Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII characters, only the characters you haven't heard of until now.

A/N: Thank you for your reviews. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. I know you will really like what's going to happen in the story. It will definitely get you thinking about things. Also, you will definitely see some characters in this story that will make you go "What the Hell?! What's he/she doing here?!" but I guarentee you, they have a reason to be there. Especially with a character that's coming up right now.

Anyway, on with the story.


Chapter II:

Far across the ocean, near the Forgotten City, a young man was standing against a silver tree as he stared towards the tiny lake.

He was about 26 years old, maybe a little older. He had black spikey hair, which grew down to his upper back and long bangs hanging over his unusual glowing blue eyes. He was wearing a black muscle shirt and black baggy jeans. Attached to his belt was two long bladed daggers with a green emerald encrusted in the handles. He was a good looking fellow, even though he did have a few battle scars here and there.

All he was doing was just standing there at the water's edge, just staring. His name was Jake. Or at least that was what he called himself. He never told his travel companion his real name. He was always quiet when it came to his history. But so was his companion. The only thing he had told her was that he had been working for a farmer near Rocket Town with his land. He had been helping them for a while to help repay them for their kindness they had shown to him. Eventually while he was was off doing business for the family, he came back to ruins. Someone had completely destroyed the farm and killed the family. Out of rage, he began searching for the killers with only blind hope that he would find them and pay them back for what they did. That was how he met her.

Her, happened to be a very young woman.

They had met while he was travelling near the Rocket Town coast. They had happened to be passing by each other when they were both attacked by strange and unusual creatures. Together they fought the monsters and destroyed them. Then they made their introductions and soon became travelling companions.

Both of them were just travelling blindly, not caring where they were going only as long as they were going to find what they were looking for. They didn't do very much talking, though Jake like to annoy the yound woman very much by asking about a million questions and just yapping off his lips. She chose to ignore him though.

The young woman was standing near the lake's edge, just looking around. She had been standing there for quite a long time as if looking for something that didn't seem to be there.

She was at least 20 years old and built for speed. She had blood red hair that was cut to her shoulders. Two silver rings were braided into her hair with long black ribbons hanging from them to her shoulder blades. Her eyes were glowing lavender. She wore black and red leather pants and a black and red tank top that stopped just above her belly button. Hanging on her back was a long bladed sword and on her loose belt, she had a gun on resting in it's holster. And around her neck was a black collar with a blood red jewel encrusted on a flat peice of metal. It was no bigger than a coin. She was quite the young beauty.

And she called herself, Eden Black.

She was just standing there gazing into the water as if trying to see something. She had been standing there for at least an hour. She was thinking heavily about something, just by the look of concentration etched on her pretty face. It sometimes annoyed her companion when she thought to herself too much, which she did a lot.

Jake was starting to get impatient. He shifted his weight to his other foot. "Yo, Ed. How long are you going to be standing there?" He asked finally.

Eden tilted her head to the side as if to look over her shoulder. She remained quiet as she looked back into the water before shaking her head. She turned around and faced Jake. Her lavender eyes met her companion's glowing blue ones. "I don't know what brought me here, Jake. I just thought there might be answers here. There's something about this place." She said quietly as she walked towards him.

Jake just shrugged. "It's the City of the Ancients, Eden. This place is just creepy, like you. But it doesn't mean anything."

Eden crinkled her nose as she gave him a look for calling her creepy but she was used to his teasing by now.

They had been travelling together for about six months now. She had learned that Jake did quite a lot of joking. She knew that he didn't mean any of it. He was a cheerful out going guy, not any of her qualities at all.

While she was the quiet, serious, and not very fun type, Jake was the loud, obnoxious, joking kind of guy. He tried his hardest to get Eden to laugh. But he never had such luck. She had completely forgotten to laugh. She never even told him about herself at all. She was not a very open person but he never minded at all.

"So, what now? You ever find what you're looking for here?" Jake asked as they turned and walked down the pathway to the exit of the forest.

Eden just shook her head. "I don't know what I'm looking for. I just follow my dreams where ever they take me." She placed her hand against her head. "I kept dreaming of places I've never seen before. I don't know why I'm dreaming them."

