Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII. Final Fantasy 7, the storyline and its characters belong solely to Square-Enix.

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Chapter 2

As the last members of the group entered the mansion, a gust of wind blew across the dark room disturbing the thick dust covering everything before settling again as Cloud and Barret closed the massive doors. With the doors now closed the room grew even darker, illuminated only by the fire on Red's tail. Dark shadows moved across the room with every twitch of his tail as if taking on a life of their own. Footsteps echoed through the room as Cloud made his way to a nearby window, moving the heavy curtains aside to let some light in. They were finally able to see the room more clearly.

"Wow! This place is huge!" Yuffie cried out as she ran towards a set of stairs towards the back of the room. She had just reached the bottom of the stairs and was about to climb when something grabbed her arm. Terrified, she screamed and twisted herself around to land a solid punch to whatever was behind her. Her attacker released her with a muffled curse, holding on to the shoulder she had just punched. It took Yuffie only a second to realize who her attacker was.

"Oh my God, Barret I'm so sorry!" The young ninja reached out to touch his shoulder, but he moved away, still cursing. She huffed, crossing her arms. "Why'd you have to go and sneak up on my like that anyway?"

"I ain't sneakin' up on nobody," answered Barret angrily while rubbing his sore shoulder. "You're the one who's not payin' attention."

"What? I'm a ninja, remember? I always pay attention!"

"Barret's right," said Cloud as he approached the two. "You should know better then to just run off on your own in a place like this." As he said this, he put one foot on the first step. He shifted his weight forward slightly and the board under his foot split in two. For once, Yuffie was silent as she watched him extract his foot from the crumbling stairs, knowing Barret had just saved her from seriously injuring herself.

"Hey you guys!" Tifa called out from the other side of the room. "Come see what I've just found."

She waited for everyone to gather around her before showing them a small piece of paper with something written on it. "I found this in the corner over there," she said, pointing to the left of the main entrance. "It's some sort of letter."

"What does it say?" asked Aeris as she peeked over her friend's shoulder.

"I'm not sure… It's getting kind of dark to read." Upon hearing this, Red moved next to Tifa, raising his fire-tipped tail a bit higher.

"Are you able to read it now?" asked the talking cat to his travel companion. Tifa nodded in reply and proceeded to read what was on the paper.

"I must get rid of all those that stand in the way of my research, even that one from the Turks. I scientifically altered him and put him to sleep in the basement. If you want to find him, then search the area."

Tifa looked up from the paper, "Altering someone and putting him to sleep in the basement? Sounds like something out of a horror movie." Aeris and Yuffie both nodded in agreement.

"Is that all of it?" asked Cait Sith from behind Yuffie, before jumping off his Mog onto the ninja's head in order to get a better look.

"Hey! Get off of me you fur bag!" Yuffie caught Cait's tail and flipped him onto the floor.

"I guess that's all," said Tifa after checking both sides of the paper for more information. She then looked up and locked eyes with the man in front of her. "Cloud, do you think there's really could be someone trapped in the basement somewhere?"

"I don't know Tiff," came Cloud's quiet response. "Maybe."

As Cait Sith dusted himself off, he noticed another piece of paper currently being stepped on by Yuffie. He yanked the poor girl's foot from the floor and retrieved the yellowed paper. Yuffie fell down hard on her ass with a pained yelp. She attempted to catch the robotic cat, but he retreated behind Tifa's legs before jumping on the older girl's shoulder. Barret exploded in laughter at the ninja's predicament and Aeris giggled as she helped her friend off the floor. Cait handed the paper to Tifa and sat more comfortably on her shoulder, ignoring the death glare he was getting from a very red Yuffie.

"It looks like some sort of treasure hunt," said Tifa.

"Move the dial on the safe carefully, but quickly. You have 20 seconds. You can not go past the numbers while turning. The 4 hints for the numbers are as followed: The lid of the box with the most oxygen; Behind the Ivory's short of tea and ray; The creek in the floor near the chair on the second floor... then go to the left five steps, up nine steps, left two steps, and up six steps."

