direction. At each turn

thereafter he picked a tunnel at random. He tried to keep track of all their

twists and turns, but it was just about impossible. Every once in a while a

bat, or a group of them, would block their path, or come up behind them, and

each time they had to stop and fight. Soon Cloud was acutely aware that they

were completely lost.

Even if they were lost, he knew the bats were keeping track of them.

Though they no longer attacked, he could hear the rustle of their wings

behind them whenever they paused, and occasionally saw the red glint of

their eyes. He knew the bats could not take them in the narrow tunnel, but

how long would that last? They couldn t run around down here forever.

` He turned into another tunnel which led down a steep set of steps. At

the bottom they stopped at the entrance to a large chamber, so dimly lit

that they could not see the other side. Cloud stopped them and turned to

look back up the stairs. He could see dark forms coming down the steps. He

hesitated for a moment, unsure. The steps were safer, but they would have to

fight there way all the way back. He looked around the chamber. It appeared

empty. Perhaps they could get across quickly.

"C mon" he said, and ran out into the room. The others swiftly

followed. As they neared the center of the room he saw the dark outline of

another tunnel ahead of them, but before they reached it a figure stepped

out of the tunnel as raised it s hands.

Instantly the cavern was filled with light as fires flared up to their

left and right. They looked up to see that the ceiling above was literally

crawling with bats. They halted and looked at the figure who stood in their

way. In the firelight they could easily make out her features.

"Lucrecia," Cloud said.

"Would you sit down and relax," Cait said. "You're driving me crazy. I

thought Barret was bad."

"I'm sorry," Tifa replied, but she did not sit down. "I can't help but

worry. It's so frustrating to be sitting here when I know the others are in

danger."

"I know how you feel," Cait replied. "But there s nothing we can do

about it. I'm sure they'll all be fine."

"I know," she said. "It's just that it seems like hours that they've

been gone. Don't you think they should have been back already? How long do

we have to sit here and wait?"

Cait shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied. "Even if they get into trouble, I'm sure

one of them will be able to get back here. It could take them a long time.

They weren't going on a picnic, you know. At any rate, I don't think it

would help if we ran off as well."

Tifa shook her head. What Cait was saying was true, but that didn't

mean she had to like it. She just wished they'd get back!

Cait was concerned as well. Even though he had confidence in his

friends abilities, it had been a long time that they had been gone.

"I'm worried too," he said. "But it s not going to help. Come and sit

down and have a drink. Your nerves are shot, and it'll help you relax."

Tifa didn't think it would do much good, but she was about to accept

his offer when they heard footsteps outside the door.

"Finally," she said. She started over to the door but stopped when it

opened to reveal Reno and Rude.

Cait jumped up out of his seat.

"Run, Tifa," he cried. "I'll hold them off!"

Tifa turned to run for the back door, only to see Elena coming from the

kitchen behind them, cutting her off.

Reno stood in the doorway and folded his arms across his chest.

"You sure know how to make a person feel unwanted," he said casually.

"What do you want?" Tifa questioned fiercely.

"I think you already know that," Elena responded.

"You're not getting the Crystal Materia," Cait said angrily.

Reno looked at Rude.

"I told you Cloud wouldn't bring it with him," he said smugly. Then he

looked at Cait.

"Thank you for verifying that for us," he said. "I'm afraid that you

don't have much choice. You're no match for us without your friends. Hand it

over and we won't be forced to hurt you."

Tifa looked around desperately. Now that she realized what they were

planning she knew she could not let the materia fall into their hands, but

she also knew that they were probably right. She and Cait couldn't defeat

them alone.

Still, she knew she had no choice but to defend the Crystal at all

costs.

Without a word she slowly walked over to Reno, head bowed. A smile

spread across his lips, but it disappeared as she suddenly launched a

vicious kick at his groin. He dodged enough to take it on the hip instead,

but it still knocked him off his feet. He stumbled back and fell to the

floor.

"We're more than a match for the likes of you," she said defiantly.

For an instant he did not move, then he turned and slowly got up. He

looked at her furiously.

"You're going to pay dearly for that," he said.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," said a strange voice.

They all turned to see a someone standing in the doorway. He wore a

black cloak and was carrying a long sword, and for a moment Tifa almost

gasped in shock because she thought it was Sephiroth. But looking at his

face she saw it was not. The man had short dark brown hair and darker

features than Sephiroth, though the same green eyes that glowed as the mark

of SOLDIER.

"Who the hell are you?" Rude questioned.

"That's not really important," Tarkin replied, looking at Reno. "What

is important is that you are interfering in something you do not understand.

Things you cannot understand. None of your small minds can comprehend what

you are really dealing with here. You are like children playing with a

deadly weapon, and it's just a matter of time before you do something that

will destroy you all."

"What kind of nonsense is that?" Elena demanded.

"It is not nonsense, " Tarkin countered. "It is deadly serious. It is

also unimportant. It doesn't really concern me whether you destroy

yourselves or not. What does concern me is the Crystal Materia. I am afraid

I cannot let you take it. In fact, I can assure you that it would be in your

best interests to just walk out the door right now and never bother these

people again."

"C'mon Reno," Elena said, "let's just kick his butt too..."

She stopped as Tarkin turned and looked at her sharply. Tifa could

almost feel the power emanating from him. She had felt the same feeling from

Sephiroth, and she shuddered inwardly. Even though he didn't look like him,

they way he spoke, the way he acted and moved, all reminded her vividly of

their former foe.

"I don't know who you are, but we don't need any help," she found

herself saying, even though she knew it was not true.

"Be silent," he said and turned to stare at her. The look hit her like

a physical blow.

He turned back to look at Reno. For a long time they just stood there,

staring at each other, and Tifa could feel the power flowing between them.

Finally Reno looked away.

"Maybe this isn't the right time," he said slowly. He looked at the

other two.

"C'mon, let's get out of here."

Elena seemed about to protest, but Tarkin looked at her again and she

said nothing. The Turks turned and walked slowly out of the room without

another word.

Tifa felt totally lost. Who was this guy and where did he come from?

How did he know so much about what they were doing? She wanted to thank him

for helping them, but she had the distinct feeling that he hadn't done it

for their benefit. In fact, she felt that she was in greater danger now than

they had been when confronted by the Turks. She suddenly realized that she

was slowly backing away from the man.

He turned to look at her again, and laughed coldly. Even that reminded

her of Sephiroth.

"You have no need to fear me," he said softly. "At least, not yet."

He looked over at Cait for a moment, then, still chuckling, turned and

strode deliberately out the door.

