A Secret Wish (Chapters 1-8)

by Bill Carns

A forgotten foe reappears...a young man knows more that he lets on...(incomplete)

A Secret Wish

By Bill Carns

Prologue: The Agony

It was finally over. With the help of his friends, Cloud Strife had defeated Sephiroth and put a stop to Meteor. But at what cost?

Midgar had been almost utterly destroyed by the energy waves seething from the hated rock. Midgar was perhaps a small price too pay for the world. Luckily, Reeve had escorted many of the townspeople to safety.

The majority however had not been so fortunate. As Cloud sauntered down the old decrepit streets he had at one time called home, he glimpsed many of the ravaged bodies that were not removed by the cleanup crew. As he entered what may have been the Sector 5 slums, he gasped.

That shouldn't be here, he thought to himself. Nevertheless, it was.

The Sector 5 church seemed on the verge of collapse even before Meteor descended, but yet, it was one of the only buildings left. Seeing it gave him a pang. A hope filled him, although every string of logic told him that it could not be so.

He opened the door and caught a glimpse of pink. His heart nearly stopped. Then his eyes adjusted and he realized it was just the field of flowers, a trick of the eye. He knew it could never be…her.

He knelt beside the flowerbed. He ran his hand along some of the broken flowers. A sense of overwhelming guilt came over him. This was where they had first met.

No, he thought again. The first time we 'met' was after we had blown up the Number One reactor. He'd bought a flower from her, at the time only trying to cover up the fact that he was a terrorist.

He stood, his knees felt weak. Tear droplets spattered on the flowers. All of that was before he had found himself. He was:

"Cloud Strife, a boon to all that trust me, Zack, my parents, even Sephiroth, and…" he paused, then looked up at the altar, "you, Aeris."

He turned away from the altar, gathered himself, and exited.

Chapter 1: A New Beginning?

Vincent Valentine stopped in front of Lucrecia's cave. The last time he was here, he couldn't speak with Lucrecia freely. Cloud and the others stopped him from expressing his true emotions.

So, you are capable of emotions?

That voice in his head again. He wondered if it was his conscience, his guilt, or something Hojo had done to him, or a mixture of the three. At any rate, Vincent had to see if she was all right. She hadn't been here when he'd discovered the Death Penalty.

Now, the Death Penalty hung at his side. A marvelous piece of machinery, really, he hoped that it didn't mean what he thought it did.

That was the last thing on his mind, though. He had many questions for Lucrecia, not all of them as nice as the origin of the gun.

Reno was suspicious of the activities going on in Gold Saucer. It had mysteriously closed not long after Meteor struck. That in itself was not strange, many businesses had temporarily closed after Meteor's descent. The strange part was that it was still closed nearly two months after Meteor's strike.

He looked over his head and saw Rude and Elena; they were being a bit too loud.

"Hey," he hissed a warning, "be quiet you two, if Dio's guards hear us, we're in deep shit."

They said nothing back, merely nodded. That was more like it.

Reno sighed, he hated stake out work, but ever since the Shinra was destroyed, the Turks had to work as mercenaries, doing odd jobs for the highest bidder.

As if hearing his thoughts, Elena piped up, "Tell me again why we took this job?"

Reno was agitated, "Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

Elena looked like she was about to put her fist through something. Then she calmed down and leaned up against a wall, "This sucks," she said.

Rude just said nothing; Reno hadn't expected any trouble from him.

Elena started speaking again, "I don't care HOW much gil Godo is paying us. It can't be worth this. I don't like watching Dio's hired muscle parade about not doing much of anything."

"Elena, you talk too much," Reno said, that phrase was becoming quite common among the Turks. "And…" he continued, "Haven't I told you to shut your damn mouth!"

"Listen," Elena began, she was fuming, "I am so SICK of this sh-"

"Quiet! Both of you!" it was Rude, the silent one was silent no longer. "Something's happening."

The Turks leered out the window and watched the events unfold below.

Reeve was busily sorting through his paperwork. The newly appointed mayor of Kalm was a busy man. Now that Midgar was a veritable ghost town, Kalm was home to almost all of the refugees.

Those that had survived, that is. Nearly three thousand dead and another ten thousand injured. It was without a doubt the biggest disaster in Midgar, no, the world's history.

It could have been worse, he thought to himself, A LOT worse.

That was true, had Aeris not summoned Holy, the planet would have died, all life ceasing to exist. A global killer, they called it.

Aeris was dead now, one life paling in comparison to the lives of billions. Still, Holy was only a buyer of time, stalling Meteor so that the LifeStream could work it's magic.

Reeve only wished that he could have done something about it. He felt trapped inside of his virtual reality world from which he controlled Cait Sith.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the man in the dark uniform walk into the room. It seemed like the uniform of a Turk, so Reeve assumed that it was Vincent.

"Be with you in one moment," he said holding a finger in the air, signifying the 'one.'

The man placed his hand on the desk in front of him. The hand was covered in a dark leather glove. It was a Turks uniform.

Reeve finally looked up and was shocked by what he saw. His face turned a deathly pale white and he gasped for air.

"It can't be…" he began.

"Oh, but it can," said the shadowy man in a raspy voice, "Long time, no see, Reeve."

"I, I thought you were dead!"

The man laughed, his voice seething with hatred, "No, but by the time I'm finished you'll wish that you were."

Reeve stood and tried to back away from the man, but the other was too quick. He quickly grabbed Reeve in a chokehold, and applied pressure until he was unconscious.

The man grabbed the still body of Reeve and supported him with his right shoulder. With his other arm, the Turk brushed back his shoulder-length hair out of his eyes. He then turned and carried the man out of his office.

Chapter 2: New meetings, Old foes

Reno, Elena, and Rude walked into Costa del Sol at nearly three in the morning; their mission had been a complete failure. No sign of Godo's daughter anywhere. The three Turks entered the Villa that had been rented to them and quickly plopped down in opposite corners of the room.

Reno was the only one left standing; he got up and grabbed the hanging on the wall. He quickly punched in a series of digits and prepared to wait while for someone to answer on the other end. By his calculations, it was still in the early evening at Wutai.

To his surprise, it was answered on the second ring.

"Y-yes," said a gruff voice on the other end. Reno immediately knew it was Godo. Only he would be that stressed out about Yuffie's disappearance. Others would consider it commonplace.

"This is Reno," he began.

"Oh!" the old man's hopes rose to their peak, only to be shattered by the next thing Reno would say. "Did you find her?"

Reno paused, "Didn't see a damn thing," he concluded.

The old man was furious, "If only you morons hadn't lost her at Bone Village!"

"Hey, hey!" It was Reno's turn to be furious, "Maybe if you'd just give her a little freedom, she wouldn't have to run away!" Not that Reno cared; he just didn't like being talked to like that.

"Listen asshole," the old man started, "I'm paying you to find my daughter, not tell me how to raise her!"

"B-" he began, only to be cut off again.

"If you don't find my daughter, I'll kill you myself!"

This was the last straw, "Listen, you old fuck! You can take this money and shove it up your ass! We quit!"

The other end was silent, he hadn't hung up.

"Oh, and another thing, no one, I mean NO ONE threatens to kill a Turk unless he is prepared to die himself." His tone was deathly serious. With much flamboyance, Reno slammed the telephone into a wall, nearly breaking it in two. As it was, the telephone fell off the wall and shattered.

He looked at his companions; "We rest here tonight. Tomorrow we pay a little visit to 'Boss Godo.'"

The night was still, and still the dreams came…

Sephiroth was weak, bowing on his knees to an even greater evil. The form standing in front of him was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"Child of sin, you are not so powerful now are you…"

Cloud wondered if the figure was talking of him but then Sephiroth began to speak, "Damn you to hell! How dare you use me like you did!"

"Silence!" Cloud felt the drumming in his ears and wished for deafness. "You failed! And now because of you the man is about to reach his destiny!"

Sephiroth felt himself brimming with hatred, "Nooooo…you turned me against Cloud and all of the others, but I was strong…at the end I yielded to the blade of Strife and tried to sacrifice myself for the good of the planet!" he paused, "but you wouldn't let me die!"

"Enough," it stated once again, "of this constant griping! Do you forget why you're alive right now?"

"Better to be dead than to serve the likes of you any longer."

The figure raised its arms, as if considering killing the pathetic waste of a man, then thought better of it, "I won't kill you because that's what you want me to do. Instead I will send you back, but I strip you of all of your magic, your power, and your sword."

"But," Sephiroth began; he never finished as he disappeared into the void.

Cloud still saw the dark figure; he didn't know what was going on. What had happened? Sephiroth…sacrificed himself for the planet?

"You seem to be to curious for your own good…" the man said.

It took Cloud a moment to realize that he was speaking to him. He looked up and saw the figure descending upon him, the eyes burning with a fire usually reserved for the cruelest minions of hell…

Cloud awoke and sat straight up in his bed. He wiped the cold sweat off his brow with the back of his hand.