"What do you suppose is in the safe?" Aeris asked, flipping her long hair over her shoulder to twirl strands of it around her fingers.

"Whatever it is, I just know it has to be something valuable. Hey! I betcha there's a ton of rare materia in that safe!" said Yuffie with a glint in her eye.

The others just shook their heads at her antics before setting off to find the safe. It took the young girl a few seconds to realize she had been left behind. "Wait up you guys!" shouted Yuffie as she ran after her friends in the next room.

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A quick search around the first floor proved to be unfruitful, and so the group moved on to the second floor by means of the second, none rotting set of stairs. They finally found the safe in one of the rooms of the western wing.

"Now that we've found the safe, all we need to do is follow the clues to find the right combination," said Tifa as she unfolded the two pieces of paper she was holding on to and reading them for a second time. As she did so, Cloud approached the safe, a frown marring his features. He stared at it for a few moments before speaking out.

"We shouldn't open it," said the leader of the group in a serious voice, turning to face his team-mates.

"What? Why not?!" came Yuffie's indignant response. The others were also curious as to Cloud's sudden decision not to open the safe and they were all staring at him, awaiting an explanation.

"I'm… not sure." It took a few more seconds for Cloud to speak again. "Something feels wrong about this, but I don't know what it is."

"Maybe you're just tired," suggested Aeris, reaching out to touch Cloud's arm. "We have been traveling a lot lately, and none of us have gotten much sleep."

He looked up and was rewarded with one of her lovely smiles. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We'll open the safe tomorrow morning, after a good night's rest."

"Alright then," said Tifa as she refolded the papers. "We'll look for the clues tomorrow." She yawned and left the room, soon followed by her friends.

They set off to bed, separating into two groups, the girls taking up residence in the room across the one with the safe while the others opted for a room in the eastern wing.

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A few hours later, Aeris was awakened with a start when a deafening crack of thunder resounded through the manor. She sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. It was still dark outside, but every now and then a flash of lighting would light up the room. It was during one such moment of brief illumination that Aeris noticed someone was missing. She got out of bed and carefully walked over to the bed furthest from hers.

"Tifa," whispered Aeris loudly, trying to wake the other girl up. Tifa mumbled something about wanting "five more minutes" before she turned facing the wall and kept on sleeping. She tried again, this time louder. "Tifa, wake up!" Aeris shook the girl slightly and Tifa finally woke.

"Is it morning already?" asked a very sleepy Tifa, hiding a yawn behind her hand.

"I think Yuffie's missing." Aeris told her, ignoring her friend's question.

"What?" Tifa looked over to the bed next to her, finding it to be empty. "Maybe she got thirsty or something," suggested Tifa as Aeris sat down next to her on the bed. Seeing the concern on her friend's face, she decided to appease her worry by helping her look for the young ninja.

As they entered the corridor outside their bedroom, they heard a muffled noise coming from the room with the safe. They tiptoed over to the door, listening for any sound. Hearing nothing, Aeris reached for the doorknob while Tifa raised her fists just in case. They both held their breath as the door finally opened, revealing a figure draped in shadow. Lightning flashed just then, causing both girls and the figure to scream.

"Tifa, Aeris, is that you?" asked the person in the room, inching towards the entrance to try and see how was there. Another flash of lighting revealed the figure to be none other then Yuffie. "Oh my god you guys, you nearly gave me a heart attack! What are you two doing up?"

"We should be asking you that question," said Tifa, still holding her hand to her chest, trying to calm herself down. "I just hope we didn't wake the boys up with all our screaming."

Yuffie leaned against the doorframe, turning her head to peek down the dark corridor, towards the eastern wing. "Knowing them, they'd probably stay asleep through a stampede of chocobos."

"So," said Aeris, looking at the young ninja. "What are you doing up?"