Tifa looked at Cait, but he said nothing. She quickly walked over to

the door. She could see the man walking away. She closed the door, turned,

and leaned up against it.

"Now that was really weird," she muttered.

Tarkin continued down the road, still laughing to himself. The irony of

actually helping Cloud and his friends was just too much, he thought,

shaking his head. Lucrecia was such a fool sending the Turks to interfere.

She could have ruined everything without even realizing it. As it was she

had forced him to reveal himself. He really didn't think that would matter

now, but one never knew. The funny thing was that they were both working for

the same goal. It wasn't enough to bring Sephiroth back, Cloud also had to

pay for what he had done. But she was so shortsighted! Let them keep the

materia, let them do the dirty work. She didn't see that in order for the

revenge to be perfect, Cloud had to be the one to bring the materia into the

lifestream. Cloud had to be the one to bring back Sephiroth!

Lucrecia looked at them darkly.

"You have slain my son," she said. She spoke evenly, neither angrily

nor sadly. "But you have also obtained the means to bring him back to me.

You can redeem yourselves. You can right your wrong. Give me the Crystal

Materia so I can have my son back."

Cloud glanced up. There seemed to be hundreds of bats in this room.

Many more than had been in the previous chamber, and they were out in the

open, exposed.

"Lucrecia," he said slowly. "We didn't want to hurt your son. But don't

you see what he was doing. He was going to destroy the planet. He was going

to destroy all of us. We had no choice."

"He would not have done it," she answered sharply. "I know he did some

things he shouldn't have. I know he had his problems. But they weren't his

fault, and he could not have done all these things he was accused of. Now

give me the Materia. I know you didn't mean to hurt him. I do not wish to

hurt you, I do not wish to see any further death. But you must give me

the Materia."

Cloud looked at the others.

"Should I tell her we don't have it?" he whispered.

"I don't think she'll be too happy to hear that," Cid observed.

"I suppose not,'"Red agreed, "but she's going to find out eventually."

Cloud glanced around one more time, but there was no where to run. He

decided to tell her the truth.

"We don't have it," he said.

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"We didn't bring it with us," he replied. "We thought it would be too

risky. We left it with the others."

Lucrecia stared at them, and Cloud saw a look of anger pass across her

face.

"I should slay you all," she said sternly. "But I will not kill you

needlessly. You shall remain here as my prisoners. You shall never see the

light of day again unless the Crystal Materia is delivered into my hands."

"Lucrecia, stop this."

They all turned to see Vincent, Barret and Yuffie walk into the cavern

from a tunnel off to the right. Lucrecia stared at them, anger plain on her

face.

"I told you never to come back here!" she said sharply.

"I'm only here to help my friends," Vincent replied. He walked over to Cloud, seemingly unconcerned by Lucrecia's anger or the bats flew restlessly above their heads.

"Is everyone all right?" he asked.

"We're fine," Cloud replied.

"Good," he said. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

"They must give me the Crystal Materia!" Lucrecia shouted.

Vince turned and looked at her angrily.

"Leave them alone," he said. "They did nothing wrong. Sephiroth would have killed them if they hadn't killed him first. Just like he killed all those other people."

"I won't listen to you!" she cried angrily. "They must stay here. If you try to leave I will have my bats destroy you all!"

"Your bats will not attack me," Vince replied evenly. "I have just as much power over them as you. They will not harm my friends while I am here."

He motioned for them to follow and walked back over to Barret and Yuffie.

"Vincent!" Lucrecia said. "Do not defy me. Help me. You cared for me once. Those feelings can't be all gone. You couldn't help me then, but do so now. Help me get my son back!"

Vincent stopped and looked down at the floor. Slowly he shook his head.

"Give up this foolish quest before it destroys you," he finally said.

"I cannot," she replied. "It is all I have left."

"If you believe that than you are already dead," he replied. "But I don't believe that. My friends and I are leaving. The only way to stop us is to kill us. Do you wish to add more blood to your son's legacy?"

He motioned for the others to head back to the tunnel he had first emerged from.

"Please don't do this," Lucrecia said, and now there was no anger in her voice, only sadness.

They walked into the tunnel. Vincent last. He turned and looked back at her one more time. She stood unmoving in the firelight, no longer looking foreboding or evil, just very much alone.

"It doesn't have to be like this ," Vincent said. "Come with us. Help us attempt to heal some of the damage Sephiroth did. In the end you might heal yourself as well."

"My wounds are too deep for that," she answered.

For a moment more he looked at her, then he turned and followed the others into the darkness.

"So this guy just walked in and scared the Turks off without any explanation?" Barret asked.

Night had fallen by the time the others returned. Now they were all gathered in Cid's living room.

"That's right," Tifa replied. "It was the strangest thing."

"And you have no idea who he was," Cloud said.

"No, I've never seen him before. Have you, Cait?" Tifa said, looking at him closely.

Cait shook his head. "Never."

"Well if that don't beat all," Barret said. "Looks like we've got a

mysterious benefactor on top of everything else."

"Whoever he was, he was not our friend," Tifa replied quickly. "I'm

sure of that. There was an unmistakable feeling of coldness about him. It

seemed to me he wouldn't have thought twice about slitting our throats if he

thought it necessary."

"So then why did he help you?" Cid questioned.

"I don't know," Tifa said. "I don't think he did it for us. For some

reason, he did not want the Crystal Materia to fall into the Turk's hands.

I think he has his own plans for the Materia, but what that might be, I have

no idea."

"If that were true, then why didn't he take it from you himself?" Cloud

asked.

"I don't know," Tifa said emphatically. "The whole thing just doesn't

make any sense to me. I had the feeling that if he had wanted the materia,

he could have taken it from us. I don't know what stopped him. I don't know

what his plan is, but one thing I know for sure, he doesn't have our best

interests in mind."

They all fell silent, digesting this newest information. Cloud did not

like this latest twist in their adventure. He had thought things were

becoming clearer now that they knew who the Turks were working for, and what

they wanted, but now this. What was he supposed to make of this?

Who was this person? What was he after? Was he friend of foe? Tifa obviously

thought he was a foe, and he had no reason to distrust her judgement. But if

so what did he want, and how did he know so much about them? It disturbed

him that he had no answers to these questions, but even with these new

developments their mission was unchanged.

"Irregardless of whether this person is working for or against us, we

still have a mission to complete," he said. "Cid, you didn't get to tie up

the loose ends on the rocket today as you had planned. Can we still leave

tomorrow morning, or will we have to postpone it?"

Cid shrugged.

"We can go," he said. "I was just being a mother hen. The rocket is in

good hands, and they can live without me for a few days. If we take the

Bronco it shouldn't take much longer than that. Tomorrow morning will be

fine."