"Was it the dreams again," Tifa was awake right next to him; it was obvious that this had happened before.

Cloud rubbed his temples, "Yeah…"

"Sephiroth?"

Cloud nodded his head.

"You need to stop being scared of him all of the time."

Cloud shook his head, "No, this dream seemed different. Sephiroth was, he was…" Cloud was having trouble saying the words, "he was good," Cloud finally finished, "And, and it didn't seem like a dream, more like…a vision."

"Cloud, go back to sleep, you are tired."

"Yes, I suppose so. Good night, Tifa."

"Good night, Cloud," with that she watched him sink back into his usual spot in the bed.

Yuffie Kisaragi had lost the Turks again.

Why did her father have to send people after her endlessly? Didn't he know that she would return after she was done with what she wanted to do?

If he didn't let her do thing at her whim, then to hell with him! She was sixteen damnit!

Now back to the business at hand. Mideel was her newest playground. Bone Village had proved to be a huge disappointment. One would have thought that an excavation site would be home to hosts of rare materia.

Maybe they should stop excavating that same four hundred square feet area, she thought.

Whatever, now Yuffie boldly marched through the ruins of Mideel and stopped at the LifeStream. She gazed down into the depths of the fluorescent green mass. This had saved them all from certain death.

And it was where Aeris was. Poor girl, Yuffie had never wanted her to die. She remembered how she looked as Cloud had placed her in the center of that lake.

Yuffie seemed lost in her thoughts, but not so lost that she didn't sense the person approaching her. She turned just in time, delivering a hard kick to the unseen menace's jaw. The person seemed to be caught off guard and almost tumbled into the LifeStream.

As it was, he only staggered a bit and caught his footing, he uttered a string of curses.

"What the hell? Damn, that hurt!" he rubbed his hand on his jaw.

It was clear that he wasn't as big a threat as she had thought. She now found herself apologizing, "Oops, sorry about that, um, I'm sorry."

"No problem," he stated simply.

Yuffie was about to leave it at that when she realized something, "Hey, why were you sneaking up on me like that?"

The young man's face quickly changed to a serious, but confused look. Yuffie recognized it as a look people give when they try to make up a story.

"Never mind making anything up, just tell me the truth."

The young man stared as she effortlessly saw through his attempts at trickery, "I, uh, well," he seemed to have trouble telling her whatever it was he needed to say, "Alright," he submitted, "I saw your materia pack and was trying to mug you," the look in his eyes told Yuffie that he wasn't lying.

"Oh," Yuffie stated, seeming not to care, "is that all?"

The young man seemed relieved, he started to turn away. Yuffie grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around.

"Well listen here mister mugger man," she said, louder than she had previously spoke, "no one gets Yuffie Kisaragi's materia! If I had seen you first, you'd be the one with no materia."

He saw a chance to explain himself.

"Ok, you got me, I lied."

This stopped her, she'd been certain that he was telling the truth.

"To tell the truth, that was a convenient lie I made up. I was actually on my way to the materia shop, that's why I brought materia into the excuse."

Now she didn't know what to think, this man was about as mysterious as Vincent was, minus the hideous deformities granted him by Hojo.

"So then why did you sneak up on me?"

"Well, because…"

He never had a chance to finish, because then two tendrils erupted from the LifeStream and grabbed onto each of them.

"Shit!" Yuffie cursed, clawing desperately for her Conformer. The LifeStream had her arms, however.

The two of them struggled against the newly hostile mass, the young man, however, still had one of his arms free and was using it to futilely beat at the mass.

Yuffie let out one last burst of energy as both she and the stranger were pulled into the LifeStream.

Chapter 3: Blood Money

"So," Vincent was saying, "That's how it is."

He was sitting just across from Lucrecia, but they had never seemed so far apart.

"Vincent, I…"

"No, that was inexcusable, just because Hojo needed someone, a, a test subject?"

"Vincent."

"And I thought that I, that I loved you?"

"Vincen-"

"Shut up, just shut the hell up! You can't even say anything other than that? I am leaving!"

Lucrecia tried one last desperate push to keep him at here side, "Don't you want to hear about the gun?"

Without a word, Vincent sat down once again, vowing to himself that he would never speak to this woman again after this was over.

He was floating in the green muck, but he could still breathe. The girl next to him seemed as confused as he was. He tried opened his mouth to speak. Strange, no sound was made, but surprisingly he heard a reply.

What?! Ah, so telepathy worked in here.

Hey, ninja chick, is that you?

Yes, and its Yuffie, not 'Ninja Chick.'

Oh, ok ninja chick.

Oh, gawd. She looked angry, but he could see that she was smiling.

Where the hell are we?

Uh, the LifeStream, I think.

What?

The LifeStream, you know, the thing that saved us all when Meteor fell.

Oh yeah. In truth, he didn't know what she was talking about, but Meteor sounded like the thing that had fallen and…

What are you talking about? He'd forgotten that his mind was as transparent as glass in this muck.

Oh, nothing.

You sure?

This would not do at all, he couldn't have this girl probing into his past. Yes I'm sure! Now leave it at that!

Yuffie didn't seem too happy.

Now you listen here… She stopped. Hey wait a minute. What's your name?

Oh, she probably deserved to hear that. It's Salkas.

Well, Salkas, I suggest we stop arguing and try to find a way out of here.

Good idea.

With that, Salkas and Yuffie began wading through the luminescent sea of life.

The moogle wandered through the streets of Kalm. It seemed to have a purpose, then it nearly crashed into a wall.

"No, no," said the cat, perched on its shoulders, "That way."

Cait Sith kept weaving through the slight crowd of the early morning folk out doing exercises or on their way to work. He stopped in front of a large building and rapped his megaphone on the door.

"C'mon, c'mon," he seemed desperate, "Cloud! Tifa!"

Cait almost fell forward as the door swung open. He looked up and saw the monstrous figure of Cloud Strife standing in the hallway.

Cloud rubbed his eyes, "What is it Cait? You nearly woke the dead."

"Cloud, who is it?" asked Tifa, she sounded concerned.

"It's Reeve."

"No, no, no, it's not Reeve. That's why I'm here, Reeve was captured last night."

This stopped Cloud, "Then why haven't I heard anything of it?"

"Cause we're trying to keep it on the down low."

Cloud considered this, then nodded his head, "Very well. Do you know where they took him?"

"Some of my peeps saw a strange looking man carrying something out of here to the east. Don't know much 'bout that though…"

"Sounds like a good place to start. C'mon Tifa, let's go."

"Huh," Cait seemed confused, "Wa-wait a sec, I didn't say that…"

Tifa appeared right next to Cloud, apparently ready to go, "So, Cait, are you coming or not?"

The cat seemed distraught, "Alright," he decided, "It's not like I'll 'die' or anything."

"Great," said Cloud, "then let's go."

With that the three exited the small house and set off to find Reeve.

Priscilla was just sitting on the beach, as usual, when she noticed a solid form slightly offshore. She pulled the whistle out of her pocket and blew firmly. In seconds, Mr. Dolphin was by her side. She patted its head and said a few calming words, then pointed her finger at the form.

It only took her a few moments to reach it, and she realized that it was a man. As she grabbed his arm and began searching for a pulse, she wondered who this man was. He was very handsome. Priscilla giggled to herself, only fourteen and already thinking of men!

He was about as big as Cloud, the nice man who had saved her from drowning at least half a year ago. She looked at the silver hair spread out in the water around him and he almost looked like an angel…

Shake was standing guard at the Turtle Paradise when he saw the three black-clad figures enter the town. He didn't need a second look to tell him who they were.

"Oh shit, oh shit," he kept repeating to himself. He had to get to Lord Godo right away. This was a matter of utmost urgency.

Reno looked around the distinctly oriental town of Wutai. It wasn't a sight to see if you were the traditional type, but it held it's own alluring air. At any rate, Reno wasn't here to sightsee. He had more pressing matters to attend to.

Elena was the first to speak, "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

There she went again, letting her emotions get in the way of getting the job done.

"Elena, did you forget what he told us? He threatened to kill a Turk! Shinra law clearly states…"

"SHINRA IS DEAD!!!" she spat out vehemently , "You are going on about rules and regulations that no longer exist! Think about what you're doing, enough have already died! Stop this now Reno."

She expected anger, but what she got was different, he merely shook his head, "I had such high hopes for you, Elena…" he said as he pulled the gun from his holster.

Elena was completely unprepared for this and she knew that she couldn't get to her own gun in time; she just waited for the inevitable.

"Drop the gun NOW," she heard the firm voice of Rude command, "I don't know what the hell is going on with you, Reno, but I don't like it."

