Cloud Strife slashed through the last of the creatures that had attacked his buggy with his buster sword. He had forgotten how different it was to fight alone. He hadn't done it since... it had to be back in Midgar. 'Yeah, that was it,' he thought. 'The MPs on the train, on the way to Reactor Number Eight.' He wiped the blade with his shirt, the blood fading into the worn purple cloth. The sword fell back into its sheath as he hopped back behind the driver's seat of the landbuggy he had stolen from the group only hours earlier. He continued along the mountainous path he had taken. He figured eventually it would lead him to Mount Nibel. Whatever remained of Nibelheim would be there. Then he could find out what was drawing him. [Almost there...] "Who are you?" he asked aloud, his voice expanding out across the plains of the western continent. [All in due time. You shall find out soon enough.] Cloud grumbled at the voice that had taken over his mind as of late, but he didn't focus on it too hard. He was more concerned with keeping his eyes out for monsters. He almost didn't notice when a pass in the mountains opened up and the village appeared before his very eyes. He looked upon it, awe-stricken. "I- It can't be." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cid Highwind opened the sealed envelope with haste. He hadn't seen the seal affixed to it in the years since he had moved to Midgar. It was from the Rocket Town Corps of Engineers. The subject matter enclosed brought a twinkle to his eye and a wry grin to his face. Eight years previously, he had moved to Midgar after the dismal failure of ShinRa Rocket 23. He, however, still bore grudge at the company for not continuing the space program after the aborted mission, despite the repeated urgings of Palmer. He worked secretively, trying to avoid the prying eyes of ShinRa, and had succeeded. In fact, it seemed that ShinRa still thought the legendary pilot lived in Rocket Town. "SHERA! Get your damn ass out here!" "What is it, Cid?" she asked politely, sticking her head out from a door. "We have to move. Fast. Pack your stuff and load it into the Tiny Bronco. We're headed back to Rocket Town." "What? Why go back there?" "It seems ShinRa's benevolent new leader is going to be making a visit to that rickety town to see yours truly. He must be reinstating the space program. SO GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR!" "... Yessir," she conceded, and hurriedly grabbed things. "But..." "WHAT IS IT?!" "What about Wedge, Cid? He won't fit into the Tiny Bronco with both of us." "Don't worry about him. He'll be fine on his own," Cid said, looking at the dormant half-cyborg laying out on the recharge tablet. "The regeneration process is complete anyway. We're finished with him. He'll wake up and move onto whatever it is he wants to do." Shera's face shone with disapproval, but she knew it was better to just go along than to disrespect Cid's wishes. She threw a pair of bags into the miniature plane and walked over to Wedge's hibernating form. "Well, I guess this is goodbye then. I wish you could've come with us..." "Will you shut your damned trap and get in the plane?" Shera just sighed and hopped in the back seat of the plane. Cid opened up the hangar doors and fired up the propellors. "Here we go!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tifa looked in astonishment as she saw the village of Nibelheim. She had fond memories of the city, as well as not so fond ones. The most prominent in her mind was the last time she had seen the city, from Mount Nibel looking down as it burned. What astonished her was that the city stood. In perfect condition. So perfect, in fact, that the buildings were identical down to the most minute detail. Everything was exactly the same as when she had entered the reactor... 'The same as five... wait, no... seven years ago,' she thought, 'when I entered that reactor, and Sephiroth... wait, was Sephiroth there? He must have been.' Barret looked on at Tifa with confusion. "Hey! Yo, yous 'kay over there?" Tifa shook off her look of disarray and nodded gently. "Yeah, just trying to remember things. It's weird." "What's weird?" Jessie asked. "Well, Nibelheim burned down seven years ago. Or was it five? I think five. Anyway, nothing's changed. It's the same as the day it was razed. I think it was razed, anyway. I didn't actually see it happen. I nearly died. Or did I? Argh! I can't remember anything!" "Take it eazy, girl!" Barret patted her on the shoulder. "Jes calm down." Cait Sith, Biggs, and Jessie all looked at each other with a look of disappointment on their faces. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Gongaga Village is waaaaaay too depressing! Can't we go looking for materia or something? It's boring to stay around here!" Yuffie bounced. "It's getting dark," Gabriel noted. "We should stick here. Maybe we can look around town." He opened a door and walked in, followed by Aeris and Reeve. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said as he walked in. "I thought this was a shop." "No, I'm sorry, it's not. All the places around here look alike. You're not the first to do it," a man in the corner said. An aging woman, the man's apparent wife, ran up to Gabriel. "Those eyes! Are you a member of SOLDIER? Have you ever met a SOLDIER named Zack?" "No, ma'am," he said. "I'm not from SOLDIER." 'Far from it,' he thought. "You'll have to forgive my wife. She's grown a bit weary in her mind over the past few years. Our son, Zack, left many years ago for SOLDIER. We haven't seen him since. She still believes he'll come through the door some day." "That's horrible," Reeve said. "So he's either dead, or has left you to worry about him? Man, I can't even imagine that." Aeris, looking pale, stepped out of the house quickly, without a word. Only Gabriel heard her leave. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************** * * * Improfanfic Presents... * * * * FINAL * * FANTASY: * * FATED * * * * Chapter Twenty: * * Fated * * * * By Jake Wallace * * * * Concept Started By: * * Samantha Rodgers * * * *************************** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It's almost time." "For what?" "Patience now." "What is it?" "The Reunion." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "re-un-i-on..." the figure in black twitched as he spoke. He fell over in a heap of black cloth onto the floor and disappeared within its shadowy folds. "Wha wuz that?" Barret asked. "No idea here," Cait Sith chimed. "Something about a reunion. Whatever that means," Tifa said as she plopped on the bed in her house. It felt the same as when she'd last sat there, but something seemed to be missing. It physically was the same, but lacked the spirit it once owned. Could she have dreamed the burning of Nibelheim? But everyone was different. There was no one remaining from the town of her memory. "So what are we going to do?" Jessie asked. "We gots to keep followin' that spiky-haired moron!" Barret exclaimed with pride. "But where is he?" Biggs asked. Tifa spoke up, "He's behind Mount Nibel. It's the only place he could be. He would've headed for Nibelheim, but if he had turned back the other way, we would have met up with him. He must have gone past the mountain range." "So we follow him?" Cait Sith questioned. "Yes," Tifa replied. "Not tonight, though. It's getting dark. I want to get some rest." She frowned at the bed. "Not here, either. Let's go to the inn. I can't stand it in here." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sun had set over Gongaga Village and Gabriel, Aeris, Reeve, and Yuffie had taken up residence in the small inn on the corner of the residential part of town. Aeris, Reeve, and Yuffie had taken to sleeping in various parts of the room. Gabriel, on the other hand, sat outside the inn, looking up at the stars. He hardly noticed when Aeris sat down next to him. "Aren't you going to get some sleep?" she asked politely. "No. I'm not tired." "Hmm, that's odd. We've been moving all day. You have to be sort of sleepy." "No. I'm driving myself forward. I don't get tired, or hungry, or thirsty. I just feel the need to keep moving." "Toward what?" "I don't know. She hasn't told me." "Oh," Aeris said, frowning with disapproval at the inference of Jenova. "Why did you leave the house today? With those elderly folks?" "What? You noticed that? Oh, it's nothing. Really." "I pick up on a lot of things. You seemed nervous." "Well, it's just that I used to know a SOLDIER, a long time ago. His name was Zack. I'm wondering if it's the same one." "Old flame?" "You might say that. It's ancient history now." "Maybe. You should get back to sleep. We have a lot of traveling tomorrow. We have to get past the desert and back to Corel." She nodded, and without another word moved back to the inn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rufus Shinra was not happy. And why would he be? He had only gained and lost the most powerful potential weapon his company had ever laid its hands on. For some reason, the NCD-1712 had dropped all communications some time ago. Inside, it carried pure death in a small tin can. From all tests performed on the device, it had the potential to erase cities, villages, maybe even continents from the map. Midgar would be reduced to rubble. And it was unaccounted for. He eyed the controls. He did have another one, but it was attached to a missile. He sure as hell wasn't going to fire that. He was young when ShinRa Rocket Number 23 had