"Good," Cloud replied. "Well, I suggest we all relax for a while and

then get a good night's rest. Whoever this mysterious person is, I'm sure

we haven't seen the last of him. I've a feeling what he is up to will be

apparent soon enough."

Cid grunted in agreement and the gathering broke up. Most of the others

went off into the rooms where they were going to be sleeping. Cid turned to

look at Shera, who was cleaning up in the kitchen.

"Shera, what the hell are you doing?" he asked .

She looked at him questioningly.

"Cleaning up," she responded. "Sorry I didn't have time earlier."

"You've had a tough day," he said. "Go get some rest. You can clean up

tomorrow."

She put the cup she was holding down on the counter.

"Okay," she said. "Thank you, for everything."

"There's no need to thank me," he said quickly. "Now go on."

She walked out of the room. Cid watched her go, shaking his head.

"You're lucky to have her."

Cid jumped. He turned and saw Vincent sitting in a darkened corner of

the room. He had thought he and Shera were alone.

"Her? What are you crazy?" he responded. "She's caused me nothing but

trouble almost since the first day I met her."

"She is devoted to you, and it is obvious you care for her more than

you let on. Don't make the mistake of taking her for granted."

"Oh please." Cid began, then "...is it really that obvious?"

Vincent nodded.

"Man, I must be losing my touch," Cid muttered.

"I envy you, my friend," Vincent said slowly.

"Oh stop it," Cid said. "My life ain't so great. And things could get

better for you too. I'm sure Lucrecia will come around."

Vincent shook his head.

"I have little hope of that," he said sadly. "All I've ever wanted to

do was please her, and something has always prevented it from happening. If

anything the rift between us has grown, and now the gap is so wide that I am

afraid no bridge can span it. She has been poisoned by life's bitterness,

and the flower I once knew has grown withered and dry. Even if I were to

grasp it in my hand now, it would merely turn to dust."

Cid didn't know what to say. He never considered himself what you would

call a deep thinker, and Vincent's philosophical bent usually went right

over his head. This was way too heavy for him. Still, it didn't take a

genius to see that his friend was in a darker mood than was usual,

even for him.

"I think you need to relax for a while and forget about your troubles"

he said, walking into the kitchen. " And there's nothing better at helping

you do that than a stiff drink."

"Barret."

He turned as he was about to enter his room and saw Tifa coming up to

him.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I wonder if you can do something for me," she said.

"Name it," he replied.

She hesitated.

"It s probably nothing," she said finally. "Just kind of a feeling I

got. I wouldn't want to bother the others with it. And I certainly wouldn't

want to spread any unfounded rumors."

She stopped again, as if not sure how to continue.

"Just spit it out," he prompted.

She nodded.

"I want you to keep an eye on Cait."

He frowned.

"What makes you say that?" he questioned.

"Like I said, just a feeling," she replied. "He hasn t done anything to

make me suspicious, not really. But he deceived us once when he was spying

for Shinra. I would hardly say it s a stretch to think that he might do it

again."

Barret looked at her like he thought there was more to this than she

was letting on, and indeed, that was exactly what he thought. If she had

suspicions about Cait, why had she waited until now to broach them to him?

In spite of her statement to the contrary, he must have done something.

"Sure, I'll keep an eye on him if you want me to. I have to admit it's

difficult to trust Cait after what he did in our last adventure," he said

bluntly. "But in the end he helped us fight against Sephiroth and Shinra.

Not to mention that he helped us find the vault at Shinra headquarters just

recently. You didn t seem to harbor any suspicions then. Did something

happen while we were gone?"

She hesitated again, which made him sure he was right. The only

question was whether she was going to share the information with him or not.

"Like I said," she replied, "I don't want to spread any rumors.

Especially since I could be reading this completely wrong. It's just that

before our mystery man left, he and Cait looked at each other and I thought

I saw something in the way Cait looked at him. There was something in his

eyes. Something like..."

Barret looked at her impatiently.

"Like what?" he blurted out.

"Recognition," she replied slowly.

"Cloud."

Aeris voice. He heard her as clearly as if she were standing in the

room right next to him, and for a moment he almost opened his eyes to look.

But he didn't. He knew the voice was in his head, yet he also knew that it

was not from his own mind that the voice came. He had no doubt that the

voice was hers, and hers alone, even though she might not be in the room

with him but someplace far away.

"Aeris," he said without speaking. "Aeris, we're coming for you."

For a long time there was no answer, and he sensed some kind of

hesitation or perhaps confusion. But her voice was calm and even when she

spoke again.

"It is not necessary."

Now he felt confused himself.

"Don t you understand?" he said. "We want you to come back."

He sensed amusement.

"But I haven't gone away," she replied. "I've been there with you all

along, just as you have been with me. We are all part of the planet, no

matter what form we take. You have no need to feel sorry for me, or for what

happened."

Cloud shook his head.

"But I don't just want you to be here in spirit," he replied. "I want

you here for real. I want to see you standing before me. I want to see you

and touch you. I want to bring you back to this life and I think we may have

found a way. Are you telling me you don't want to come back?"

"Being there in spirit is real," she replied softly but emphatically.

"Your senses tell you that is not true, but your senses can be deceived. But

no, I do not begrudge you your quest. I just want you to be sure of your

motives. You owe me nothing. What happened was my fault, if anyone's, but I

chose freely, and I accept my fate. You must decide if you are searching for

me or yourself."

"I don't understand," he said.

"Let go of your anger and your guilt," she replied, "and then do as

your heart tells you."

"My heart tells me to go on," he said immediately.

"But your heart is troubled," he said. "and that prevents you from

seeing things clearly. You do not see the road ahead, it is dark and

dangerous, and going down the wrong path will lead you swiftly to disaster.

You may find that it demands sacrifices you are not prepared to make.

You must be sure of yourself."

"We've been down many a dark and dangerous road before," he said.

"Indeed, but this time..."

Then there was silence.

"Aeris?"

Cloud waited, but he got no response, and suddenly he felt deeply

troubled. He thought something had happened to her. Someone, or something,

had abruptly cut her off, even as she had been in the middle of trying to

tell him something important. What had happened?

He called to her for some time, but there was only silence. Try as he

might, he could not reestablish contact. Eventually, and inevitably, he fell

into a fitful sleep.

CHAPTER VI

Cloud opened the hatch on the submarine and they all stepped out,

looking around. They had surfaced in a large cavern. A pale green glow

surrounded them, the unmistakable glow of the lifestream. It filled the air,

growing stronger toward the back of the cave, which slowly shrank until it

turned into a narrow but brightly lit tunnel.