Reno lowered the gun, he lazily gazed at the figure of Rude, "You too, Rude?" he sighed, "No matter, I'll take out this bastard myself."

Rude reached out and tried to grab Reno by the arm, but was met with his former friend's electromagnetic rod. Rude twitched a bit, then fell to the ground, although not unconscious.

Elena saw this and was enraged, "Reno…" he turned and leveled the gun at her.

"Now where were we?" he asked nonchalantly as he shot Elena in the shoulder. She collapsed from the wound, but still tried to get up, fighting against the pain.

"Damn…you…Reno," she stated weakly.

"No…" he trailed off, "Damn you," he aimed the gun at her forehead.

Suddenly the figure of a man, nearly in his thirties, by Elena's reckoning, crashed into Reno, dislodging the gun from his grasp. He quickly followed up with a series of punches and kicks.

"The hell…" was all that Reno managed to say before he was subdued by the approaching figures of Gorkii, Shake, Staniv, and Chekhov.

"Stay still," Gorkii was saying to Elena. With that, he pulled a green materia crystal out of his pouch and began concentrating. "Cure!" he screamed and Elena watched in wonder as the wound began to heal itself. Her skin itched slightly once the bullet forced its way out of the skin.

Gorkii helped Elena to her feet. She looked over and saw Chekhov doing the same for Rude. Elena stared at the battered body of Reno with shock, she hadn't expected him to go crazy like that.

It was then that Staniv looked at Reno's face; his eyes widened with shock, "Oh my god!" he said, "Do you realize who this is?"

"Well, yeah," Elena began.

"Of course!" said Chekhov, as he appeared beside the younger man, "The similarities are striking!"

Now they turned to her, "Why didn't you bring this man with you before?" it was more of a scold than a question.

"Well," she began, "Reno said he was busy, that we should go out and look for a job."

Now it was Gorkii's turn to speak, "Then he must still not have forgiven us…" the others nodded their heads in agreement.

"What in the hell are you talking about?"

"You mean you don't know? Reno is Lord Godo's son."

No one in Wutai had ever seen anyone's jaw drop as low as Elena's did that

Chapter 4: The Return

Salkas and Yuffie were still plodding about in the LifeStream; it seemed that they had been down there for hours. After a time, they finally came to a fork.

Right or left? asked Salkas.

Hmmm…right.

They began to head in that direction when a tremor shook throughout the LifeStream, a strong current pushed past the pair.

Uh, left? Yuffie corrected.

That can't be good… thought Salkas, then, run!

Run? Yuffie questioned.

Swim, do SOMETHING.

The two began frantically swimming down the left path, never looking back for fear of what they'd see. After what seemed like forever, they came saw a light shining down.

Oh, thank GAWD! Yuffie seemed relieved.

So, they swam towards the light.

"So that's how it is…" Vincent was saying, his voice sounding impatient, "Did Tseng ever tell you where he got the gun?"

"He said it was from some place called Eldridge."

"Well, I must be going now…."

"Oh please, Vincent, won't you stay for just a little longer?"

"Afraid not, hearing your stories has added upon me another sin."

"Vincent…" she called after him.

"Goodbye Lucrecia," it was best not to worry about her feelings, for that would probably force him to go back, it was better to go on, and forget Lucrecia forever.

As he exited the cave, much to his surprise, he saw a young man climbing out of the center of the small 'lake,' which Lucrecia called home. This kid could mean trouble. He drew the Death Penalty, which had come from a mysterious country known as 'Eldridge,' and aimed it at the back of the kid's head.

"Stop where you are and put your hands where I can see them," he stated quietly but firmly.

When Salkas emerged from the LifeStream, he thought that the popping sound was just his ears getting used to being above ground again. Mistaking the voice, however, was impossible.

Without argument, Salkas raised his hands in a show of surrender, knowing that he had no chance against the unseen foe, for he was weaponless and the other man had the element of surprise on his side.

"Ok, good. Now turn around…slowly."

Salkas began to do so, when Yuffie poked her head out of the water.

"Gee, Sal, you shouldn't swim so fast, I think we lost it."

This distracted the other man enough that Salkas had time to quickly turn and dislodge the weapon from the man's hands. A shocked look spread across his face as he drew the Outsider and aimed it at the same time Salkas turned his own weapon against him.

He glanced to the left, "This one yours, Yuffie?"

Salkas looked confused, "Do you know this guy?"

"Salkas, put the gun down."

He looked at the gun then held it back to its owner. "Uh, sorry about that," he apologized to the man dressed in black with the red cowl.

"No problem. I must keep in practice, if this were to happen more than once, it would be fatal the second time."

"Well, I'm Salkas," he said extending his hand.

"Vincent."

"Uh, guys?" they seemed to have forgotten Yuffie.

They turned around to face her, "Shouldn't we be worrying about that thing that was behind us."

As if on cue, the 'thing' that was behind them burst from the middle of the lake. Yuffie and Vincent gasped at what they saw. It was Jenova.

"Do you have a weapon?" Vincent asked Salkas.

"No…."

"Then take this," he said, tossing Salkas the Outsider, "I trust you've used a gun before?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Well enough chit chat, lets take her out!" Yuffie yelled.

Since all three were equipped with long range weapons, they all spread out as far as they could, hugging the cliff wall. Vincent struck first, launching a volley of bullets at the monster. The bullets appeared to have no effect as the deflected harmlessly off Jenova's outer covering.

Yuffie readied the Conformer and hurled it at the beast, but again, there was no effect. She pulled out a fire materia and yelled, "Fire!"

An inferno appeared from nowhere and fried Jenova, at least it seemed that way. What little wounds they had given it began to heal. Although Salkas had done nothing yet, he saw the futility in the battle.

"This is hopeless, let's get the hell out of here."

Yuffie seemed to agree, "Vincent, are there any exits through this cave?"

Vincent lowered his weapon and appeared to think, "Not that I know of, but I don't think we have a choice…."

Vincent, Salkas, and Yuffie turned and entered the cave.

Vincent looked around for an exit and believed he saw one. He started forward but the form of Lucrecia lurched out and grabbed him, "You cannot escape the mother!" she cried in a ragged gasp.

Vincent merely cast her away with his claw arm and continued on, unaware that she had already begun to change. As Salkas walked by, a tendril snaked out and pierced him in the thigh, he cried out as he fell to the ground. He pulled out his gun and shot the Jenova crazed woman. She let out a shriek and began to grow again.

"Damnit!" Salkas yelled as he turned and began to hobble away, the wound looked like it was beginning to fester. It was probably poisonous.

"Hurry up! I've found an exit!" Vincent exclaimed from near the back.

Salkas started to follow the sound of his voice, then stopped. Where was Yuffie? He called out her name but received only silence in return.

He rushed back to the spot he had been at before. His leg was killing him but he forgot it all as he saw Yuffie entangled in several of the Lucrecia-thing's tentacles.

"Yuffie!"

The thing heard him and turned toward him. Before he could raise the gun, another of the creature's limbs swatted it away and encircled him, it flailed him about wildly, almost making him lose consciousness. Salkas saw no way out of it, he had no choice. He closed his eyes and began muttering, seemingly to himself. Blazes of fire appeared from nowhere and enveloped the beast. Sweat beaded on Salkas' forehead as he concentrated. The creature began to slowly burn away, its death cries could be heard for miles as the creature became ashes, and eventually even the ashes disappeared. Salkas collapsed to the ground with a heap. Yuffie scampered over to him.

"Salkas! Are you alright?" she shook him gently, trying to awaken him. He began to stir and opened his eyes.

"Yuffie…" he said simply.

She helped him to his feet, "Gee, we're so lucky that you had that fire materia, if you didn't we would of…" she paused, she didn't see any materia, "Hey wait a minute. Where is your materia?"

Salkas gulped, this was the moment he had been dreading, if he told her would it begin again? The endless persecution? The…experiments? "There is no materia," he said finally.

"No materia? Then how…" she never got to finish her question, because then the cave was rocked with the force of Jenova again. Vincent appeared in the archway near the back of the cave.

"Hurry up," it wasn't a suggestion, it was a command.

The two didn't object as they followed him out of the cavern.

They were almost at the Chocobo stables when it happened again. Cloud went crazy. Rambling on about some foolishness like, 'A secret wish…no one can ever know…' Stuff like that, it was a wonder he hadn't gotten them killed yet.

He had gotten so bad, what with trying to kill Tifa and all, that Cait had to club him over the head with his megaphone. And not just once, Cloud was a strong one and Cait Sith had to whack him a few more times, before he submitted to unconsciousness. Now he slept lazily on the lean-to he and Tifa had constructed.

Cait again silently thanked Reeve for granting him sentience. In fact, all that Reeve had done was program his own brain algorithms into Cait's central processing unit. He was a Reeve 'clone' if you wanted to call him that.

