Gabriel opened his eyes as soon as Inno left. He looked around to see if anyone was up, quickly realizing that nobody was. *Sephiroth? Sephiroth! * he called with his thoughts. However, he received no answer. *NOW you give me total control. Damn it! We've got a lot to talk about. *, he complained. Turning his gaze to Aeris' outstretched hand he adds *And I'm not sure if can wait any longer.* Aeris. He could tell that she trusted him (or rather his "other side") compleately. Cait also trusted him, but with Aeris, it was more than that. The whole trip toward Cosmo Canyon, Aeris had been very close to his side (or rather his "other side") for most of the trip. It didn't bother him while he wasn't in control, but in Cosmo Canyon... it was as if he was cheating with his best friend's girl. Not that Sephiroth was his best friend, but it still felt rotten. He turned his sight towards the ninja girl. He just had to meet a Kisangiri all the way out here. And she almost recognized him too. Damn. As if he didn't have enough problems already. He wondered briefly what she was doing here. Although it was now a mockery of what it was before, he heard that Wutai and the Kisangiri line still stood. If that was so, why would she need to steal? From the looks of it, she's been doing it for a long time. What would she want with so much materia? "Feh. I have more problems now then when I started. Now I have to deal with them alone. Some deal I made." And with that said he went out for a walk, hoping the stars would give some inspiration for a solution. He was so involved in though when leaving that he failed to see Yuffie's eyes open and watch him leave. *It's him. I'm almost sure of it* she though. She wasn't sure why he hadn't gone back to Wutai. Did he remember? Or was there another reason she didn't know of? Bringing back to Wutai its hero would be a lot better than materia. It might make her idiot father regain some pride and do something about ShinRa again. Still, it could be wishful thinking on her part. He could just look alike. *But if it is him,* she though, *I'm taking him back to Wutai. And nobody's stopping me.* ================================= Final Fantasy: Fated Created by: Samantha Rodgers Chapter 15: Splitting Light Written by: Rift ================================= Meanwhile, Cloud and the rest of his group had stopped at Gongaga for the night. Leaving the hotel, both he and Tifa left for the edge of town to meet up with their friends. "Wasn't that weird, Cloud?" "What was weird?" he replied to Tifa. "You know? That old couple mistaking you for their son?" "Well, they are quite old. But that name they said; Zack. It sounds familiar." "It should...", Tifa muttered to herself. "Did you say something, Tifa?" "No, not at all." It was starting to worry her. The odd behavior. The way his eyes glazed over sometimes when he talked. Then there was his memory of his visit of Nibelheim. A memory in which he remembers things he shouldn't. *But if he wasn't there, how does he remember most of it so accurately?* "Maybe I met him in SOLDIER? Oh well, it's not important. Let's go meet Barret and the others." ============ "Only two others can come with us. Well Nanaki, you will be leading. The choice should be yours. Who do you chose?" Bugenhagen asked. The group had gathered at the huge metallic door that led to the rear entrance of Cosmo Canyon to determine who would go down to fight the spirits. Naturally, Nanaki would have to go being the only survivor of the original tribe. Bugenhagen, stating that it was important he be there, was the second. That left Nanaki with two choices. The first choice to him was obvious: Gabriel. A good experienced fighter would be needed. He could also keep an eye on him if needed. That left him with Aeris, Inno, Cait and Yuffie. He really didn't want either Inno or Aeris fighting more than they needed to and the mechanic made him... uncomfortable. That left... "Gabriel and Yuffie. Do either of you object?" Gabriel just shrugged. "Fine by me." Yuffie was beaming with energy thinking of the materia that might be waiting for her below. "Open the door, already!!" Bugenhagen just laughed "Ho,ho,ho. Very well." he opened a panel in the wall, punched a few buttons and the metallic door opened to reveal passage that lead to a vertical staircase. He then floated towards the stairs and before flowing down he said "I'll wait for you downstairs. Nanaki, I have much to tell you about this cave. It is important that you know about this." "Importance? Grandfather, wait!" Nanaki then followed Bugenhagen down the stairs. "I wonder how much materia is down there?", thought Yuffie out loud before jumping down. "Well be back in a while, girls. I'll bring you both something nice." Gabriel said before jumping in behind Yuffie. As the group left, Inno wondered about Gabriel's current behavior. Back when they were at the prison, he was very cool and collected. Almost rigid even when he showed emotion. However, ever since he came to Cosmo Canyon, he'd been acting more like the Gabriel she met. More like the big brother that took care of her. More like *her* Gabriel. "Inno? Are you okay?" Her train of thought was interrupted by Aeris' voice. "Yes. I was just thinking about Gabriel." "I know. He seems to have loosened up a bit." "Looks like roomie is feeling better.", Cait chirped up, "That's really good to see. I'm going to go outside and wait awhile for the others what are you guys going to do?" Aeris was the first to speak up. "I'm going to wait here for them to come back. *Liar. *, Inno thought, *Your only waiting for one person.