They had returned to the sub without incident in the Tiny Bronco. Cid

had quickly diagnosed the problem with the submarine and corrected it. And

now here they were, late on the day after they left Rocket Town.

"Looks like your vision from Aeris was correct," Vincent said, looking

at Cloud.

Cloud nodded. He had never doubted it.

"So where do we go from here?" Cid asked.

They turned to ask Red and realized for the first time that he had not

yet come out of the submarine. But even as they noticed this he appeared. He

looked at them soberly.

"I have been attempting to translate the exact procedure we need to

follow in order to successfully complete our mission," he said, walking over

to them slowly. "And I am afraid I have discovered something extremely

disturbing."

They all waited for him to continue. Cloud knew Red had been working

hard, and had spent almost all his time the entire trip with his nose buried

in that book.

"We can bring Aeris back, " he said, "but to do it requires the

sacrifice of someone else."

"What?" Barret exclaimed.

"It's not so much a resurrection as an exchange," Red said slowly. "In

order for it to work someone else will have to die."

They all looked at him in shocked silence. Standing beside Cloud, Tifa

went deathly pale.

"Are you sure?" Yuffie asked.

"As certain as I can be," Red replied. "The translation is difficult,

but I have analyzed it over and over, and it seems pretty clear. The

procedure itself is relatively simple. We need to be in the lifestream, a

step we've already accomplished, " he said, glancing around them. "The next

step is to find a flux, a place of power, which would manifest itself as

something familiar to us."

"What's that supposed to mean," Barret asked.

"We need to enter the lifestream and look for someplace familiar," Red

explained. "Someplace we know from the surface of the planet. It could be a

town, or any familiar location. In this place will be a focal point, a

bright area of intense light. This is the doorway. Standing there and

holding the Crystal Materia, all the person has to do is ask for someone's

return."

"Just say, hey, bring back Aeris?" Cid asked.

"Not exactly," Red said. "You must ask in the Ancients language. You

have to say Nor par tellemar and then the name of the person. Then you are

both transferred through the doorway."

"Bringing the other person back and sending you...", Vincent said,

"elsewhere."

"Exactly," Red replied.

"What were those words again?" Tifa asked.

Red looked at her.

"Nor par tellemar and then the person," he replied. "Then the exchange

takes place. But if we continue with the mission, who would use them? I'm

afraid this changes things drastically. I think the question now is, do we

continue the mission at all?"

The others were silent for a long time. From the looks they gave him,

it was clear to Cloud they were waiting to hear his opinion. All except

Tifa, who moved off by herself and did not look at him at all.

So this must have been what Aeris meant when she had spoken of a

sacrifice, he thought. She hadn't been kidding. This was a doozy. It seemed

a shame to end the mission now, when they had come so far, but he knew he

could never ask any of the others to make such a sacrifice. And even if he

did so himself, would that be what Aeris wanted? Would she want someone else

to have to die, even to save herself?

There had to be another way.

"Are you sure there's nothing else we can do?" he asked, not because he

thought there was, but because he desperately needed another option.

"I don't think so," Red replied. "There is still some more translating

that needs to be done, and perhaps another option will reveal itself then,

but it's doubtful."

"Well then I think you should continue with your translating as quickly

as possible," Cloud replied. "What we have now is unacceptable. We need

another alternative."

"I'll do what I can," Red replied. "But I don't know how long this will

take, and it may be that there are no other alternatives."

"We'll just have to face that when we come to it," Cloud replied.

Red nodded, then turned and padded back into the submarine.

"So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Yuffie questioned.

"Sit down and relax," Cloud replied. "Looks like we're going to be here

awhile."

Barret grumbled.

Cait strode over to Cloud.

"I'm afraid we don't have much time," he said.

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked.

"Tarkin is here," Cait responded.

"Who the hell is Tarkin?"

Barret perked up and walked over to join them.

"The man who stopped the Turks from taking the Crystal Materia," Cait

answered evenly.

"So you did know him!" Barret exclaimed. "You really are spying!"

"No!" Cait said quickly. "Not exactly. I was just keeping him informed

of where we were, and where we were going. But I was really trying to find

out what he was doing so I could tell you."

"What?" Barret said angrily.

"I know he wants to use the Crystal Materia to bring back Sephiroth."

"What?" Barret said again.

"But that's the same thing Lucrecia wanted to do," Vincent said. "It

that were true, why didn't he just let the Turks take it and give it to

her? It seems to me it would have saved him some trouble."

"I'm not sure," Cait replied. "That's what I was trying to find out. He

has something else in mind. Something more. I don't know what it is, but I

know it involves you, Cloud. He wants to make sure that you are the one who

brings the Crystal Materia into the lifestream. But I don't know why. That's

why he stopped the Turks, and that's why he's been sending you those

dreams."

"What?" This time it was Cloud's turn.

"He has something called Influence Materia," Cait said, looking at

Cloud sympathetically. "It works kind of like Manipulate. But with

Manipulate you know you're being manipulated, and you fight against it,

although you may not be successful. Although it can be used that way as

well, Influence is usually more subtle, and can affect you without you even

realizing it. With Influence, you think what you are doing is your own

idea."

Cloud stared at him for a long time.

"And you're telling me that he's used this to make me think that Aeris

is trying to contact me."

Cait nodded.

"I'm afraid so. I know he's been using it on you for a long time. It

was given to him by Sephiroth, and I've a feeling Sephiroth used it on you

as well, which kinds of puts everything that happened to us in our previous

adventure in a new light. But the whole point behind his maneuvering was to

get you here with the Crystal Materia. I pretended to spy for him because I

wanted to find out exactly what he was up to, but now it's too late."

"You say he's here," Yuffie cut in, "but how did he get here? Does he

have a submarine too?"

"No," Cait replied. "There are many entrances to the lifestream, if you

know where to look."

"Why didn't you tell us any of this sooner?" Barret questioned.

"Because if he found out I told you, I wouldn't be able to find out

what he was up to, now would I?" Cait answered sharply. "I don't know the

full extent of his powers, I don't know what other spies he may be

employing. I didn't want to show my hand before I found out anything, but

now I'm afraid I have no choice. I didn't want you to run into him

unprepared."

Cloud looked at him for a long time. He felt anger, disappointment, and

disbelief, and he wasn't sure which of these emotions to go with. Was it

safe to believe anything Cait told them? Once a spy always a spy, hadn't he

said that once before? How were they to believe him now. How were they to

know that anything he said held even a shred of truth?