And now Reeve was missing and Cait was on his own for the first time. It was understandable that Cait was scared, although he could never really 'die.' If he did, Reeve would just build another model. It had happened before.

And it will happen again.

There it was again, the voice, was it a conscience? It was possible. Along with intelligence came the good and the bad. Cait Sith sighed as the approached the cabin.

"Something troubling you?" said Tifa, who was walking alongside him.

Cait didn't know if he could convey his true feelings to the woman. He decided that he would try.

"It's just that it's hard. You know, being alive," he said the words with wonder.

"Yeah, it's tough sometimes."

The two continued exchanging small pieces of idle chatter until they came to the cabin's door. Tifa went up to it and knocked. She stood and waited, there was no response.

"That's strange…" she tried the door and to her surprise it was unlocked, "Bill…" she called out into the obviously empty house. She turned to Cait.

"I'll look here and see if there's any clue to his whereabouts, help me drag Cloud onto this bed in here. He needs rest."

Tifa and Cait dragged the wounded ex-SOLDIER into the room and laid him onto the bed.

"Ok, now I'll stay here and you go see if he's out at the barn."

"Ok," Cait agreed. As he left the cabin, Tifa didn't even notice as the black-clad figure approached her from behind. When she heard the advancing footsteps, it was too late. A solid object struck her in the back of the head and she collapsed in a heap.

Cait entered the barn and immediately was confronted by a screaming boy.

"He killed Pa!" the child exclaimed and Cait recognized it as the rancher's son, Billy.

"Easy… Now what happened?"

"He killed him!"

"Who killed him?"

"The dark man!"

Cait knew that was about as much as he would get out of the boy, he was obviously distressed. Cait found his eyes wavering to the beam standing in the center of room. Cait was appalled by what he saw.

There, hanging on the beam, as if some mental patient's idea of a crucifixion, was William Hunter, known affectionately to the world as Choco Bill. Cait hugged the boy close to him.

"Where's your sister?" Cait asked.

"Chole is back in on of the pens, I tried to stop her, but she ran off when she saw father…" Billy began to cry.

Cait again looked at the carnage, the man's throat was slit, and the flies were buzzing around his carcass. In his life, there was only one person the entity who possessed Reeve's memories had known to be so ruthless. It was no surprise when he turned around and saw the 'dark man' carrying two bodies, one of each shoulder. The one on the right was Tifa, the one on the left was Reeve. Cait wasn't really surprised at that, for the man in the center was Tseng.

Elena was still sitting in the guestroom of Lord Godo's mansion when Gorkii came in. He thanked her for the thousandth time, apologized for what seemed like the millionth time and then gave Elena what she really wanted, information.

"Ten years before Miss Yuffie was born, Godo was borne a son by his most honorable wife, the Lady Lei. That son was Reniashou. Reniashou was a promising young man who showed the best traits of both his father and mother. Reniashou, or, 'Reno' as you call him now, made friends with a local boy who was a few years older. When he was thirteen, the boy, who was at the time seventeen, was sent to fight in the meaningless war. Many men died that day, including Reno's friend. Reniashou never forgave us for sending his friend out to die and one day disappeared. Yuffie was only three when this all happened, so she remembers nothing, if not, very little."

Elena leaned back in the chair. This had just began to sink in, "So that's you Reno. You could have been a king, instead you settled for us…"

"Miss Elena…."

"Leave me."

"As you wish."

Elena watched as Gorkii departed, she didn't like talking like that with him, it was just her job beginning to grow on her. She didn't like being known as the 'soft' Turk, but it was true, nonetheless. She sighed and tried to get some rest. She, Reno, and Rude would go their separate ways in the morning.

Chapter 5: Preparation

Vincent and the others seemed to have lost Jenova in the network of tunnels leading out from Lucrecia's cave. Yuffie and Vincent were near the head of the group. Suddenly, Yuffie paused.

"Where's Salkas?"

Just then, Salkas appeared from behind them. He was walking normally again, it looked like the poison had been healed.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah…" he said, tossing her an empty antidote bottle.

"Good, then let's keep going."

As they continued on, no one noticed the spilt medicine running through the crack of the ground behind them.

Reeve woke up in one of the stables. In the stable across from him, he saw Tifa. It looked like she was still sleeping.

"Tifa," he called.

She began to stir, so Reeve picked up a rock that was nearby and threw it at her. It hit the bars of the chocobo stable she was in. The clang reverberated through the entire area.

She awoke, along with several others. Reeve craned his neck to see who the others were. In the 'cell' next to him was Cloud. Cloud was still asleep and what appeared to be a large welt was on the back of his head.

Across from Cloud was Cait Sith. Reeve wanted to communicate with him privately, but without his equipment, that was impossible. In the two other pins had to be Chole and Billy, the chocobo dealer's two children.

Anger crept through Reeve. It would have been enough if Tseng had only made him watch the demise of William Hunter. To put the children through it was inhuman. Tseng's reply to this was, 'Their lives do not matter to me. I only need this to make an example to you. You will help me.' He had commanded.

Reeve had felt a chill at those words. It was almost as if Tseng didn't even know what he was doing. All of this was just a means to an end for him.

"We've gotta get out of here," he whispered to Tifa. She nodded her head.

Just then, Tseng burst into the room. He began nonchalantly walking down the center of his makeshift 'prison.' He cast a cautious eye at the two conspirators.

"Already planning your escape?" he didn't seem to mind, he almost seemed…amused? "That's to be expected… However, think before you try anything rash. There is only one way out of this…" he looked around, "jail," he decided.

With that, Tseng walked out of the barn, silently laughing to himself.

That morning, Elena and Rude left Wutai, leaving Reno behind. Elena looked at her ever-silent companion.

"Did you know about this?"

Rude was silent.

"Damnit Rude!"

"Yes! Yes I knew about this. I mean I knew he was from Wutai, just not that he was…"

Elena nodded her head; neither of them had suspected that. She hesitated before asking the next question, "Where are you from?"

Rude removed his glasses she could see he was thinking hard about something, "You know I don't like to talk about that," he finally said.

"Ok then, I'll tell you about my past, since we probably won't see each other again…."

Rude kept quiet and he seemed to stare ahead, transfixed with whatever was in front of him.

"Ok, I was born in Rocket Town, lived there most of my life until one day Cid Highwind approached me and asked if I would like a job."

Rude looked surprised at this, but then remembered that before Highwind had become a member of Avalanche, he'd been the Shinra's top pilot. "So why did he approach you?"

Elena shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe he saw that I could beat the hell out of any boy in town," she sighed, "that was also the day that, that…"

Rude stared at her. He knew what she was about to say would change his view of her forever, but he listened still.

"I said that I didn't think I would join the Shinra, my parents were getting old and they needed someone to take care of them. After that, I went home and saw my parents for the last time… They were both on the couch, slumped against each other in a sick embrace. They were both, they were…" she turned to Rude, both eyes filled with tears, "Both them were dead! I don't understand it! I never even got to say goodbye! Why did they have to…"

She collapsed into the arms of Rude and they stood there for a while, unmoving.

Reno was all alone in the dark pit. His head hurt a bit. What the hell was going on? He didn't really think it was actually a pit, but still, it was pitch black. Reno sat silently for a while, his anger rising. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and stood.

"Let me out goddamnit! What the hell are you keeping me here for!"

He kept shouting for a good ten minutes longer. By the time he was finished, his throat was ragged. He croaked a thought to himself.

"This is… Godo's doing," he said, still unable to call the man his father.

He sat in the darkened pit/room and waited, as he had been doing for quite some time.

"Gee, boss, you were right! The chocobo stables were a good place to set up a trap!" the red haired young man said to Tseng, "I just don't understand why you had to kill that guy…"

"Do not question that which you know nothing about," Tseng answered. He saw the reaction in the boy's eyes. He didn't understand…none of them understood.

Tseng sighed, he would offer an explanation, this time, "After seeing what I did to Mr. Hunter, Cloud and the others will be given the," he thoughtfully considered the next word, "proper incentive to help me on my plans."

"To locate your spaceship?"

Tseng winced, "No…after I evacuated, the Eldridge self-destructed, I saw it with my own eyes. We were given no choice. The captain had to evacuate. It was all because of that damn specimen, Deus. We never thought that it would become aware of what we were doing to it, or that it would strike back."

"Wait a minute," the boy interrupted, "If a spaceship of that size exploded, wouldn't I have seen it?"

"Not unless you were born ten thousand years ago," he told the boy, "If we can gain access to the Shinra's old plans, plans for an interplanetary travel device, I would be able to travel to the planet in which I saw the pod escape. I would also be able to see…her."

"Tseng, what are you talking about?"

"Leave me. Go check on our guests."

"Yes sir."

The red hair boy turned and left the house where they had set up residence.

"Miang," Tseng sighed.