"Heheheh…" Yuffie was laughing nervously, rubbing the back of head. "Well, you see, with all that thunder and lighting outside I just couldn't sleep, so, well, I decided I'd try and find the clues to the safe myself." She was now pacing the room, holding on to the papers they had found earlier. They were staring at her now, suspicion written all over their faces. "I wasn't going to keep the treasure to myself, I swear!" she hurriedly said before they could accuse her of the crime.

Tifa gave Yuffie a sceptical look before walking past her and kneeling down in front of the safe, followed closely by Aeris. "Did you find the combination yet?" she asked the ninja who had finally stopped pacing.

"I think so, but I can't get the safe to open." Yuffie glared at the safe and sighed.

"Maybe you're just doing it wrong," said Aeris, plucking the papers from Yuffie's hand. She mentally read the instructions on how to open the safe and moved to stand in front of it. "What's the combination?"

"Well," started Yuffie, "I found the first clue in the room down the hall, the one with lots of plants in it. There was a piece of paper stuck inside the lid of a box in there that said Right 36." She was counting down her fingers as she talked. "The next one was the easiest; it was behind the piano downstairs. That one said Left 10. The last one was under a floorboard near the guys' bedroom. It said Right 59."

"You're missing one number," stated Aeris as she looked at the papers. "There should be 4 hints according to this."

"Let me see that." Yuffie reached to grab the papers but accidentally tripped on a broken chair lying on the floor. She fell on Aeris and they both landed in a puddle of water near an opened window.

"Gross!" Yuffie exclaimed as she untangled herself from Aeris. "I'm all wet now." She was about to get back up when she noticed the papers floating in the puddle, the ink slowly disappearing in the water. She picked them up quickly to prevent any further damage but it was too late. The ink was gone.

"Just great!" she said with a huff. "Now we'll never know the last number." She threw the drenched papers on the floor and proceeded to kick at the safe, trying in vain to get it to open.

After pulling Aeris back on her feet, Tifa walked over to the safe again. She looked down at the papers on the floor and noticed something strange. She bent down to take a closer look. "Right 97."

"Huh? Whatcha talking about Tifa?" Yuffie had stopped trying to force the safe open and turned around.

"The ink's gone, but now it's written right 97 on the bottom the page." She moved so Yuffie could see the paper for herself.

"It must have been written in invisible ink," suggested Aeris. "I guess the water was what made it visible to read."

"This is great! Now we can open it and see what's inside!" She bent down in front of the safe and tried the combination. After a few tries, a faint "click" was heard from inside the safe. Yuffie turned the handle and slowly pulled the door open, Tifa and Aeris both leaning forward behind her to try and peak inside. "What in the world…?"

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"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!"

Cloud shot out of bed upon hearing the girls scream. "Everyone wake up!" He yelled as he retrieved his Buster Sword. "The girls are in trouble!" The other's where up and ready by the time Cloud ran out of the room and they made their way quickly towards the western wing of the mansion.

Less then two minutes had ticked by from the time Yuffie had first opened the safe to the time Cloud made it to the room, but already the three girls were in serious danger. Out of the safe had appeared a massive monster made up of a red half and a purple half (how it had fit into such a tiny space remains a mystery), and the girls where ill equipped to fight it. Yuffie and Aeris where both unarmed, seeing as they had left their weapons in the bedroom. Tifa was kicking and punching the monster as best she could, but the creature had somehow managed to steer her into a corner, leaving her little room to fight or escape. She had already received massive damage from both physical and magical attacks. Since Yuffie had her materia with her at all times, she was attempting to divert the monster's attention away from Tifa by casting Fire2 repeatedly, while Aeris concentrated her healing powers on Tifa.

Barrelling into the room, Barret opened fire, a stream of bullets shooting out of his gun-arm towards the deformed creature in the middle of the room. A bestial roar was heard over the deafening sound of the machine-gun as Red launched himself onto the monsters back, biting and scratching the red half. By the time Cloud ran forward to attack, the monster had lost interest in Tifa and turned to face its other opponents. Cloud jumped up as he reached the monster, slashing his sword in an upward arc and using the momentum from his jump to do some major damage.