its fiasco, but he knew that propulsion systems were delicate at best, catastrophic in the worst case. He couldn't care less about Scarlet and Heidegger, but he wouldn't authorize its firing while he was within killing range of the deadly machine. "Speaking of Rocket 23..." he mused to himself. He pulled on his long white coat. He was heading up to Rocket Town. He had heard that the crazed pilot who had once tried to pilot ShinRa's first attempts into space still lived there, and owned a plane. His flagship, the Highwind, wouldn't be complete for at least another week, so he had to improvise. The man was supposed to have a small airplane, the only civilian one known to still exist. Tseng had mentioned the Temple of the Ancients as where Sephiroth would be headed. He also mentioned that something very powerful could be hidden inside the temple. Rufus was interested in anything powerful he could lay his hands on. "I'm going," he announced. "If anything about the weapon situation changes, contact me." He thought about it for another moment. "And ask Hojo about it. He sometimes has a mildly valuable insight on this sort of thing." "Gya.. ha... ummm... Hojo is, well... uh, he's missing," Heidegger mumbled softly as Rufus opened the door. Rufus stopped short and slowly turned around, his eyes wide with a look of rage. "What do you mean... he's missing?" His eyes narrowed with a look of purposeful intent right on Heidegger. "Well, uh... apparently he left his offices around the time the NCD-1712 took off. No one's heard from him since." Rufus looked blankly at Heidegger, and then at the controls. His face went pale with realization. "That... lunatic!" He proceeded to make like a bandit out the door and down towards his ferry, waiting to take him across the ocean to the Western Continent. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hojo smiled from the cockpit of the military cargo plane. ShinRa tools were so easy to operate. He had figured out how to keep the blasted thing afloat in a few seconds. True, landing might prove to be problematic, but he would face that when the time came. At the moment, he had just figured out how to engage the auto-targeting system on the cargo drop. He grinned evilly. "Let's see ShinRa dodge this bomb," he said, giggling at his own pun. He slowly raised the latch that would release the cargo. Inside the hatch, two words flashed repeatedly in red on the display. 'WEAPON ARMED.' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A huge brilliant flash of light came rushing over the mountains. It would have blinded almost anyone who had looked directly at it. It illuminated the night sky like sunlight amplified a hundred times. Cloud Strife continued to walk on, unfazed by it. It had only served to show him the village he was headed toward. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What was that?!" "It is of no consequence. None of those participating were injured. We continue on schedule. "What about The Other?" "It may have been hurt by it. It may not. It matters little at this stage. We have almost won." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Good heavens!" Bugenhagen was in utter dismay. "What in blazes was that?" "I don't know," Sven replied, "but whatever it was, it was powerful. Too powerful. I sense something malicious." "Yes. I can feel the planet's cries, let alone hear them," he paused as another horrible wail came from the intangible air. "I hope that group of heroes knows what they're doing. I'm sure that had something to do with them." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aeris jumped up from her bed in a sudden start. She was panting heavily. It was as if she was shaken from her dream by something. She knew someone had died. Many people, in fact, and animals, and plants. Something catastrophic had just happened. She ran outside the inn to see what was wrong. Gabriel stood, facing the northwest, eyes widened, alert as always. He spoke authoritatively, without turning. "Aeris, get back into bed." "But..." "NOW!" She turned with a frown on her face and walked back inside. She wondered idly how he had known it was her who had come out of the room. Gabriel merely continued his vigil toward the northwest. Something that bright would damage any of their eyes anyway. He didn't want any of them being blind. Something about the flash had worried him. It wasn't the fact that the planet was rumbling slightly beneath his feet, or the fact that it suddenly seemed warmer in Gongaga. What worried him was the placement of the source. "It almost seemed like that came from... nah, it couldn't be." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Other writhed in pain. It had surely felt the blast, even in its hibernation, deep inside the planet. The rocks were churning. The heat was unbelievably hot. The only time it had felt more pain was when that blasted meteor had impacted the planet. Something was rending the world apart, and it wasn't The Other. That frightened it most of all. The timetable would have to be moved up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rufus Shinra saw the blast of light as well. "Hmm... it seems Hojo has struck." He pressed a button on the console of the front office on the main deck of the ship, "Could you tell what just happened?" 'Sir, the bomb detonated far to the west. Preliminary reports indicate a 100% casualty rate.' "Where did it hit?" 'Wutai. The village was completely obliterated. Some sparse rural dwellings still exist, but will likely be eventually destroyed by the aftereffects of the blast. The radiation will likely kill them off.' "Great. My father spends years locked in war with Wutai, now we reinitiate bad feelings toward ShinRa with anyone on that island, if they survived. My day keeps getting better." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sirens went off all over ShinRa Headquarters. Inno Kinsley rolled around on the floor, clutching her head, wailing and screaming bloody murder. Her guards watched carefully from the outside, not moving an inch. They weren't about to be tricked by that girl again. She looked up at them through the porthole with a look of terror on her face. The guards consulted each other briefly, and left the radius of sight. Inno screamed and an aura of power glowed briefly around her. She focused her energy, and felt a spirit of rage channel through her... One of the three guards was immediately knocked unconscious by the flying door which impacted his skull with a meaty thud. The other two SOLDIERS were incapacitated almost instantaneously by a much stronger female than they had noted before. She blasted them both with Fire3 spells before they could even unsheathe their trademark conic swords. She plucked the authorization card from the fallen guard and ran to the western wing of the building. She got a feeling of deja vu as she ran towards the scientific section of floor 68. She found Nanaki sleeping gently in the back corner of the box he had been shipped in. She found it puzzling that he could've slept through all the commotion that had started moments before she had broken loose, but she shrugged it off and stirred the sleeping beast. Nanaki grumbled in reply, opening one eye like an unconcerned dragon from lore. "Oh, it's you." He stood up on all fours. "Are we leaving?" "Yeah! Come on, the entire ShinRa military must be on the move with all these sirens. Let's get out of here!" They hurried to the elevator and hit the button signifying floor one. The trip was surprisingly uneventful, as nothing attacked them, and the music was rather soothing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tifa, Barret, Jessie, Biggs, and Cait Sith finally managed to arrive at Rocket Town, a village noted for being the home of the ShinRa Rocket, a project which had failed years ago. The fabled starship leaned precariously over the town, proclaiming imminent doom if it were to fall. "You think Cloud is here?" Cait Sith asked. "I don't know. We should probably ask around." As she spoke, a buzzing noise could be heard from overhead. "Wuzzat?" Barret asked, confused. The buzzing grew louder and louder, until finally a tiny orange plane flew overhead and landed softly behind one of the houses in the town. The only man standing outside immediately lit up with joy. "The Captain! The Captain is back!" "The Captain?" Tifa questioned the old man standing by the rocket. "The Captain is the man who will lead us into space! He's the best pilot in the world! Even after all my years sitting around this town looking after this rocket, I never thought he'd come back here. It must be important." "I'll say," Jessie remarked. "Hey, old geezer! You seen a spiky-haired kid runnin' round heah?" Barret asked. "Purple outfit, big sword?" Barret nodded in approval. "Yeah, I saw him. He was here last night, late at night. I was awake in my house and heard him from my window. He kept moving. Mumbled something about the Temple of the Ancients, whatever that is." "Temple of the Ancients?" Tifa asked. "Got me. I've never heard of it," Cait Sith replied. "Maybe we should go talk to the Captain and see if he knows anything about it. If he's a pilot, he'd know a lot of places," Biggs suggested. "Good idea," Tifa nodded. Let's go. The group walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A cheery young woman with large glasses and a white coat opened the door. "Hello! How may I help you?" "Are you the Captain?" Cait Sith asked nicely. "Me? Good gracious, no. I'm