Yuffie, Vincent, and Salkas continued wondering around the caves until they finally came to an opening. They looked out of the hole and saw the starry sky and the lights of Corel not far away.

Yuffie was the first to speak, "Should we pay a visit to Barret?"

Perhaps," Vincent answered, "at any rate, we do need a place to rest for the night, and we should tell him of the latest happenings.

As they started toward the old mining town, they didn't even see the giant praying mantis as it descended upon them.

It lashed out with one of its talons, knocking all three to the ground. It was about to eviscerate Yuffie, when a wind swept across the valley and immediately all of them got to their feet, feeling refreshed. No one questioned this occurrence, for they were in the heat of battle.

The praying mantis shot what seemed to be knives out of its abdomen and cut Yuffie and Vincent deeply. Yuffie used a cure materia to heal them both. The Outsider boomed in Salkas' hands tearing through the beast. The mantis roared a scream of pain and rage, then scooped up Salkas in its claws and attempted to consume him.

Salkas writhed in the grasp of the giant insect. He felt himself losing consciousness when a swath of bullets tore through the air and the mantis loosened its grip a little. Salkas saw his chance, focusing, he again summoned the power of fire. The mantis shrieked, dropped Salkas, then flew off, attempting to fan the flames off itself.

Salkas rose, brushing himself off, he turned and saw a large black man with a gun arm standing there. The barrel of his huge gun smoking. They caught eyes for a moment, and then the man looked at the others.

"Well I'll be damned! Vincent and Yuffie! What are you doing around these parts?"

Yuffie spoke, "Well, we were just in the area and decided to—"

Vincent cut her off, "Barret," he started, "Jenova has returned."

Barret stood there for a second, "Damn! I guess I'll try to get a hold of Cloud and the others after all!"

"Have you tried to call him?"

"Yeah, can't get through though. That damn kid musta turned it off or sumthin, but now we can't wait. We hafta get to Kalm as soon as possible."

"So we take the boat from Costa del Sol to Junon?"

"Nah, sumthin's been wrong with that damn ocean ever since we killed that pesky Emerald Weapon."

Vincent thought, "So why don't you call Cid?"

Barret's eyes lit up, "Yeah! I'll just call ol' Cid and tell him ta bring the Highwind over!" He pulled out his PHS and dialed a number, seconds later it was answered.

"Yeah, Cid! Wassup buddy, this is Barret! Hey, listen we need the Highwind…"

There was silence for a while, then Barret answered, "What?! It's broke! When can it be fixed? … … Uh-huh … … yeah, well, thanks Cid, talk to ya in a couple a days. Bye."

With that Barret hung up, "Cid won't have the repairs on the Highwind done for a few days. He'll come over here then."

Vincent nodded. "I just hope that it isn't too late by then."

Yuffie interrupted, "C'mon, it's freezing out here! Let's go back to Corel."

"Yeah, you guys can have some beds at the inn, we'll catch up after I'm done with my meeting. Y'know Corel's formed a committee now…"

Vincent appeared indifferent; "At least it has SOME form of government now…"

"Huh? Well, c'mon, les go!"

The four began to walk to Corel, and the inn that followed.

"I thought we had to get to Kalm as soon as possible," Salkas muttered.

Chapter 6: Revelations

Salkas entered the unkempt office of the mayor of Corel. Yuffie and Vincent had decided to stay behind and talk with the man who had saved them at the outskirts of town. He had no interest in such things, so he had told them he would just go someplace to be alone with his thoughts. They had agreed, citing that he would probably not understand the nature of their conversations.

He hadn't told them he was coming here. He'd tagged one of the mayor's assistants, always staying a little behind so as not to give himself away. It surprised him that the man who saved them was actually the mayor of the town. He sensed a kind of anger in many of the townspeople towards him, an anger that for some reason had not abated.

The creak of a door alarmed him, and he looked around as he shuddered to think what might happen if he was found. His fear disappeared when all he saw was a young girl, no older than six, cross the hall and enter a restroom. He uttered a sigh of relief and stirred from the rigid position he had been in.

As he shifted his weight he heard a floorboard creak underneath his foot and froze again. The girl spun around and looked straight at him. She cocked her head to the side and looked confused.

"What are you doing in my daddy's office?" she inquired. She didn't scream, didn't sound angry in any way. She just had the same curious air that any small child would have.

"Uh…" Salkas couldn't think of anything to say.

The girl proffered him the excuse; "You must be one of my father's new assistants."

"Ah, yes," he was relieved.

"Well, my name is Marlene," she gave him a curt nod, "May I ask yours?"

She was obviously well mannered for having been raised by the brute of the man he saw earlier. But then, she obviously wasn't the man's daughter, which he saw right off. There was no family resemblance that he could see. The most obvious indication of this was the blatant difference in complexion. Salkas decided not to make any mention of it, however, for fear of hurting the young girl's feelings.

"My name is Salkas," he finally answered.

She didn't answer, but instead approached Salkas more directly, "You seem like someone I know… she noted vaguely.

"Oh," he cocked an eyebrow, "who would that be?" he sounded slightly amused.

"I don't know…" then her eyes lit up, "I know! I know!"

"What? What is it?"

"The flower lady! That's who you remind me of! The flower lady!"

"The flower lady? I don't know whether I should be flattered or offended."

Marlene ignored him, "Daddy says the flower lady saved us all! And, and…" she paused for a minute, "He said that she went to someplace far away and won't be coming back. I'm only six and I still know what that means…"

Salkas tried to change the subject, "So, what makes me remind you of her?"

"I don't know. You don't look like her. She had different colored eyes and hair, and she was happy all of the time. You just have the same feeling coming from you, a warm feeling, just like she did. Even though you don't show it, I think you are like her somehow."

Salkas smiled. "Thank you, Marlene. Now I have some pressing matters to attend to with your father, so will you please go back to bed?"

"Ok, Mr. Salkas."

"Just Salkas."

"Ok. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Marlene."

As soon as she left, he began to feel relieved again. Thoughts raced through his head. Why was this girl so nice? Some trauma must have happened to her in the past for her to end up with the man that she called her father. And at a young age too, those were the formative years… Who knows, maybe she was adopted. But somehow, that didn't seem likely—

However, as he glanced across the room all thought stopped.

Oh my God. He thought to himself.

He walked over to the desk and picked up the object that had grabbed his attention. It was a panoramic photograph. It showed nine people, well, seven, he didn't know if he should call the giant mog with a cat perched on it's shoulder or the red lion-like beast people. But out of those seven, only one grabbed his eye.

The girl. The girl in pink robes. The girl with long auburn hair, braided in the back and forming bangs in the shape of two inverted 'Vs' in the front. And, most importantly, the girl with green eyes.

Salkas looked up from the photo at a mirror that was off to his side in the office. He saw a young muscular man, a man with much heartache in his eyes. His blonde, almost white hair that was nearly shaven to his head contrasted slightly with his dark blue eyes. Salkas was a man with a troubled past, and he knew that the time had come to talk about it with someone. He would have a talk with Yuffie, Vincent, and Barret. He would tell them everything. He looked at the girl in the picture once more and knew that he was not alone. As his gaze drifted back to the mirror, he decided to take the first step in his oath. Without word, he cupped his eyes, and executed the practiced half-blink and felt the contact lenses drop into his palm. He closed his hand over the two convex circles of blue plastic and put them in his pocket. He looked back at the mirror and saw his own green eyes staring back at him.

He was silently angry for his deception. The lies ended here!

Silently, he picked up the photograph and exited the office.

The man sat at the stool at the bar; he had been there for quite some time. He held the same shot of whiskey that had been given him nearly an hour ago. Staring into the glass, he thought of the way his life had turned out. The bartender finally said something.

"Mr. Heidegger, are you going to drink that or what?"

He spun the glass slowly in his hand and decided to take the first step in his quest for inebriation. He raised the glass to his lips when he heard a voice.

"Heidi, Heidi, Heidi, what have we become?" the sardonic, seductive voice mused. Antov Heidegger only knew one person who would call him Heidi.

"Scarlet."

He turned and saw the young woman, sitting at a table, nursing a beer. Heidegger stood and walked over to her table and took the seat opposite her.

"So, how are ya Scarlet?"

She took another swig of her beer. Heidegger again thought of how lucky they were. Climbing through the wreckage of the Proud Clod had been no easy task; his own hand had been wedged between to jagged pieces of metal. He looked at the claw-like mechanical hand extending from his right hand. These days, losing a limb was no big deal, losing several major organs and half of your face was another matter, however. This prompted his next question.

"So, how is Rufus doing?"