The creature bellowed in pain, trashing around for a moment about the room. The purple half of it had nearly been cut clean in half by Cloud, its black blood oozing all over the floor. Finally the purple part stopped moving, leaving only the red part. Cait Sith cast Stop on the remaining half, giving him time to run across the room to join the girls and administer a high potion to Tifa.

Cloud hacked and slashed at the paralysed creature, finally taking it down by stabbing it through the heart. It collapsed to the grown, dead, before disintegrating into nothing.

"You girls alright?" inquired Barret, switching the safety back on on his still smocking gun-arm.

"Yeah, I think so," said Tifa. Aeris and Yuffie both nodded in agreement.

"What the heck was that thing, and where did it come from?" asked Cait Sith, still looking at the spot the monster had disappeared from.

Before the girls could answer, Cloud walked over to the safe, bending down to inspect it. "It came from inside the safe." All eyes were on the blond leader now. "I thought we had agreed not to open the safe before morning," he said, looking over at the girls with a disappointed look on his face. "Why did you open it?"

Tifa and Aeris both looked down and said nothing, feeling ashamed for having disobeyed their leader and friend. Yuffie on the other hand felt no such guilt. "Hey! I never agreed to anything ya know! Besides, how was I supposed to know there'd be a ten feet monster crammed inside that tiny thing?" She walked over to Cloud defiantly, arms crossed in front of her. Cloud stood up to face the glaring girl. A staring contest ensued between the ninja and the swordsman, neither of them backing down.

Wanting to defuse the situation before things got out of hand, Aeris interjected herself between the two. They both stopped staring at each other and instead looked at Aeris. "So then," she started with a smile, looking at Cloud as she spoke. "Do you suppose the creature had been guarding something inside that safe?"

"That is indeed a good question," said Red, relieved to find that the tension between Cloud and Yuffie was all but gone. "Perhaps we should look inside and find the answer."

"Well since it's already opened, I don't see any reasons not to check out what's inside," approved Cloud. He bent down once more in front of the safe and pushed the door completely open. The others held their breaths as he reached inside to retrieve the safe's content.

Finally he stood up and held out his findings for the group to see. He opened one hand, revealing an old rusty key.

"What?" Yuffie cried out, not believing her eyes. "You mean we nearly got our asses handed to us just for this?" She pointed at the key with annoyance. The others were also disappointed at having risked their lives for a key, especially since they didn't know what it opened.

Cloud ignored the young girl's outburst and opened his other hand, revealing a shiny red orb.

"A summon materia!" Yuffie grabbed the materia from Cloud's outstretched hand, rolling it around her fingers as she took a closer look at it. "I think it's a rare one, too. Looks like an unmastered Odin." Being the materia expert she was, no one stepped in to contradict her.

Yuffie then looked up pleadingly at their leader. "Can I keep it, pleeeeaase?"

"You can hold on to it for now," allowed Cloud. He smiled a bit when the overenthusiastic girl proceeded to do a small victory danced, a huge smile plastered on her face. He then looked down at the key, wondering what to do with it.

Tifa, who had been quiet for a while now, spoke up from where she was standing behind Aeris and Yuffie. "Cloud, didn't you say you had stayed here for a short while five years ago?" Cloud looked at Tifa and nodded. "Yeah, I stayed here a few days along with Sephiroth, around the time he went mad. This was just before he burned down the village after he learned about his origin from those books in the basement." Cloud had a haunted look in his eyes, remembering the events from five years ago.

"Do you still remember how to get to the basement?" asked Tifa expectantly. She was now standing directly in front of Cloud.

"Yes…" Cloud answered, focussing on the present once more. "Why do you ask?"

"Because," she said, "I know what the key is for."

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Author's note: Hi there! Took me a lot less time then I thought to finish this chapter, and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Let me know what you think of this story so far. Looking forward for your reviews. Next chapter should be up in a week or two, depending on schoolwork.