* "I'm going to wait too" *And, I guess, so am I.* =================== "What's going on, Jessie?" "Shhhhhhhh! Not so loud! You'll get us caught" Biggs and Jessie had gone over to explore the destroyed reactor in hopes of finding some rare materia. They had found one red materia and also had stumbled into a conversation between the leader of the Turks and the head of the weapons research department. "I can't hear so good. What are they saying?" "I'd hear better if you kept quiet, Biggs." whispered Jessie, "I'll tell you later with ..." "Jessie?" Trying to understand what could shock her so much he risked taking a peek. He saw Tseng look preoccupied and Scarlet amused at his expression. Then he saw Tseng take out a cell phone, punched a button and spoke. "This Tseng, pull out.... I don't care if Reeve is there, this takes precedence. Pull out now!!" and then walked away with Scarlet. Biggs then went to Jessie to her still in shock and muttering something about Gabriel, Wutai and some guy named Abel. "Snap out of it, Jessie!" "Biggs we gotta go, you won't believe what I just heard." ================= Meanwhile both Reno and Rude were fighting both Tifa and Cloud. When the they had gotten to the fork in the road, they had discovered Barret holding them off from getting to Reeve and Marlene. The immediately jumped into battle allowing them get away in one of the buggies. The fight had paired off into Tifa fighting Rude and Cloud fighting Reno. Currently, Tifa and Rude were currently in a standoff and Reno was dodging Cloud's slashes looking for an opening in his attacks. Reno was in the middle of dodging a slash to his midsection when his cell phone went off. "Reno here. Make it quick, I'm busy." he said narrowly dodging a slash that would have taken his head off. "What? I'm this close to getting Reeve."; again dodging a slash, this time to his stomach. "Fine. I'm on my way" With that said he put away his cell phone, pulled out 3 small metallic orbs and threw the to the ground creating a blanket of smoke. "Rude, we're out of here. You got lucky, blondie." Once the smoke cleared, both Turks were gone. "I'm glad that's over" said Tifa, "That guy kept leering at me the whole time we fought." " I hope the others have it easier than we just did" =================== Gabriel dodged another swipe of the spirit. *Man. Cure spells don't work. Ice doesn't do that much damage. This is some spirit.* The group had finally reached the passageway that led outside Cosmo Canyon only to have it come to life. The party had faired well, however the poison both Nanaki and Yuffie had contracted at the beginning of the fight was taking its toll. Right now, the creature was chasing Gabriel who was still healthy. *I've got to try to get to them* he though clutching two antidotes in his free hand. Trying to outmaneuver the spirit, he faked a move to the left and sprinted right. Unfortunately the spirit anticipated this and lunged at Gabriel forcing him to roll away. *Damn strong and smart. He knows I'm trying to get to them. Can't get past him, so I have to go thru him.* Problem was that to get through, he might have to use some techniques he learned in Wutai. Techniques that could give away his identity to Yuffie. However, if he doesn't, there is a good chance that both of them might... *I guess the choice is easy after all.* Gabriel readied his chain sickle and then a yellow aura surrounded him. He extended his chain as long as he could and jumped up. Letting the chain loose, he swung it in a circle a couple of times before letting it fly towards its target. The chain, almost like it had a life of its own, wrapped itself around the creature tightly. As soon as Gabriel felt the chain tighten, he yanked himself forcefully towards the captured spirit. Gathering energy in his hand, he made a knife hand forming the energy into a small blade. As he reached the spirit, he slashed and there was a blinding light. When the light faded, Gabriel was already on the floor with his chain sickle in one hand and the other on the loor. For a moment, there was silence. Then the spirit's scream filled the cave before its demise, disappearing into nothing. While this happened, Yuffie had witnessed the whole scene. "Splitting Light" was all she managed to say before the poison sent her into unconsciousness. =================== Authors Notes: I'm not all that happy with this chapter. It's kind of rushed. Invfact, I'm kind of tied with other activities I only did this to keep Fated alive. I hope I didn't muck up the story too much with this. For those reading, yes that is one of Gabe's Limit Breaks and that was the Titan Materia they found. To future authour, I hope you make more use of the summon materia and add to Inno and Gabriel' LB list. Keep Fated alive. -Rift-