Scarlet and Heidegger were the only two people, besides those involved in the actual process, which knew of the plan to revive Rufus. They'd found him after Diamond Weapon's attack on the tower, broken and bleeding, lying on his right side. From what they saw, his left arm was completely gone, as was most of his left foot. The real horror came as they turned him over. From what they saw, the entire right side of his head was gone; his skull was barely intact and leaking cranial fluid. There was a gaping hole in his stomach. He would have died had one of the medics not injected him with Mako and thus forced him into suspended animation. He was now much like the members of SOLDIER, which had once protected him.

"…ing remarkably good," He heard her say.

"Huh?" Heidegger had been too lost in thought to pay attention.

Scarlet looked slightly annoyed, "I said 'He is looking remarkably good.'"

Heidegger nodded, "That's good."

"Yes, he's almost completed."

"Must you use the word 'completed?' He's a human being for crying out loud!"

"We don't know that. He may be a vegetable. You saw the extent of his injuries."

Heidegger sighed. What Scarlet was saying could very well be true.

"Why do we even bother? Shinra is done with; we should just let him die."

"You see, Heidi, that's where you're wrong. The old air base just down the street could very well function as a new headquarters. Lot's of people will still be suffering from post-Meteor stress. Chaos was fine when we all thought we were going to die, but it carries over. So now, we have an awkward period on our hands. The people need someone to lead them, and why not someone who is familiar to them? Within weeks, maybe even days, the glory days of Shinra could be rekindled!"

Heidegger scratched his head, "But why Rufus? Why don't we take the power for ourselves? You don't want to be a subordinate all of your life do you?"

Scarlet's response was almost immediate; "Rufus is our escape clause. If, and let me stress if this undertaking doesn't go according to plan, we lay the blame on Rufus and let him take the fall. It's a foolproof plan."

"I must admit, Katrina, you have this all worked out."

Heidegger turned back to his beer and began drinking again.

"So why the long look? Aren't you excited?"

"Yes, I'm excited, but I wasn't worried about that."

"Oh? What were you worrying about?"

"The specimen. You know the one that Hojo produced sixteen years ago? The one that we trained to become our ultimate weapon?" he was becoming even angrier with each sentence, now he was on the verge of shouting, "The one that that son of a bitch Reeve told his past to? The one that is probably out for our blood?"

"The Ancient? I wouldn't worry about him. He could never have survived that. And besides, what's one man?"

Heidegger cast her a glare, "One man? One man can do a lot? Remember how Strife, a man who FAILED the qualifying for SOLDIER, defeated SOLDIER's best? Remember how one man nearly summoned the Apocalypse for this planet? Cloud Strife and Sephiroth were both men. They may have been infused with Jenova, but they were men nonetheless. We have no idea what a male Cetra is capable of. All the preliminary test showed was that he was able to use magic without materia, and that should be enough to make you worry in itself."

Scarlet reached out and grabbed his hand, "Antov, you worry too much. Even if he were alive, he probably wouldn't even know that you existed. And Hojo is dead, so he has no one to vent his anger on."

"Now that's where you're wrong. Fifteen years ago, I was the assistant to Hojo in the science division. The specimen has been alive for sixteen years."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll remember that far back."

"Don't joke around. He may. Remember, even though he is half human, we don't know what the other half is capable of."

Scarlet couldn't take Heidegger's complaints any longer, "Listen, will you quit being so fucking paranoid? It's really giving me a headache."

"Maybe you should take some pills along with that quart of alcohol you're drinking."

"Hey. I know how to manage my liquor. You, on the other hand, are completely shitfaced."

"I am most certainly not! I am sober as a saint!"

"Athhh soba athh a thhaint?"

That broke the tension, both of them broke out laughing.

"Okay, okay, maybe I had a little to much."

"Don't blame ya. Now if you want to get drunk, let's do this right. Bartender! Another round!"

The bartender was a short, balding man in his middle ages, "Sorry. We're closed."

"Wha? At least give us another bottle for the road."

"Sorry. Can't do that."

Scarlet pointed her finger at him, "You know what…"

"What?"

Scarlet lowered her arm and grabbed her purse, "Ah forget it, I got better shit at home. Let's go, Heidi. You're staying the night."

A grin spread across his face, "Oh, Scarlet. And on our first date?"

"Don't be an ass. I know you don't have a place here, so I'm trying to be nice, you can sleep on the couch."

"Okay, honey."

As the two of them left, the bartender shook his head and went back to cleaning his glasses.

"What a strange pair…."

"And you didn't see that he had any fire materia?" Vincent asked.

"No. I'm telling you he didn't have any materia!" Yuffie stated.

"Ok, we saw him with that insect use fire. You claim to have seen him use it against Lucrecia," she could tell it pained him to say that, "And there is one other thing."

"What?"

"After the mantis got the jump on us, I noticed a wind blowing through the valley. Immediately all of us got up. Doesn't that remind you of anything?"

She didn't have time to answer, because right then, Salkas burst into the room, holding what looked like a photograph. "Who is she?" he said gesturing to the picture.

He was greeted with what looked like angry stares. "You're not telling us everything, Salkas," Vincent pointed out.

Salkas' response was almost immediate, "Yes, I know, and I tell you just as soon as you tell me who the woman in the pink robes is. Tell me about the Cetra!"

All of them were silent; they didn't expect him to know of the Cetra.

Yuffie was the first to speak, "How could you tell, just from looking?"

"Nevermind that, at least tell me her name."

"Her name is Aeris, but Salkas…."

"Aeris. And I never even met her. Not in her whole life, and now she's gone. She probably never even knew I existed."

"Salkas… how did you know that, she's gone?"

"Marlene told me."

"Marlene?!" Barret yelled, "The hell you doin' runnin' 'round with Marlene?"

"Where do you think I got that picture? I was sneaking around your office, your daughter kind of 'caught' me."

"What the hell were you doing in my office?"

"I was looking for clues to your past, to see if you were trustworthy. And I found it. Obviously if you people were with my sister, you must me good people."

Vincent raised an eyebrow, "Sister?"

Salkas sighed, "Yes. You remember. The fire, the healing, the curing my poisoned foot without using an antidote…"

"But we gave you an antidote."

"I poured it out. That was a Jenova inflicted wound, it couldn't be cured by normal means."

Vincent changed the subject, "So Aeris is your sister?"

"Yes."

"And you're an Ancient?"

Salkas hesitated, "Yes."

"Well, that explains a lot. But how could you use fire? Aeris could only use spells of healing…"

"Maybe if she was tampered with by the Shinra for her entire life, she would be able to use offensive magic too."

"The Shinra?"

"Yes, I was their prize possession. The product of Gast and Ifalna, I was never told their full names. Reeve didn't seem to know them."

"What does Reeve have to do with this?" Barret asked.

"Well, he told me a lot about my past. It was only in a short amount of time, though. He said something about Diamond Weapon approaching and that we all had to evacuate. I asked him to free me, but he said that if he did, his life would be over. My life was hell already; I was ready for it to end. I let him leave."

"How optimistic…" Barret muttered.

Salkas' eyes glowed with a fire; "You have no idea what it's like do you? Being experimented on since birth really sucks."

"That is an understatement. I was experimented on for a week at the most. And it was pure torture. I can imagine…"

"No! You can't! But enough of this. I should probably hear about you guys before I tell you all about me. So you guys start."

Salkas sat down in a nearby chair as Barret began to recount the tale, starting when he and a man named Cloud raided a Shinra reactor…

Chapter 7: Incarceration

Water.

That one thought encompassed the man's entire mind. God knew how long he'd been down here. Nothing to eat, or drink. He'd kill his own mother for a drink if she weren't already dead.

His father, on the other hand, was another story. Godo Kisaragi had stepped over the line big time. He felt his eyes rolling back in his head and felt himself losing consciousness once again. He forced himself awake by biting on his lower lip. The gush of blood was a welcome wetness in his mouth. He was careful not to let any of it escape. He drank the warm flow of his own blood and wondered how he'd been bested.

He didn't have much time though, for a crack of light opened above. He tried to look but he couldn't move his eyes felt like ball bearings wedged in his skull.

He weakly sensed someone kneeling next to him. He thought that they'd finally come to kill him, and he welcomed it. He was to far gone to feel anything, anyway.

To his surprise, he felt another wetness on his mouth, only this time, it wasn't blood, it was water! He drank greedily from the pitcher that the water was coming from and soon it was empty.

"More," he croaked.

"That's all for now," the deep voice commanded. Reno looked at him and was appalled by what he saw. The strong elderly man, wearing the traditional robes of a Wutainese warrior.

"Godo."

"Call me dad."

On his side, Reno laughed, he meant for it to sound sarcastic, but it was little more than a cough that threw up a small cloud of dust below his face.

"Godo," he said, not paying attention to his suggestions, "After what you did, you think I would call you my father?"

"Why must you be so selfish?"

"Why must you be so arrogant?" Reno countered, "You knew that war was doomed from the start. You are the selfish one; you wanted me for yourself. You thought I was getting too close to Hui so you sent him to the front lines. You are a bastard, I'll never forgive you."