The real truth, he told himself, was that he didn't believe the story,

couldn't believe the story, because of what Cait had said about Aeris. Could

it be that the whole thing was a lie? Could it be that he had been

manipulated again, that this entire mission had been a farce, a charade

caused by yet another Sephiroth clone? Could it be that he had not seen

Aeris, not talked to her at all, but just some illusion that had been

planted in his brain? Could it be that she was really and forever dead?

He could not believe that. No way.

Barret shook his head.

"Looks like you were sort of right, Tifa..." he started to say. He

stopped and looked around.

Tifa was no where to be found.

The ground sloped sharply down in front of her. Tifa moved slowly down

the tunnel. The lifestream flowed around her now almost like a living thing.

She moved forward slowly, as if unsure of herself, and a few times she

hesitated and looked back, but each time she took a deep breath, turned

ahead once more, and moved on.

As soon as she had heard Red she had been gripped by a deadly fear. She

knew what Cloud would do, no matter how much he delayed, or how long they

discussed it. There really wasn't any other choice.

Which gave her no choice. She couldn't let it happen. She had to act

before he did or it would be too late. She slowly took out the Crystal

Materia and looked at it, thankful that he had never asked for it back. It

glowed faintly with reflected green light of the lifestream.

The best thing to do would be to destroy it, she thought once more. It

was the simplest solution, and probably the easiest thing to do. But she

knew she couldn't do it. She couldn't take away this chance on her own.

Though it might be prudent it wouldn't be fair to Cloud or Aeris. She wished

she could bring it back to Cloud to let him destroy it, but she knew that

would never happen.

The tunnel dipped even more steeply down, and suddenly she lost her

footing. She felt herself sliding down rapidly. She grasped desperately for

handholds but found none. The air around her grew bright and she found

herself falling, much as she had in Mideel the last time she had been in the

lifestream. She seemed to fall for a long time.

She stopped falling and the bright green glow faded into blue sky and

wooden thatched houses. She looked around and immediately recognized where

she was. Nibelheim!

She walked slowly into the center of the town, which appeared to be

deserted. She looked around. One building stood out. It's windows were

brightly lit with a greenish glow. It was the old Shinra Mansion.

She walked swiftly over to it and entered. She followed the glow, which

brightened perceptively to the right. She found herself walking though the

secret door that led into the basement.

The stairs down creaked and groaned as she walked down them, but they

held, and nothing disturbed her as she walked down the now brightly lit

corridor and into the old library.

There she stopped. For in front of her was what appeared to be a circle

of light, and she knew she had reached her destination.

She stood there unmoving for a long time, looking down at the Crystal

Materia in her hand.

She couldn't let Cloud sacrifice himself. She couldn't live with that.

There was no other choice. But still she did not move.

She took a deep breath and with all the resolve she could muster

started forward.

"Foolish girl."

She jumped and turned to see Tarkin standing a few feet away.

"Stay away from me," she said, taking a step back.

He laughed.

"Don't worry," he said. "I have no intention of harming you as much as

you seem to want to harm yourself. Foolish, and noble too, but your

attempted sacrifice would have been useless. Apparently there are still some

things you don't know. The Crystal Materia cannot effect a transfer unless

both people are of the Ancients race or infused with Jenova's cells. It

wouldn't have worked for you."

"What do you want?" she asked, somewhat defiantly. She had gotten over

her surprise.

"I want to see the return of Sephiroth," Tarkin replied. "And revenge

against the one that destroyed him. And I must say that your little escapade

has played right into my hands. I'm sure he'll come running when he finds

out you are gone. In the meantime why don't you just give me the Crystal

Materia. Don't worry, I'll take good care of it until he gets here. I

wouldn't want anything to happen to it."

She stepped back again and felt her back touch the bookcase against the

wall.

"I don't think so," she said.

"What, don't you trust me?" he said with a smile. "I assure you I have

every intention of seeing that Cloud takes possession of it as soon as he

arrives. It'll be the perfect revenge, don't you think?"

"I don't know what you mean," she said suspiciously

"Well, it's just so ironic," Tarkin replied. "Here Cloud has come all

this way thinking he's going to bring back Aeris, when the whole time he's

just been my puppet. And his one final act will be to sacrifice himself to

bring back not Aeris at all, but Sephiroth!"

Tarkin laughed again, and Tifa shrank back. She looked around, but he

was blocking the only exit.

"It'll never happen," she said angrily. "He'd never use the Crystal

Materia to bring back Sephiroth. You can't make him do it. And even if you

could, I'd destroy it first."

She suddenly lifted the materia up above her head, ready to smash it to

the floor, but he just laughed again.

"I don't think you'll do that," he said casually. "Cloud will bring

back Sephiroth, and you will hand over that Materia. I'm afraid you have no

choice."

He took a step toward her, and even as he did, the yellow orb in his

hand flared to life.

"Where the hell did she run off to?" Cid exclaimed.

"I don't know," Barret said slowly, but he had a sinking feeling in the

pit of his stomach. He looked over at Cloud, who was staring off into space,

a peculiar look on his face.

"No, she couldn't have," he said so softly that Barret barely heard

him. He turned to look at the others.

"We've got to go after her," he said sharply. "NOW!"

Without waiting he was off, running down the cavern to the tunnel at

the far end. The others were left with no choice but to pursue him as best

they could.

He reached the tunnel and plunged onward. Things had gone terribly

wrong, just as Aeris had predicted they might, if it was indeed Aeris who

had contacted him. He still couldn't bring himself to believe it had not

been her. But that was unimportant now, he thought, shaking his head. He had

bigger problems right now, much bigger. He had to get to Tifa before it was

too late. He had to get to her before she did something they would all

regret. He wanted Aeris back, but not like that! Didn't she understand that?

And Tarkin, how was he going to figure in this? According to Cait, he

was already here, could have been her for some time. Suppose he was lying in

wait for them and she ran into him? He clenched his teeth at the thought of

her confronting him alone. He could kick himself for not taking the Crystal

Materia back from her, but who would have thought something like this would

happen? If he couldn't trust Tifa with it, he couldn't trust anyone.

The tunnel sloped down sharply, but he didn't slow. If he could just

get there in time. He wasn't sure how much of a lead she had, but it

couldn't be that much. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes from

the time she left until it was noticed. Still, he knew that he had to reach

her as soon as possible. He couldn't help thinking back to another time when

Aeris had run off, and what had resulted from that.

The ground dropped out from under him and he found himself falling. The

green light grew around him. Looking up he could see some of the others

falling as well, but he could not tell if they were all there. Eventually he

stopped falling and the familiar background of Nibelheim faded in around

him.