Shera. The Captain is out back working on the Tiny Bronco. He should be done in a moment. Would you like to come in?" "Sure," Tifa answered. They walked into the living room and grabbed chairs. Shera continued, "Would you nice people like some tea?" The group affirmed the notion loudly in different manners. Shera nodded and put a teapot on the stove. "Hmm," she noted, "I wonder what's taking the Captain so long." A loud clanking noise was heard from behind a door, followed by a thirty second string of expletives that made Barret blush. "Goodness!" Shera said, also blushing. "I better check to see what's wrong." Shera went through the door, and another string of expletives followed, before she returned, with another person along. He wore a bomber jacket, goggles, and a scarf. He looked exactly like a pilot from a generation past. He also looked a bit weathered and unhappy. "Goddamn piece of #*@& airplane, always @&^!*%# busting up on me with its no good #*&%^%^ @#^*^!@#*%^*^#%!" The group blinked in unison. "I'm the Captain. You can call me Cid. Cid Highwind," he said, introducing himself. "Now what was it you wanted?" Tifa started to speak, but just then a fanfare of trumpets rang from the front lawn, followed by a drumroll. Cid looked out the window. "Goddammit! The frickin' president's here already! I wasn't expecting him here yet. I better go." He walked out the door with a winning smile on his face. "The President?" Biggs and Jessie asked in unison. "You don't think he means..." Tifa trailed off. "That punkass Rufus Shinra!" Barret completed the sentence. "I gots a score to settle with him!" "Easy Barret," Tifa continued. "We need to find out why he's here." The group eavesdropped on the conversation outside through the window. "So, you're not here to reinstate the Space Program?" Cid asked, looking disheartened. "No, Cid. I need to borrow the Tiny Bronco. We need to reach the Temple of the Ancients. It's an island in the south only accessible by way of airplane. We need yours to get there." "You're taking my airplane away from me?" Cid looked shocked. "That punk!" Barret was irate. "Oh dear," Shera lamented. "Hmm, you guys need to take the Tiny Bronco and take it far away from here. I know the Captain wouldn't want ShinRa to take it from him. It would break his heart." "Well," Tifa said, "we know where the Temple of the Ancients is. We could fly down there to find Cloud." The others nodded approval. "Yeah," Barret concluded, turning to Shera. "Thanks fo the plane. We'll take good care of it." The group quickly hurried out behind the house. Soon, the rumbling of propellors and engines was heard. Cid barged through the door. "What's happening?!" "Those nice people who were in here for tea are taking the Tiny Bronco," Shera said cheerily. "WHAT?! GODDAMMIT!" Cid exclaimed as he ran for the door. He exited just as the Tiny Bronco was picking up speed. He hopped onto the wing and held on for dear life as the plane took off. Rufus was not amused. Based on the previous incidents during the day, his reaction was not too surprising. "Shoot it down." ShinRa troops opened fire on the small plane. Only a few shots hit, and the plane managed to make a clean getaway. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inno and Nanaki had met a nice gentleman in Kalm. He was rather frightened at Nanaki's wild appearance, but was more than friendly enough. In fact, he had given them a ride on his chocobo over the mountains south of Midgar. They had made the trip all the way to Junon town in only a few hours, putting them well on pace to make it back to Cosmo Canyon. "I hope they're still there," Inno stated as she stepped on board the ship that made daily trips across the ocean to Costa Del Sol. She was feeling much better. When she had been in Midgar, she had felt somewhat inhuman. It was almost as if she was possessed as she attacked the SOLDIERs. She had since regained composure. Nanaki was being his usual quiet self. He took to the main deck and curled up in a corner to sleep. Inno walked about the deck, taking in the vast ocean. It had been a wild past few days, even wilder than back in Sector Three. That now seemed so long ago. She spent so much time reminiscing, she hardly noticed that they had arrived in Costa Del Sol. She woke up Nanaki and made to head off the ship, when she ran smack into Gabriel. "And we came all this way to rescue you," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Gabriel!" Aeris, Reeve, and Yuffie waved as well as the friends were reunited by chance in the sunny streets of Costa Del Sol. Aeris picked up the PHS and made a call. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cid, Tifa, Barret, Biggs, Jessie, and Cait Sith did not fit into the Tiny Bronco. However, with a quick fix, they transported them all. A hitch attachment carried Tifa, Biggs, and Jessie in the landbuggy beneath the plane itself. Tifa, inside the confines of the buggy, heard the PHS ringing loud and clear. "Hello?" 'Tifa? It's Aeris.' "Oh, hi Aeris. How is the rescue going?" 'There was no rescue. Inno and Nanaki escaped by themselves! We're all in Costa Del Sol now.' "Perfect! We can be there in an hour," she said, clicking off the PHS and opening the top hatch of the buggy, yelling the news to their pilot, Cid. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The group, finally reunited after a few days, took a day of much-needed rest. Some hung out on the beach, others walked around the sunny town. They reconvened that evening for a planning session. Tifa spoke first. "We think Cloud is headed for the Temple of the Ancients. We know it's to the south, somewhere, and we have to fly to reach it." Cid interjected, "I can only take three, four at most, on the plane. It's too small to carry everyone. Some people will have to stay here." "I'm going," Aeris spoke up. "So am I," Tifa continued. "I suppose I have to fly the plane," Cid seemed disappointed. "That leaves one spot left," Cait Sith said. "I'll go." "Okay. So we go into the Temple, try to find Cloud, and avoid the Turks or Sephiroth at all costs," Tifa suggested. "Sephiroth is there. He's waiting," Gabriel asserted. "For what, I don't know. I don't even know what he's there for." "Well, all the more reason to avoid him," Cait Sith said. "Awright, then. If it's settled, we can go back to our bizness," Barret said. "I'll be back latah." "I think I'm going to get some sleep," Aeris said. "I suggest the rest of us also get some shuteye." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tifa, Aeris, Cid, and Cait Sith arrived on the small island in the late morning. The pyramid that contained the temple was impressive to say the least. It reached up into the sky many stories. "Goddamn! I can't believe I never saw this before!" Cid exclaimed. "Not surprising. Most of it is obscured by the forest," Cait Sith noted. "Well," Tifa said, "what are we waiting for? Let's get this over with." Aeris just nodded and the group headed into the first chamber of the Temple. Normally, the room would seem somewhat nondescript. However, the bloodied form of Tseng laid over the main altar was a newer decoration. He was still alive, but barely. He smiled at the sight of Aeris. "Hello... you. It... was Sephiroth... too powerful. He's trying to get... the black materia," Tseng articulated heavily. "Tseng, how do we get in?" Aeris asked nicely. "I... have the... keystone right here... Take it..." he said. "Don't worry about... me. I'll be... fine here." The group thanked their enemy and pressed the keystone into the formation. As they descended down into the canyon, Tseng smiled to himself and faded away. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It took hours of walking around the maze-like passages, but the group eventually found what seemed to be the interior room to the Temple. It was a long hallway, with murals on the wall. "Hey, look at these pictures! They're wild!" Cait Sith exclaimed. "Damn, they're evil-looking. Something's weird about that," Cid continued. "Any idea what they mean?" Tifa asked. "I know," Aeris said somberly. "The black materia. The Ultimate Destructive Magic. Meteor. It's a call spell, used to destroy the very Planet itself. If Sephiroth had that, he would be a severe threat." A soft chuckling came from the other end of the hallway. The party stared down the corridor. Tifa stood in shock. "It can't be..." Cloud Strife stood there, with his hands around a small box. He had a glazed look over his eyes. Tifa ran over to him to say hello, but he coldly focused on only the box and his own empty laughter. Aeris had a look of fear on her face. "Cloud has the puzzle of the black materia in his hands. Everytime you make a move, the temple becomes one small bit closer to becoming the black materia." "Becoming the materia?" Cait Sith asked. "Yes," Aeris continued. "The Temple itself is the materia. you solve the puzzle, and the Temple shrinks down to normal size. Eventually, the materia becomes small enough to fit in your weapon. The only problem is, you have to be inside the Temple to solve its puzzle. If Cloud solves it here, we'll all die." "Well," Cait Sith spoke up, "I could solve the puzzle. Reeve can replace me with new parts, if I were to solve the puzzle myself, I can be of service to you guys." "Out of the question," Tifa said. "I'm not sacrificing anyone for this materia." "But Sephiroth has hordes of minions he doesn't care about. He'll just have them commit suicide to get the materia. We have to get it