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Godo got up and walked away.

"Wait."

Godo stopped and turned his head slightly. "What is it."

"I may not forgive you, but I know when I'm beaten. Name anything, just let me out of here."

"All I want is for you to call me father."

"Fine, damn. Let me out…father."

"That's better, now get up, we'll get you a nice meal and have you cleaned up."

Reno fell back and wondered what he'd gotten himself into.

"You seem to be too curious for your own good…"

Even as he was finishing with his sentence, Cloud shot up from his bed. He'd already had that dream and didn't want to stick around for the conclusion.

As his vision cleared, he shifted his position and felt a small, sharp object poke him in the small of his back. There was something in the bed, that was strange, hadn't he checked it?

He took a breath and quickly exhaled, gagging. And why did his room smell so awful?

As Cloud shed the last few restraints of sleep, he knew that he wasn't in his room, and then bits and pieces began coming back to him from the past couple of days. Cait Sith, coming to his door for help. He, along with Tifa and Cait, roaming through a field. After that…

Carnage.

No, that wasn't supposed to…

Death.

No! Stop it!

Failure.

Yes. Cloud Strife was all of those things; those voices were none but his own. He'd blacked out again, and that never meant anything good had happened. And as usual, he was right.

He glanced about at his surroundings, unsure of what to make of it. It seemed like someone had tried to make a prison out of a barn. But why would anyone do that? His confusion turned to outrage when he realized that he was at the wrong end of those bars.

Cloud sighed. He'd finally done it. He either turned against his teammates, or allowed them to be captured. Maybe both. He noticed a dull pain in his head and began to rub the large welt that had formed there.

He began to piece the small bits of information together in his head. It was a barn, and they'd been headed to the Chocobo stables, so it was very conceivable that was where they were. Maybe he'd gone berserk and was clubbed on the back of the head by the police?

Yeah, the official Chocopolice. Try again, Strife.

Ok, maybe he wasn't the one who went crazy. Maybe Choco Bill did, and captured them. He may have slipped a drug into their foods. But that didn't seem likely, Cait would certainly not be affected by anything pharmaceutical.

Cloud winced. It didn't explain the large welt on his head either. It would all come to him in the morning. He slowly felt himself sliding into unconsciousness. He probably shouldn't go back to sleep, if he truly had a concussion, he should really try to stay awake.

But all of that seemed irrelevant now. With a yawn, Cloud Strife slowly pulled himself onto his cot, closed his eyes, and slept.

"You seem to be too curious for your own good…"

Then the blonde-haired man disappeared.

It was now down to he and the mysterious figure. He merely waited for what would happen next.

"If you delay any longer, it will be too late."

Was the figure talking to him? He didn't have time to ponder that question as it began to speak again.

"Yes, I am talking to you. Mr.…. Oh, I'm sorry, they never gave you a last name."

Salkas felt his rage building, how dare this thing mock him.

"I'm terribly sorry. But you'll have to trust me. To delay now would be more costly than when you delayed your escape."

"What?"

"You could have saved her, Salkas. Could have saved your sister. But instead you let her be killed."

"By a madman that you controlled!"

The figure seemed to hesitate. "So… You were here then, too. This complicates things a bit. I didn't want to have to tell you this, but…"

"What? Tell me!"

The creature sighed, "You wouldn't believe me anyway…"

"I'll choose to believe what I want."

Although its face was hidden, Salkas could 'feel' it grinning, "Clever boy. Very well, I shall tell you. The Shinra is reforming in Junon. In just a few days, they will be back in full strength. After that time, any attempt to bring back your sister will be impossible."

"There's a way to bring her back?"

"There is always a way."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Let's just say we have a common foe."

"Yes, but…"

"This conversation is over!"

Salkas sprang from his bed in a heartbeat. He was impatient and ready to go. He looked at Yuffie and Vincent. Vincent seemed to be asleep, and Salkas was surprised when he spoke.

"What happened?"

"I had a dream."

"Tell me about it."

"About my dream? It doesn't matter, dreams aren't real."

He said that, but did he really believe it?

"Sometimes that which our conscious cannot make sense of our subconscious has no trouble with. Plus, I've learned to trust the instinct of my companions, especially the Cetra…"

Salkas looked at Vincent then decided he was right. He explained the dream in as much detail as he could.

"I see," Vincent said when he was finished. Then he looked at Yuffie.

"We'll let her sleep one more hour, after that we must be on our way…"

There was no chance in hell that the repairs on the Highwind would be finished any time soon. Right now, it was just a very expensive paperweight. Hell, if it weren't for Wutai's cooperation, it wouldn't even be in Rocket Town, Cid took a breath, and inhaled nothing. He swore. In his haste, the cigarette he had been smoking had dropped to the ground. He rummaged through his jacket pockets and came up with another pack. He smirked when he saw the brand name. 'Lady Luck,' by far the most obscure cigarette brand on the planet. He'd found a pack when he was sixteen and started smoking. He'd never changed brands, and never would. Sometimes when he asked for a pack of Lady Luck cigarettes, he would be given cheap imitations. But Cid could tell.

Lady Luck was a constant in a life that had seen many ups and downs, literally. Cid had been in the skies for most of his life. He'd even been to outer space. Then there were the times when Shera had temporarily delayed his dream but now he forgave her. It was her job to be meticulous. Cid felt awful for blaming her all those years. He thought now that the threat to the planet was over, he could try to make it up to her.

After the Highwind was repaired.

He would have to call Barret soon. He took one last draw from his cigarette then stamped it on the ground.

"No time like the present," he muttered, reaching for the PHS.

Vincent wasn't surprised when Barret had asked to go with them. Of course, they had accepted. Although his temper often got away from him, Barret was definitely someone you wanted on your side.

The man in question had fallen behind; Vincent turned around and saw a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Vincent asked.

"Nothin', it's just that..." Suddenly a look of recollection appeared on Barret's face, "Shit! I forgot to call Cid and tell him that we don't need the Highwind anymore! Wait up will you guys?"

As Barret was reaching for his PHS, it rang. Barret jumped back a bit before he regained his bearings and answered it.

"H-hello?"

"Hey Barret! What's up?" The voice on the other end said.

"Cid? We was just talkin' 'bout you!"

"Nothing too damning I hope. I just called about the Highwind..." there was a note of disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah! Don't worry 'bout it Cid-man, we don't need it anymore!"

"Yeah, it's just that-" he paused, "You what?"

"That's right, don't need it!"

"Give me the phone," Vincent interrupted.

"What? Why?" Barret asked, confused.

"Huh?" Cid said on the other end.

"Ok, whatever. Here Cid, it's Vincent."

"Cid?"

"Yeah, how you been Vincent?"

"Do you still have the Tiny Bronco?"

"Yeah, sure, but-"

"Take the Tiny Bronco to Cosmo Canyon and pick up Nanaki, then head for Kalm as quickly as you can."

"Yes, but... Nevermind, I'll do it Vincent."

"Good, if you find anything out of the ordinary, be sure to call us." Wordlessly, Vincent hung up.

"What next, o' fearless leader?" Yuffie asked mockingly.

Vincent ignored her, "Barret, do we have any transportation? Chocobos, dune buggies? Anything like that?"

"We have the buggy that Dio gave us."

"It'll work. Let's go, we have to get to Costa del Sol as soon as possible."

"Aren't you going to eat that?"

Reno poked the half-eaten sashimi around on his plate, bored with the way things had turned out.

"Are you?"

Reno shoved the plate away. He looked at the clock, 11:00. He swung his fork in rhythm with the pendulum at the bottom. Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Suddenly his face turned pale. "Oh shit!"

"Now son, there is no need for such language..." his father admonished.

Reno wasn't paying attention. His thoughts were on the Wutai Bridge, he'd expected Rude and Elena to remain here had demanded it. And if they didn't listen to reason well…

So, while they camped out, Reno had set the bomb. He could have just cut the ropes, but that would have been too obvious. Instead, he rigged about an entire block of C4 to explode at 12:00 noon, today. He had less than an hour to stop them, he hoped he wasn't too late.

He glanced at the clock again, 11:03, he could delay no longer.

"I have to leave."

"Now son."

Reno reached under the table and flung it forward. Dazed, Godo toppled to the floor. The guards stared in surprise as Reno fist first knocked one back far enough for him to shove the other out of his path and through the door.

The hallway was clear. Reno made a mad dash for the exit. He hit the door going at full steam and the door guards didn't even have a chance to react as he blew by them.

He looked around for a car, a motorcycle, something he could use. A young couple riding double on their way out to the Pagoda drove by. He ran up to them.

"Wutai guard, sir. I'm going to have to confiscate that vehicle."

"You ain't getting my bike until I see a badge."