It always seems to come back to Nibelheim, he thought.

He looked around. Behind him he saw that the others had joined him, but

he only afforded them a glance. He was looking for some hint to where Tifa

had gone, and he was shortly rewarded when he saw the green glow of the

Shinra Mansion. But even as he started towards it the Turks came around the

corner of the Nibelheim Inn to his left, followed closely by Lucrecia.

Cloud was not surprised at all. He had had a feeling they were going to

show up somewhere along the line. They were nothing if not determined. He

would have liked nothing more than to fight it out once and for all, but

right now he just didn't have the time.

Vincent came up beside him, obviously thinking much the same thing.

"You go on," he said. "I'll handle this."

"Not by yourself," Cloud said quickly. "Red and Barret, you're with

me. The rest of you help Vincent."

He turned to look at the Turks.

"Sorry I can't stay and play, but I have more important things to do."

He sprinted off towards the Mansion, not waiting to see, nor much

interested in, the Turks response. Red and Barret followed closely behind.

They entered the Mansion and followed the light down into the cellar. A few

moments later they entered the library.

The first thing they noticed was the glowing circle of green light in

the center of the room. The second thing was Tifa She was chained to the

wall on the far side of the room. Cloud felt tremendous relief.

At least she's alive!

A man in a black cloak stood next to her. Even though the man's facial

features, except for the glowing green eyes, were striking different, the

impression that he was looking at Sephiroth was so strong that it was almost

overpowering.

Tifa looked up at him with a peculiar expression on her face.

"Let her go, Tarkin," Cloud demanded.

Tarkin raised an eyebrow.

"So you know my name," he said thoughtfully. "It appears my little spy

has been indiscreet. But no matter. He did his job and got you here safely."

He pointed to a small table near the glowing light.

"There is the Crystal Materia," he said. "Take it. I will not

interfere. Take it and finish what you came here for."

Cloud looked at the table. The Crystal Materia was not five feet away

from him, much closer than Tarkin was.

"No," Tifa said, and when she spoke it seemed the words came out with

great difficulty. "It's a trap."

Tarkin turned in surprise and glared at her.

"Be silent," he commanded.

"Leave her alone!" Cloud said angrily, and suddenly his sword was

balanced in his hands.

"She is unhurt," Tarkin said quickly. "Take the Materia. Finish what

you came here for."

Cloud stood unmoving for a moment.

"Let her go first," he said, finally. He pointed the sword menacingly

at Tarkin.

Tarkin's face darkened.

"I said, take the Materia," he said sharply.

Yellow light flared up in his hand, and Cloud suddenly felt an

overwhelming desire to do just as Tarkin had said.

He fought it, and for a long time he stood perfectly still, the desires

balanced. But the power of the materia was much stronger than Cloud had

thought. Slowly, and in spite of all he could do, he found himself taking

a step forward.

Even as he did so Tifa shook her head and then looked up, the alertness

back in her eyes.

"Cloud," she shouted. "Cloud, be strong. He wants to force you to use

the materia to bring back Sephiroth. Fight it!"

Cloud stopped again, forcing himself with every fiber of his being to

remain still. Tarkin took a moment to glance over at her, but he was too

involved with trying to master Cloud to do anything about her. He realized

he had made a tactical error. He could not control them both at the same

time. He should have killed her when he had the chance.

No time to worry about that now. Summoning every power of concentration

he had learned from his SOLDIER training, he bent all his will toward Cloud.

Cloud fought, but again felt himself weakening. Tarkin was just too

strong. In slow motion he took yet another step forward and now stood right

beside the table.

"No!" Tifa shouted. She pulled desperately on the chains and tried to

strike out at Tarkin, but he was beyond her reach. She turned to the others.

"Help him!" she cried.

Red and Barret had been watching the process, not sure of the best

course to follow, but Tifa's words galvanized them into action. Barret was

not sure whether she had meant to help him mentally or physically, so he

chose what came natural. He raised his arm and opened up with his gun.

Tarkin stumbled backwards, dodging desperately out of the way. But he

could not avoid the blast of lightening launched from Red's materia.

Cloud felt his mind clear. Instantly he leapt forward and swung his

sword.

Tarkin cried out in anguish. He backed away from them, holding his arm

as the yellow materia fell to the floor. He stood there for a moment with

his back to the wall, looking at them with undisguised hatred.

"Very well," he said grimly. "I tried to make it easy for you, but I

see you are going to be less than cooperative. You force me to destroy your

friends and drag you myself into the circle. So be it. Jenova rebirth!"

Light flashed around Tarkin. His body changed, shifted, grew larger and

monstrous. He towered over them. His arms grew long and developed great

gleaming claws. Another set of arms sprouted out below them. His face

elongated and formed a muzzle, long sharp teeth protruding from it. Only the

eyes remained the same, the green glowing pits still filled with hatred.

The creature let out a roar that rung in their ears and then there was

a blast of green light. Cloud and his friends were thrown roughly back

against the wall. Cloud immediately sprang up and forward, attacking

viciously with his sword. Barret continued to fire, getting up more slowly.

Red quickly cast cure on all of them. They had been caught off guard by the

sudden attack, and it put them at a disadvantage.

Tarkin, or the thing that had been Tarkin, seemed to realize this and

pressed his attack against them. In quick succession he cast half a dozen

strong attacking spells, at the same time attacking ferociously with the

claws on all his limbs. Cloud found himself forced backward, and try as he

might, Red could not seem to catch up defensively. Tarkin seemed to be one

step ahead of him whenever he made a move.

A clawed hand flashed out, and Cloud went down, thrown roughly back. He

got up again slowly. Red cast cure on him again, but knew that he could not

keep it up much longer. The constant casting of spells was exhausting him.

There was another green flash as Tarkin hit them with Ultima again.

They all went down one more time.

Tarkin stepped toward Red, who was closest to him, and raised his

claws. But as he did so he came into range of Tifa, who kicked suddenly and

sharply at his knee. He stumbled and his blow went awry. Red got up and

darted out of the way.

Tarkin turned and swung at Tifa with the back of a huge claw. She had

no way to dodge. The claw hit her solidly and she slumped to the ground.

Cloud saw red.

He reached down and pulled out a materia orb. He concentrated fiercely

on it until it flashed with purple light.

"Ultimate end!" he shouted.

Sudden sparkling light appeared all around Cloud. Multicolored stars

flashed in and out of existence around him. Then he faded from sight.

The room darkened. Tarkin looked up suddenly. The ground around him

seemed to bow downward. The room faded away into darkness. There was a

rushing sound, as if the wind from a hurricane where whistling by him. Then

a massive shape appeared out of the darkness. He saw bright glowing eyes,

and then the flash of metal from a tremendous sword. He screamed in agony

as he felt the sword bite. The world swirled about him.