Jake shrugged. "Ah, don't worry about it, Eden. Whatever you're looking for, we'll find it."

Eden looked up at him before looking away. "If only I figure out what I'm looking for, Jake."

Jake nodded as he ducked under a low branch. "Just hang on, Eden. In the mean time, why don't we go rest. Maybe you'll have another freaky dream." he said. Eden smirked as she looked at him. Jake grinned down at her. "Hey! I see that! Glad to see that you're starting to crack." He said. Eden rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She said as they slowly left the crystal tree forest and started down another path.

They walked in silence as they approached one of the sea shell houses. "Hey, Eden. I know you don't like talking about yourself, but seriously we've been friends for quite a while. Say something about yourself." Jake finally said as they went into the house.

Eden was quiet for a very long time before shaking her head. "There's nothing interesting about me, Jake. Nothing that I would tell you anyway. No offense."

Jake plopped down in one of the chairs. "Eden, why all the mysteriousness? Is your past really that bad?" He asked. Eden turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised. She was quiet for a minute as she stared at him. "Jake, the only thing I will tell you is that I have been alone for my entire life. And I do not like answering questions."

Jake crinkled his nose. "You're telling me."

Eden started to walk up the curved floorway to go upstairs before pausing. She then turned around. "I was inflirated with the old ShinRa Inc,." She told him.

Jake looked at her before smiling faintly. "Me too."

Eden stared at him for a minute before turning away and leaving him to himself. She went upstairs to one of the bedrooms and laid on the bed staring up at the twisted roof, one arm folded behind her head. Her thoughts drifting off again.

Several hours later, she still had been awake for quite a while even though she had said she was going to sleep. She could hear the gentle snores of Jake from below. It almost made her smirk to think about it. No matter how much he denied it, he did snore.

Eden continued to stare upward when she felt a gentle warmth filled her insides. She closed her eyes as she listened to the soft melody flowing inside her head. The demon inside was singing again. She loved to listen to the demon's song. It helped soothe her mind and kept her at ease.

That was another thing that Eden didn't tell Jake about. It was the fact that she was a host to a demon. Not just any demon, not one that was evil and always tried to do bad. No, this demon was a kind and gentle demon. A Phoenix demon. How she had became a host to such a creature, it was not by accident. She remembered it too well. She remembered the day she had recieved the demon. And she remembered how she hated the man that did it to her. Not that it mattered anymore. For he was dead now. She had heard the story before. A group called Avalanche had killed him. She didn't know anything about the group, nor that she cared to know about them.

She was actually on a search to find herself. To find out who she really was. If only she could find the man she once thought of as a father. She knew that he would tell her as much as he could. But the problem was, she didn't even know if he was alive. She had tried to find any trace of him but no such luck at all. Anyone she had asked never heard of the man.

As she laid there, a thought came to her. She could always go back to the place where she had escaped from. Hopefully there would be answers there. She opened her eyes as she thought about it. She had made her decision. She was going back.

She was starting to sit up when there was a black flash. She tightly closed her eyes and grabbed her head. She gasped as she felt pain.

In her mind she could see icy blue eyes glaring at her. There was a cold breeze blowing on her as the pain intensified. She gritted her teeth in trying to hold the pain in. Then she couldn't take it anymore. She gave a cry in pain. She rolled off the bed onto her knees and just held her head.

Just then a hand laid on her shoulder, pulling her back to reality. The pain vanished like it was nothing. "Eden! What is it?" She heard Jake's voice. Eden's eyes snapped open as she continued to just kneel there. Her heart was racing before she gritted her teeth and looked up at Jake. "Jake, something's wrong. We have to go to Nibelhiem." Jake just stepped back in surprise then he frowned as he tilted his head.


Meanwhile, near the Junon shore, a young man had been sitting on the sand staring off at the horizen for hours. He had been in Junon for quite a while, yet he could not remember who he was.

Only several months ago, he had woken up in this very spot and could not remember a thing. He had also been naked when he awoke. He wondered why he had not been wearing any cloths. The people of Junon had been kind to him and let him stay with them. They had given him cloths and a roof to live under. He worked hard to pay them back by helping them clean up the polluted waters as much as they could. He had befriended a few fishermen while doing so and including a young girl who had made friends with a dolphin.