before him, or else we'll lose." "So I'm your moogle!" Cait Sith replied happily. Tifa was still disappointed, but it seemed there would be no argument. The others left Cait Sith to his business and stepped outside the temple. The puzzles clicked back and forth as Cait Sith played with them, making the temple smaller. Eventually, the temple flashed and the process was complete. Tifa rushed down to grab the black materia. Aeris, Cloud, and Cid followed. "Tifa," Cloud spoke, finally seeming normal again, "why don't you give me the black materia. I can hold onto it. Tifa seemed put back slightly by it, but handed over the black gem to the twenty-one year old. Sephiroth appeared out of nowhere. "Sephiroth!" Tifa screamed. "I can't move!" Aeris yelped. "Neither can I! Dammit!" Sephiroth paid no attention to the cries of them. He stared square in the eyes of Cloud, who was speechless. It took him a moment to understand, but when he did, the message rang loud and clear, and he gave the black materia over to Sephiroth. "What are you doing Cloud?!" Tifa exclaimed. Sephiroth, however, had already disappeared. He had gone with the black materia, and Cloud had a woozy appearance to him. He eyes Aeris with a look of contempt, like back when Jenova had ordered him to kill her. He took out his frustrations on her, and no one could stop him, all having been paralyzed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I forgive you." "What?" Cloud asked. "I forgive you," Aeris stated again. "Oh, thank you. I... I didn't know what happened." "I've left though. I have to deal with Sephiroth. Once and for all. Fate or no fate." "What?!" "I'll be in the City of the Ancients, beyond the Sleeping Forest." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cloud woke up. "You're finally awake, huh?" Tifa asked. "You had us worried." "Is Aeris here?" he asked. "No. She disappeared last night. Ran off somewhere." "She's gone north, to the City of the Ancients. Where am I?" "You're in Costa Del Sol. We camped here last night too. Where's this City of the Ancients?" "North. Way north, past the Sleeping Forest," he said, attempting to stand up. "Whoa, easy there Cloud. You're still pretty out of it from yesterday. Best take it slow." Cloud nodded and stood up. "We need to go find her. I think something bad is about to happen, and I need to stop it." "How d'you know?" Barret asked from the corner. "I don't really know. I just feel leery about it. We need to go there, now." Cloud stood up, and made for the door. Tifa looked at Barret, both confused. Cloud walked outside and found the rest of the party, minus Aeris, waiting outside. Some looked at him with senses of disapproval apparent in their hearts, others were happy to see him. He turned to Cid, "I've heard you have a plane that can seat four people?" "Yeah. What of it?" "Is there any way we can turn it into a boat?" "TURN IT INTO A BOAT?! Are you out of your %$#&ing mind?!" "We need to be able to bring everyone along up to the north. We need a boat to get there. The Costa Del Sol ferry won't get us there." Cid looked at Tifa, who nodded. "Dammit! Alright, we can take the water landing apparatus off and try putting it on the ocean. It should be able to float. The propellors will push it along." "Cloud's right," Nanaki continued. "We all need to be there, especially if something happens to Cloud again." "I deserved that," Cloud said. "I'm going to try to remedy the situation. We need to go find Aeris. We leave immediately." He walked off toward Cid, who was leading to the airplane. "Hmph! Who died and made him President of ShinRa?" Yuffie asked. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The boat apparatus did work nicely. All ten people managed to fit, albeit crowdedly, on the wings and seats of the plane. Some pushing and shoving happened, but everyone managed to stay relatively dry on the trip to the North Continent. When they arrived, they found the Sleeping Forest, legendary for not allowing anyone through who didn't have the Lunar Harp. Luckily, an excavation site was placed there. Cloud bribed the leader of the effort into searching for one. After one day, they had their harp. They reached the Forgotten City one day later. The cracked shell homes left an ill impression on the party, who had delusions of grandeur lingering still in their minds. "This is it?!" Yuffie asked, in shock. "I was expecting materia, or something." She sat on the ground, in pouting fashion. A labored search of the grounds turned up nothing. No Aeris, no Ancients. Not much of a city. It was getting late when even Cloud lost some hope. "Come on guys, let's get some shuteye for tonight. There was a house in the east section that had a bunch of beds. We can sleep there." The party grumbled approval, feeling a lack of confidence towards their fearless leader. They continued, disheartened, back to the house. Some grabbed beds, others took stock of the floor, and went to sleep. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Kill the Cetra." "What?" Cloud asked. "Kill the Cetra!" "Who are you?!" "Wake up!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cloud shot up in the darkness, sweating slightly from the dream. 'Kill the Cetra?' he thought. 'Aeris?' He thought he heard something. Maybe not heard, so much as felt. He shook all the party members awake. "Somethings happening. I can feel it. Come on!" He hurried down the stairs. The others only managed to grumble slightly, not showing their full disapproval at being woken up in the middle of the night, before following. The Forgotten City glowed with a pale light in the darkness. Nanaki looked up and realized there was no moon. 'Curious,' he thought to himself. 'How does the city stay lit, with no light from above. Cloud found the solution to what he was looking for. A hidden stairway in the house in the middle of town. "I KNOW that wuzn't there befo'!" Barret exclaimed. "That's where it's coming from," Cloud continued. "We need to go down there." He ran down the stairs, not willing to take time for even the slightest objection. Inno seemed a bit more taken by the surroundings. 'I remember being here before...' Nanaki quickly realized where the light had come from which illuminated the city above. A fantastic capital lay out before them, shining with a bright light underneath the ground. Buildings stretched toward the earthen sky, and a spiral staircase brought them down into the center of the magnificent city. "Damn," was all Cid could manage. As the group reached the bottom of the staircase, the view opened up, and they could see the center of the city. It was a large raised section, circular in nature, with a bar railing around the edges. That wasn't what grabbed their attention, though. What did was the young woman kneeling piously atop that podium. A girl in a red dress, who they hadn't seen in two days. "Aeris!" Cait Sith exclaimed, only to be quieted by Cloud. He pushed his finger to his lips in reprimand. "You guys stay back here," Cloud said. "We don't want to interrupt what she's doing. I'll go check it out." He hopped up the stone circles which led to the main podium. "Hey, Inno?" Cait Sith asked. "What is she doing?" Inno suddenly reached a look of realization, and mouthed the word 'Holy.' "CLOUD!" Gabriel shouted as he saw the ex-SOLDIER lifting his buster sword in the air. He darted up the stairs, in an effort to stop Cloud from killing the Ancient. Inno was close behind, seemingly in a daze. 'saveaerissaveaerisstopsephirothsavethecetra' "Cloud! STOP!" Gabriel ordered, trying to wrench the sword away from its owner. "You can't!" Aeris looked up from her prayer to see Inno Kinsley disarming Cloud with her own sword. Cloud picked her up and threw her across the podium, knocking Aeris over to the right. "Inno!" Gabriel yelled, turning towards the girl as Cloud landed a stray punch on the warrior. Gabriel turned back. Inno closed her eyes. Masamune glittered from above, and it was over. And then Inno opened her eyes, and realized she wasn't dead yet. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tifa looked on and saw the whole thing happen. Cloud pushing Inno over; Aeris falling away, clutching the railguard for dear life. Then she saw him, and she couldn't move. Sephiroth dropped like a calamity from the sky, as Cloud had mentioned before, holding death's cold scythe in his hands. Cloud and Gabriel fighting. Then the sword, that cursed sword struck home. The blade went clean through, soaked in red. It slapped the marble floor with shattering force, and continued another inch into the ground. Its victim merely blinked. Abel Woodshaft was no more. Sephiroth blinked as well. That wasn't what he had intended to do. The objective was to kill the Cetra. He felt shocked, but for some reason, remorse was lacking. He had killed his younger brother. Jenova, on the other hand, was howling inside Sephiroth's mind. Screaming alien obscenities caused Sephiroth to clench his head in agony. He pulled Masamune back and floated up through the rafters, dropping a green body part in the process. It instantaneously sprouted the remainder of its body, and stood high above the stuttering party members. It was Jenova. And Jenova was angry. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- END PART TWENTY Tune in for more Final Fantasy: Fated... PART TWENTY-ONE: The Trouble With Jenova HUMOR! VIOLENCE! FURNITURE! All this and more in the next part of Final Fantasy: Fated... written by Rift! Jake Wallace kwteach@radiks.net