Eleven more times the massive figure appeared. Each time a different

one, each time with a different attack. Each one doing massive damage.

Then there was a pause. He heard a rushing sound. Then, out of the

darkness another pair of eyes. He could sense a tremendous bulk hurtling

toward him, more massive than any of the others. The rushing sound grew

until he thought a locomotive were bearing down on him. He saw the form of a

huge knight glowering down at him from some great height. Another sword came

up, then came crashing down. He felt himself falling, and then only

darkness.

The multicolored lights flashed again, and then Cloud stood once more

in the library. He looked at the crumpled body of Tarkin on the floor

nearby. Tarkin moaned and opened his eyes, looking at him slowly, still

shocked from the attack. He no longer looked in the least bit dangerous.

"It's over Tarkin," Cloud said simply.

Tarkin shook his head to clear it. He slowly stood up, though he barely

seemed to have the strength. He looked around.

"You think you have won," he said slowly, "but it is not quite over

yet."

With his remaining strength he lunged for the table and grabbed the

Crystal Materia. Before the others could stop him he scrambled into the

center of the circle of light. He turned and looked at them triumphantly.

"Stop!" Cloud cried, but it was too late.

"Nor par tellemar Sephiroth!"

"It's going to be a pleasure to kick your butts," Cid remarked.

"If you used your fists as much as your mouths you might stand a

chance," Rude said.

"And if you weren't for the fact that you have as many brain cells as

you have hair, you'd realized that you don't," Yuffie quipped.

"Enough of this nonsense," Lucrecia said. "Destroy them."

The Turks advanced, and Cid, Yuffie and Cait faced off against them,

while Vincent moved around them to reach Lucrecia. This time they did not

wait for the Turks to attack, but struck first. They all felt they had to

get this battle over with as quickly as possible.

The Turks moved into their usual fight formation. Reno and Rude in

front, Elena in the back casting defensive spells. Neither Cid nor the

others in his party were particularly defensive minded. They all pressed the

attack, and any one of them would cast cure or barrier depending on whether

the situation warranted it. Most of the time they attacked with their

weapons or cast offensive spells, even if it meant taking damage themselves.

This seemed to be the quickest way to finish the battle.

Cid glanced over at Vincent and saw that although Lucrecia was

attacking him, he didn't seem to be fighting back. He didn't know what

Vincent had in mind, or even if he had anything in mind, but he knew that

was no way to win a fight. He felt more urgently than ever that they had

to beat the Turks as quickly as possible.

He stepped back, pulled out a purple materia and concentrated.

"Judgment Bolt," he said.

Nearby he heard Yuffie cry, "Tsunami."

And then Cait, "Tetra Disaster!"

Multi colored flashes of light appeared around all three of them. Then

the Turks were hit by a triple dose of summoning power. In quick succession

they were blasted by a dazzling bolt of lightening, then pounded by a great

wall of water, and finally they were caught in the upheaval of the very

earth around them. When it was done they fell back, but they still stood.

"Is that the best you can do?" Elena questioned.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Yuffie replied.

A short distance away Vincent stood his ground while Lucrecia blasted

him with spells. Instead of fighting back he continued to try to reason with

her. Their encounter in the cave earlier had proven that he could get

through to her, even if he could not win her over. But this time she seemed

intent on turning a deaf ear to him. And as she continued to hit him with

spells he felt anger rising unbidden inside him.

"Please, Lucrecia, stop this. We are not enemies," he tried one more

time.

She hadn't answered him once, and this time was no exception. He reeled

back as fire flashed all around him. Suddenly he felt his anger well up

inside him uncontrollably. For a moment he tried to hold it back, but once

set in motion there was no turning back this tidal wave of rage. It

overwhelmed him and he lost all sense of reason.

With a bestial howl his body suddenly transformed into that of a huge

winged demon. It towered up over Lucrecia, a dark harbinger of death. It

raised it arms, and huge flaming skulls appeared and shot through the air,

striking Lucrecia again and again, until she was lost in the center of a

blast of demonic flame.

The blast got the attention of all the others, and they paused for a

moment in their own battle to look over. When the smoke cleared they saw

Lucrecia on the ground, looking up at Vincent standing over her.

"You'll never stop me," she said, getting slowly to her feet. "The only

way to do it is to kill me, and you won't do that. I swear to you I won't

rest until Sephiroth is returned to me."

"What's Sephiroth got to do with this?" Elena said.

"That's why Lucrecia wants the Crystal Materia, you dolts," Yuffie

answered. "She wants to use it to bring back Sephiroth."

They all looked at Lucrecia, who looked back angrily at the Turks.

"What are you waiting for," she said. "Finish them."

"Wait," Reno said before the others could move. They looked at him.

"I see now that perhaps it might have been wiser to delve a little more

into the details of this assignment before we took it, and yes I realize

that isn't ordinarily Turk policy," he said, looking at the others. "But

there are exceptions to every rule. We all know what would have happened if

Sephiroth had been allowed to complete his little scheme. I don't think I

have any desire to give him a second chance at it."

"What are you talking about?" Lucrecia questioned. "You're working for

me, now do as I say."

He looked at her sternly.

"Not anymore," he said simply. "It's time for another Turk first. We

quit."

Lucrecia just stared at them for a long time with her mouth open. Then

she turned to look at Vincent, and he could see defeat in her eyes.

"You might as well just kill me now," she said slowly. "I can't live

without him."

"I think you can," he replied. "I think you are stronger than you

believe. Come with us. Cloud still needs our help. There's still time to

make things right."

She shook her head, but she did not object when he took her hand and

led her over to the others.

"Now let's go see what kind of trouble Cloud has gotten himself in," he

said.

The light suddenly brightened around Tarkin until they had to shade

their eyes and turn away. For a long moment it blazed, then slowly faded

away. Even after the light was gone Cloud hesitated to lift his head,

knowing what he would see but not wanting to believe it could happen. He

thought somehow that maybe something had gone wrong, that it hadn't worked.

That if he looked up there would be nothing there at all.

But then he heard the laughter. That chilling familiar laughter, which

confirmed without looking what he already knew but longed so desperately to

deny.

He looked up. Sephiroth stood in the circle of light, looking from one

to the other of them while still chuckling to himself. His gaze drifted to

Cloud.

"I get the impression you're not happy to see me again," he said. He

laughed again, and the sound went through Cloud like a knife.