The young man was quite a strange man. He was at least 24 years old, so he had guessed himself. He had long silver hair that ran down his back and hung over his strange blue-green eyes. The strangest thing about him was his eyes. They were cat like. The pupils were slits like a cat's eyes. He was quite thin and pale yet he was growing a tan from being out in the sun so much.

The young man wasn't sure what his name but the people called him Lex, so he went by that name.

Lex was sitting there gazing off. He didn't know what it was about the water but he liked it. He felt a connection to the water. Especially to the ocean. It had been his bringer to Junon. He knew that he had been carried upon the water. Yet he had not died on the water's surfaces. He was told that he was lucky he had not drowned. But there was just that something about the ocean. He believed that the water would have not let him die. Some of the people only laughed when he said that but he didn't seem to mind. He was quite the silent one too. He hardly ever spoke unless he was spoken to.

Lex glanced over his shoulder when he heard someone calling him. He saw that it was the old man that he was staying with. The man walked over to him.

"Lex, it's well near dinner time. Why are you still out here?"

Lex shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet and brushed the sand off his cloths. "I wanted to see the sunset upon the water, Mr. Tomoe." He said quietly. Mr. Tomoe just gave him a gentle smile and nodded. "All right. You may stay out a little longer, son. Just come as soon as the sun is down. You shouldn't be out after dark, remember?"

Lex just nodded as he looked back out at the water. He knew Mr. Tomoe was still standing behind him. "What are you thinking, Lex?" the old man asked. Lex glanced over at him before shrugging. "A lot of things." Was his only answer. The people of Junon was used to his short replies. They knew he didn't like talking too much.

Mr. Tomoe was quiet for a minute before he turned away. Lex turned back around to look at him. "You may stay." he said quickly.

The old man turned his head to look at him before faintly smile. "I know I may, Lex. But you know how I am about the dark. Monsters come out if we are not careful. I am not as young as I used to be. If I am not careful, I could be killed." he said. Lex watched him for a minute before shaking his head. "You have been kind to me, Mr. Tomoe. I will not let a monster harm you."

The old man smiled softly at him. "That is kind of you, Lex. But you shouldn't worry about me. I am old and my time is soon to come. People do not live forever. Nothing does. When I die, I will be allowed to either go to the Promised Land or be reborn into a whole new being. You never know."

Lex looked troubled at the sound of that. He looked back out at the water. "I wish no one would have to die."

The old man just smiled as he reached over and patted the young man on the shoulder. "Do not fear death, Lex. Death is only the ending of an adventure and the beginning of a new one. Believe me, my young friend. I am not afraid of death. I never was."

The two of them just stood side by side until the sun started to fade behind the ocean's rim and the colors in the sky were blood red and fading to a powdered pink color. Lex sighed as he lowered his head. Mr. Tomoe looked at him. "Lex, what's wrong?"

Lex just shook his head. "I just wish I could remember who I am, who I was."

Mr. Tomoe nodded still smiling warmly. "Well, one things for sure. Whoever you were before, I'm sure you were one of the most kindest young men there ever was." He said. Lex looked at him before faintly smiling. Mr. Tomoe tossed his head towards the town. "Let's go home now." He said. Lex nodded and they began to walk back.

It was after dark before Reno woke up again. Everyone had been so worried about him. As soon as he had passed out, Tifa had Rude and Rufus carry him upstairs so she could take care of him. While the three men were downstairs occupying the children, Tifa had to remove Reno's jacket and shirt so she could see what wounds he had. His wounds were not that serious. True he was bleeding from his forehead and he had a gash in his arm but they were not really life threatening. She had washed off all the blood and wrapped his wounds. As soon as she did that, she covered him up with a blanket before going back downstairs to tell the three men about Reno's wounds.

And while they waited for Reno to wake up again, they talked about what he had said before he blacked out. Tifa explained to Cloud about the phone call and the package she was suppose to go pick up. Cloud was angry about what had happened. He swore that he would find out who had made that call before chasing them and probably cutting them to pieces.