"Badge? Oh yeah, it's right here..." Reno reached down into his pocket, the man looked with him.

Excellent.

Reno brought his fist straight into the weak spot between chin and neck. The man was out like a light. He cast a menacing glare at his frightened girlfriend.

"Off."

She was more than happy to oblige.

In North Corel, Vincent and the others were jumping into the dune buggy. Vincent hopped into the driver seat and Barret took shotgun. Salkas and Yuffie grumbled as they squeezed their way into the back seat.

"Hey Barret, you think you can move the seat up a bit?" Yuffie asked in a weak voice. Her legs were nearly being crushed.

"Wazzat? Seat don't go no further!"

Yuffie was skeptical, she saw that Vincent's seat was pushed up quite a bit farther than Barret's. She was about to tell Barret when she glanced to the side and another idea came to mind.

"Salkas, want to switch seats?"

A confused look crossed his face, and then he made a pathetic exaggerated laugh. He slapped his hand on his knee. His message was clear.

Yuffie was undaunted. A smile played across her face. She had an idea of how to make him move. She reached down and unclasped her seat belt.

"What are you doing?"

She said nothing, just slid in over to where Salkas was sitting. She turned to face him; knees propped on the seat. She leaned forward and began to speak.

"Am I going to have to make you move?" she raised her eyebrows when she said 'make.'

A silly grin appeared on Salkas' face, "Yep!"

"Ok," she leaned forward so that their faces were almost touching, suddenly her hand shot out and she pinched the pressure point between his neck and shoulder, "Move."

Salkas' head was tilted to the left and there was a grimace on his face. She held him by the pressure point then simultaneously threw him into her seat and sat in his. He turned around, his face glowing bright red.

She heard Barret snickering in the front, "Hey Vince looks like ol' Yuffie's a tease!"

"Wazzat?" Yuffie said, imitating him. She pinched her fingers together a couple of times and quieted his laughter.

Rude and Elena were about to the Wutai Bridge when they heard the engine. It sounded like a motorcycle.

"Hurry up, Rude," Elena advised her companion, "That looks like Reno, we don't want any trouble from him."

Rude squinted, how could she tell? He wasn't that sure himself. He nodded and started across the bridge.

No! His mind screamed.

Reno sped across the plain, they were in sight!

Please don't let it end this way.

"Rude!" he yelled, his voice inaudible over the engine's roar.

Time seemed to slow as Rude stepped onto the bridge. He turned around and motioned for Elena to follow. Before she could, Rude hit the trip wire. The fragile bridge was engulfed in flame. The last nerve in Reno's brain snapped. As he watched Rude struggle for purchase as he fell down the cliff, his last sentient thought was this: redemption.

Reno's face was cleared of all emotion. He spied a brick wall. His face didn't even change as he veered the motorcycle to the right.

My fault. Never will this happen again.

Then Reno uttered his final words, "Neve-."

Chapter 8: Loss

Elena collapsed.

First Rude fell from the bridge and Reno crashed into the wall signifying the end of the line for the cliff.

And also, her sick mind pieced together, the end of the line for Reno.

Elena vomited explosively on her lap. Everyone who'd ever meant anything to her in her life gone.

First her parents, killed by an unknown assailant, then Tseng. Was Avalanche telling the truth? Had it really been Sephiroth?

Now Rude and Reno, a thought occurred to her. Had Rude survived the fall?

She crawled over to where the bridge was, swallowed, still tasting the bile, and prepared herself for the horrors she would witness. She opened her eyes and peered over the edge.

Rude, dead and bloody, impaled on sharp rocks below…

She blinked. What the hell?

She saw nothing but the ground below. Where was Rude?

Rude fell and fell, waiting for his death.

He stared at the ground with an impending sense of doom. When the large red object appeared right in front of him.

He landed on it with a large 'Oomph!' It gave a little, but not enough so that it still didn't hurt. The plane, yes he was sure it was a plane by now, lurched forward with the impact of him, and he nearly slid into the sharp, twirling propeller.

Given his odd position, he couldn't stop his gun as it slid out of his holster, down the front of the plane, and into the propeller.

The blades caught it and wreaked havoc upon the insides. Somehow, a bullet misfired and the entire contraption was blown off the plane. Still twirling, it flew over his head, through the middle of the biplane's two wings, and viscously destroyed the tail.

Giving the best apologetic look that he could to the blonde haired pilot and his red lion-like companion, he braced for impact as the plain took a nosedive and headed straight for the ocean.

Wait a second! Blonde-haired pilot? Lion-like companion?

Rude smirked at the irony; he'd been rescued by Avalanche.

The smirk didn't last long, however, as the entire plane plunged headfirst into the sea.

"I won't kill you because that's what you want me to do. Instead I will send you back, but I strip you of all of your magic, your power, and your sword."

Finally, the man shot up in the bed he was in. Looking around, he saw nothing, absolutely nothing that was familiar. The walls were impersonal to say the least. The sleek steel made the room look much like the interior of a ship.

He rose, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. Realizing he was nude from the waist up, he searched around for something to guard him against the cold, sea air.

Yes, definitely the sea, maybe Junon?

His head ached, he couldn't even remember…

Sephiroth.

Yes there was always his name. But…

And then it all came rushing back to him, Jenova, Avalanche, Aeris…

Danyello.

Yes, Danyello. The one responsible for all of this. And Sephiroth, a puppet since birth. Sephiroth found a jacket and wrapped it around himself, shivering. Shivering not because of the cold he felt, but from the cold he felt within.

"Are we there yet?"

Her voice like nails in the back of his skull, Barret turned around, "For the millionth time, no!"

He waited knowing what was next.

"When are we going to be there?"

"God Damnit! If you ask that one more time…"

"What? What are you going to do, hit me? Barret, Barret, the woman beater!"

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up! Yer on my last nerve!"

Yuffie laughed, "Hey! Look! I'm on Barret's nerve! La-la-la!"

Frustrated, Barret pounded on the dashboard.

"Why don't you both just calm down!" Salkas interrupted the bickering.

Barret took out his frustration on the young Cetra, "The hell would you know? Damn Shinra freak!"

Yuffie stopped laughing when she saw the look on Salkas' face. She watched in astonishment as she saw him completely lose his composure. Salkas' arm shot out, went through the seat, erupted out the other end, and found itself wrapped around the throat of Barret.

"What…did…" The hand dropped, bringing it back through the seat and cutting it deeply on one of the springs, Salkas clutched his head. Yuffie noticed sweat beading on his forehead and the air around her grew stale. She too began to sweat, as she felt the temperature in the car rise dramatically.

Salkas' breathing grew shallow and she heard him whisper one word.

"Away…."

Then she saw his gaze shift forward, out the front of the buggy. She watched, a mixture of astonishment and horror, as a huge fireball roared out through the beaches near Costa del Sol. The impact on the ground threw up a large cloud of dirt, and Vincent jerked at the wheel sharply, causing the car to slide, then roll, as it all came crashing down.

Sephiroth stepped out of the room he was in, taking notice of the shelves and assortment of weapons. Definitely a shop. He looked at the wall and saw something that made his heart stop.

The Masamune, or at least a replica of it.

His hands seemed drawn to it, and soon he found himself grabbing it off the rack. An alarm blared and Sephiroth grabbed the sword and swung it around in the familiar defensive posture perfected in SOLDIER.

"What the hell?"

Sephiroth turned and saw a bald man of medium build. He bore a slight resemblence to Rude, although a goatee adorned this man's face. Seeing the sword, his first instinct was to panic, but then he saw the sword's wielder.

"Oh, so you're finally up."

Sephiroth blinked. "Where am I?"

"You're lucky to be alive. Priscilla found you offshore. You should thank her."

"Yes, but where-"

"Oh, excuse me! This is Junon! My name is Ash, Ash Brack, Mr…"

"Se-" he began, then thought better of it. After what Danyello made him do, his name might hold some negative connotations among a vast majority of the planet. "Seth, Seth Ross."

"Well, I'm glad you're up, Mr. Ross. You must be quite important. The president sent orders for me to call as soon as you awoke. Know anything about that?"

Sephiroth thought for a second before realizing Ash's error. "Isn't the President dead?"

"Rufus? No. There was a rumor about that happening a while back, but I saw him when he gave a speech a few days ago, he seemed fine. I was kind of worried about how those two kept whispering in his ear though."

"Those two?"

"Yeah, his two assistants, Scarlet and Heidegger. At times it seems like they are running the show. I tell ya, Rufus seems like a fucking robot lately."

Robot? Sephiroth thought. Had Hojo's nanotechnology experiments worked?

"Now, could you just hold on for a second? I have to make this call."

Sephiroth's mind raced. What would this new Shinra want with him? It couldn't be good. Still, he couldn't arouse the suspicion of anyone in this city, even Ash.

"Yeah."

The man picked up the phone and began to dial.