"I admit I had hoped I was rid of your ugly continence for good," Cloud

responded, attempting to sound casual. "But it looks like it didn't work out

that way. Fortunately I see no reason why we can't quickly remedy that

situation. We bested you once, I guess we'll just have to do it again."

Sephiroth laughed again. It was bad enough he had to be back, but did

he also have to be so damn cheerful, Cloud thought.

"The mouse might have killed the cat once, but I wouldn't lay odds on

it happening a second time," Sephiroth replied. "Besides, I've learned a few

things while I was gone."

He raised his arms. There was a flash of light and a tremendous

explosion. The entire room shook and Cloud and his friends were flung

backwards. Cloud hit the wall hard behind him and fell to the ground.

"Shit," he heard Barret exclaim.

Cloud got slowly to his feet, his ears still ringing, and held his

sword in front of him. Even as he did so he heard someone say something

behind him. He turned to see Cid, Yuffie and Cait enter the room, followed

by the Turks, and finally Vincent and Lucrecia. When she saw Sephiroth

she stopped and her eyes grew wide.

"Sephiroth," she said softly, "My son."

Sephiroth turned his attention toward her.

"You, my mother?" he said dismissively. "You are not my mother. Jenova

was my mother."

"No," Lucrecia said, "I am your mother. I was the one that bore you."

"You were a vessal, that is all" he replied disdainfully. "My mother

was Jenova, it is her cells that gave me true life, not yours. You are just

like the others. You are all of the race that stole this planet from my

people. And now you will all pay for it!"

Sephiroth raised his arms again and there was another thunderous blast.

Again they were all thrown to the ground.

"This is going to get tiresome real fast," Barret exclaimed.

Cloud pulled out the Ultima Materia.

"Let's finish this," he said grimly.

Barret and Vincent opened up with their weapons. Cid and Yuffie closed

in with spear and shuriken, while Cait attacked with his materia. After

Cloud blasted Sephiroth with the Ultima materia he glanced over to see that

even the Turks were attacking Sephiroth. Only Lucrecia remained unmoving.

Red slipped around to the side of Sephiroth and came up beside Tifa,

quickly releasing her. As they ran back to the others Red paused for a

moment to pick something up.

In moments everyone was letting loose at Sephiroth with everything they

had, but it seemed he had grown stronger somehow, for he was brushing off

their attacks with little difficulty. He was no longer laughing, but the

condensending smile remained on his face.

He launched his explosive attack twice more, and though Tifa and Red

cast cure and wall as soon as they rejoined the others, the attack still did

more damage than they could repair.

Red came up beside Cloud, and Cloud felt him press something into his

hand. He looked down to see what it was, and then at Red. They said nothing

but Cloud nodded in understanding.

Sephiroth launched his explosive attack again, and again they fell

back. They got slowly to their feet, all except Elena who remained down.

"We can't take much more of this," Reno said, standing over her.

Sephiroth advanced on them slowly, realizing as well as they did that

he was slowly overpowering them. As he advanced he suddenly noticed

something lying on the floor next to him. He stopped for a moment and idly

picked it up. Then he advanced again, stepping into the circle of light. He

had been toying with them so far, but now he decided that playtime was over.

He concentrated on his summon spell, and opened his mouth to utter the

words.

"Nor...."

He stopped, and his mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. That was not

what he had meant to say! He looked at Cloud and suddenly understood when he

saw the yellow light blazing through Cloud's hands.

For a long time neither one moved as they battled mind to mind.

Sephiroth knew he was stronger now, much stronger, and now that he knew

Cloud was trying to influence him, he knew this failed excuse for a SOLDIER

could not force him to do this. Concentrating fiercely, he took one slow

step forward.

Tifa, who was standing to Clouds right, suddenly reached out her hand.

While still concentrating on Sephiroth, Cloud slowly reached over and took

it. Sephiroth suddenly felt the pressure on his mind increase.

Tifa reached out with her other hand, and Red took hold of it. Slowly

and without a word, the other came over. First Cid, then Cait and Barret,

and then Yuffie.

Sephiroth felt his mouth moving again and redoubled his efforts. Sweat

dripped from his brow, but no words came out.

Yuffie felt someone come up beside her, and turned to see Rude next to

her. Slowly he reached out and she took his hand. Then Reno stepped beside

him along with a now recovered Elena. Vincent took her hand and looked

silently at Lucrecia.

Lucrecia walked up next to Vincent, but she did not take his hand,

instead just looked at Sephiroth. He stared back at her, concentration

contorting his face, but for the first time they saw a hint of fear in his

eyes.

"You are my son," she said softly. "And I love you. But you've been

very bad."

She reached out and took Vincent's hand.

"Nor.." Sephiroth said again.

He shuddered as if he had been hit by a physical blow. His mouth

twisted and a strange gagging sound came out.

"Nor par tellemar..." his face contorted and turned red with rage. His

eyes grew wide and veins bulged on his forehead. Finally the word came out

in a gurgling croak;

"Aeris."

The light flared up, and once again they had to turn away.

When the light faded Cloud looked up immediately, eagerly.

The first thing he noticed were green eyes, but these did not glow with

the mark of SOLDIER, these were kind and tender, surrounding by Aeris

delicate features and long brown hair.

"Aeris," he said softly, hardly believing it.

She smiled and stepped down out of the circle of light.

"It's good to see you again," she said, looking around at them all.

"I'll be damned, we did it," Barret said. He turned to look at Yuffie,

who was still holding hands with him and Rude. They all hastily dropped

hands and looked away from each other.

Cloud and Tifa walked up to Aeris, still holding hands. Cloud turned to.

face the others and took Aeris hand with his free one, smiles on all their

faces.

"Mission accomplished," he said triumphantly. "Now let's go home.!"

AUTHORS NOTE: This officially ends the story. I would like to say first

that I think Final Fantasy VII is not only the best RPG, but the best game

ever, period. I have tried to remain true to the spirit of the characters

in the original game, although I have to admit my favorite character was

Tifa, and my bias toward her may have shown through some. I thought the

original game took an even handed approach toward each of the girls, and I

tried to maintain that throughout my story. I admit some people might find

this unsatisfying, including myself to some extent, but in all fairness I

didn't feel it was right for me to choose between the two, especially since

it is pretty obvious which one I would have chosen. The truth of the matter

is when I first started writing this story I wasn't sure whether the

resurrection of Aeris would be successful. But when I thought of the plot

twist of having Sephiroth exchanged for Aeris, I knew it was just too good

to resist. I hope you enjoyed my story and thought it a fitting continuation

of the original, and if you have any comments please feel free to email me

at FCVEDRE@ix.netcom.com.