And as soon as the sun went down, Tifa sent all of the children upstairs to bed. But they were to be quiet because Reno was still resting. It was only an hour after dark before he woke up and went back downstairs. Everyone had been relieved to see that he was up and about, thought Tifa suggested that he shouldn't be.

"Tifa, I don't need a mother right now. I need a strong drink." He muttered as he clambered onto the stool, wincing only once from the pain in his arm.

The men all just smirked and shook their heads while Tifa glared at him. But she figured that a drink wouldn't hurt. She made him one of her HolyMeteor drinks, which was pretty strong with alcohol. Reno drank it silently with pleasure in his eyes.

"So what happened, Reno?" Rufus asked as he folded his arms and rested against the counter.

Reno looked over at him. "Nothing that you probably hadn't figured out. I just went to the place where the man said to be and went in to get the package. I was just leaving when the damn thing started ticking. You guys know me, I get curious. I opened the stupid thing up to see what was ticking in the box and it was a time bomb." he said shaking his head and running his fingers through his red hair. "When I find out who put that damn bomb in that box, the guy is going to die." He growled.

Cloud tilted his head. "You'll have to beat me to him first. That bomb must have been for Tifa or me and not you."

Reno gave him a cool look. "Strife, I don't care who that bomb was for. I'm the one who got blown right out the door when I was trying to run for it. It's gonna be a race to get the guy. If I get him first, I am not just going to sit around and wait for you to show up to skin this guy. I'm going to kill him."

Tifa folded her arms and rolled her eyes. "Guys, guys. Stop bickering. The only thing we have to worry about right now is who the guy is."

The four men just nodded in agreement.

"Tifa, try to think. You said you heard that voice before. Who did the voice remind you of?" Cloud asked.

Tifa sighed as she tried to think. She was quiet for a long time. "I really don't know, Cloud. And I'm sure I don't even know who owned that voice. It was a voice that I heard only once before. But it could have been such a long time ago."

Cloud nodded as he folded his arms. His eyes went back to the black dust. "It'll come back to us some time. But in the mean time, we should probably turn our attention onto this." he said picking the bottle up.

Reno stared at the dust. His eyes squinted. "Wait a sec. What is that stuff?"

The other four looked at him. They had just remembered that Reno had not been presented the first time. So Cloud explained what it was and how he got it to Reno.

Reno's eyes narrowed as he continued to stare at the bottle. He then scratched his head. "I've seen those crystals before." He announced. Everyone looked at him sharply. "What?! You have?! Where?!" Cloud asked sitting up straighter on his stool. Reno shook his head. "Not sure. It was a while ago. At least three or four years back." he tried to think. "I think it was in Hojo's old lab."

Everyone looked at one another. "Hojo's lab? That doesn't help that much, Reno. Besides, Hojo's dead." Cloud said. Reno shrugged. "Hey, you just asked me where I saw it. So I told you."

Tifa pushed her bangs back. "So what are we going to do?"

Cloud folded his arms again and tried to think. "There's really not that much we can do. I guess we can just go on with what were doing before."

Rufus looked at him. "What about the man that nearly killed Reno? What are you going to do about him?"

Cloud shook his head as he tossed his bangs out of his eyes. "I don't know about that. If Tifa or I were really the target he was after, he's going to find out that he failed to destroy us. He'll probably try it again. But the next time, we'll be ready for him." he said. Rude silently folded his arms. "How?" He asked. Cloud looked away slightly annoyed. "I haven't thought of it yet. But it will come to me soon." He said. Tifa shook her head as she took the empty glass away from Reno and placed it into the sink behind her. "We shouldn't think about it right now. It's getting late and I have to get up early." She said. The four men nodded as they all stood.

"Where are you guys staying?" Tifa asked looking at Rufus, Reno and Rude. The three looked at one another before shrugging. "Reeve has an apartment he's been letting us borrow while he's at Gold Saucer. Dio broke something again and he's asked Reeve to go fix it." Reno said shrugging.

Tifa nodded. "It's not far, is it?" She asked. Rufus shook his head. "Not really. Just a few blocks away from here but we can walk."

"It's not very safe for anyone after dark, Shinra." Cloud said as he shook his head.

Rufus eyed him for a second. "Strife, we can take care of ourselves." He said. Cloud shook his head. "I didn't say you couldn't. I don't really care about what happens to you because I still don't trust you. But I just don't think it'd be okay. Reno is still hurt from the explosion and if the three of you were caught by some thugs, he won't be able to fight in his condition. No offense, Reno. But you can't fight with a hurt arm. And it will only make you vulnerable and easy to defeat."

Reno didn't say anything but then nodded. "He's got a point. My arm hurts like a bitch and it's my fighting arm. I use my right to hold up my electrorod." He shrugged. "Sure, I could use my left but I'm much slower with it."

Rufus sighed shaking his head as he rubbed his temples. "Fine, fine. What do you suggest then?"

Tifa shrugged. "Well, I do have some extra rooms. You could stay here for the night then head back to Reeve's apartment." She said. Rufus, Reno and Rude looked at each other before they all shrugged. "Well, if you really insist, we'll stay." Rufus said. Tifa nodded. "Okay. Let me take you up there." She said starting towards the stairs.

Cloud followed behind the men as Tifa lead them up the stairs. They were being as quiet as they could so they didn't disturb the children. And once they were settled, Tifa lead Cloud to one of the extra rooms close to her room. It only had Marlene and Denzel sleeping in it. He didn't mind at all. Then Tifa went to sleep in her room.

However, one of the children did not have pleasant dreams at all. In fact it was Marlene. She tossed and turned in her bed throughout the night as she dreamed horrible things. She had dream that she was running in the darkness. She didn't know what it was from only that it was something evil. She could feel it chasing after her. She hear the cruel laughter behind her. Marlene kept on running as fast as she could, just trying to get away from it. Just then she came to a cliff side. She looked down to see below and saw a neverending void. It was like if she jumped off the cliff, she would fall forever. She spun around gasping for breath. Her eyes widened seeing an eerie blue color fading out from the darkness. Wicked blue eyes were glaring at her yet they seemed to smile evilly. It was coming closer and closer. She wanted it to go away. Marlene cringed as it came closer. A horrific monster was starting to form in front of her. She only cried out in fear as clawed hand reached towards her.

"Marlene, wake up, honey."

Marlene's eyes shot open and she shot up from the bed only to collide with someone. She just threw her arms around that person, not caring who it was. Her heart was pounding against her chest and she started crying. Two strong arms wrapped around her and held her closer to his chest. Cloud and Tifa looked at one another as the girl continued to cry with worry.

Cloud had heard Marlene crying out in her sleep and that was what woke him up. It also woke up Denzel, who immediately ran out of the room to get Tifa. Cloud had went straight to Marlene to try and wake her up. At first it didn't seem to work but then after Tifa had entered and hurried over to Cloud's side and spoke to Marlene, she woke up. In fact, she woke up the rough way. Her nightmare had sent her flying right into Cloud's chest and he could only wrap his arms around her to steady her.

After awhile, when Marlene was finally calmed down, she told them what she had been dreaming about.

Tifa smiled faintly as she sat next to her and pushed her bangs back out of her eyes. "It's okay, Marlene. You're safe. There's no monsters coming to get you." She said gently.

Marlene sniffed her tears away as she leaned against the martial artist. "Tifa, will you stay with me until I fall asleep again?"

Tifa smiled down at her and nodded. "Sure." She said softly and she laid down beside Marlene while she looked at Denzel who was just sitting on his bed watching his friend. "Denzel, you should go back to sleep. It's only after midnight and you have school in the morning."

Denzel looked uncertain but slowly nodded as he tucked himself into bed. Tifa looked over at Cloud who was still looking over at her. He gave her a faint smile. "She'll be okay." He whispered to her.

Tifa nodded faintly smiling back at him. She closed her eyes and rest her head against Marlene's, while Cloud stayed awake for the rest of the night. He wanted to think of what he was going to do next. He just quietly walked over to the window and looked up at the white moon in the sky.