Chapter 7: Temple of the Ancients/Sleeping Forest
Cid, Cloud, and Aerith had been walking for close to 2 hours when they came upon a clearing.
"We'll rest here," Cloud said as he put down the pack he was carrying.
"Good idea," Cid wheezed from where he had fallen to the ground, cigarette still in mouth. Aerith smile as the older man tried to catch his breath.
Looking around Aerith saw a patch of flowers. Smiling to herself she walked over to them. Kneeling in the middle, she was reminded of the good memories she had from her church in the Sector 5 slums. She gently picked a flower and brought it to her nose, its fragrance reminding her of the flowers that she used to grow.
This memory brought another to the surface, that of a handsome man falling through the ceiling of the church, only to be saved from certain death by her bed of flowers. She glanced up at Cloud and smiled.
Looking around the field her eye caught a sparkle of something metallic.
"Cloud!" she yelled as she slowly stood and approached the object in the distance. Cloud was at her side in a second, sword drawn, ready for anything.
"What is it?" he asked in a whisper.
Aerith only replied by pointing, Cloud turned to where she was pointing and was startled to see a body.
"Hey! It's Tseng!" Aerith said as realization dawned on her and she ran towards the fallen man.
"Tseng? Of the Turks?" Cloud asked as he ran, alert to a possible trap.
"Uh... I've been had. It's not the Promised Land... Sephiroth's searching for..." Tseng mumbled when Aerith reached him and rested his head in her lap.
"Sephiroth? He's inside?" Cloud asked as he stood and faced the Temple in the distance.
"Look... for yourself... Damn... Letting Aerith go was the start... of my... bad luck... The president... was wrong..." he mumbled incoherently.
"You're wrong. The Promised Land isn't like what you imagined. And, I'm not going to help. Either way, there was no way ShinRa could win." Aerith replied with a growl.
"...pretty harsh. Sounds like something... you'd say," Tseng commented before turning his gaze to Cloud. "The Keystone... Place it... on... the alter..."
Having said that, Tseng gave the Keystone to Cloud, passing into the realm of death a few moments later.
"You're crying?" Cloud asked Aerith as he held her against him.
"...Tseng's with our enemy, the Turks, but I've known him since we were little... There's not a lot of people I can say that about. In fact, there are probably only a handful of people in the world who really know me." She said as she sniffled.
"Am I one of those people?" he asked as he tilted her chin up.
"You know you are," she replied before wiping her eyes with her palm.
Cloud only smiled and kissed her.
"Come on, we need to get Cid and stop Sephiroth." He said as he gently led her back to Cid, who appeared to be sleeping.
"Cid," Cloud called. "CID!"
The older man awoke with a start, a stream of profanity hitting them full force.
"Calm down Cid, we need to go to the Temple and stop Sephiroth, let's get moving." Cloud said as he helped him to his feet.
Approaching the Temple, they are all on guard for a trap.
Entering the foyer of the Temple they see an alter standing in a beam of light.
Approaching the alter, Cloud placed the Keystone in the depression. There was the sound of a great rumbling as the platform beneath their feet began to descend into the floor.
"Cloud," Aerith said as she regained her balance with the help of Cid.
"Its ok, I think," Cloud replied as he gripped his sword tighter.
"Words..." Aerith said once the platform settled to the floor. "feelings... So many of them here."
"Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell's with this place!" Cid said as he looked around the room they were in. They were now standing at the entrance to a giant maze.
"Wow, that's amazing," Cloud commented, earning a light hit on the arm from Aerith.
"...Cloud! I know it's going to be tough, but... Don't give up! We can do it!" She said as she led them into the maze. "Stay close, we don't want to lose anyone, and no more corny jokes Cloud!"
"I didn't think it was that bad," he mumbled as he followed her.
After wandering through the maze for what felt like hours, they came to a small chamber.
"Does anyone else hear that?" Cid asked as he puffed another cigarette.
"It sounds like a landslide," Cloud added.
"Its worse than that," Aerith called from the door she was looking through. "Its another trap the Ancients made to keep people out."
"Wow, rock and roll," Cloud said when he saw the massive boulders rolling across the path before them. He was once again smacked by Aerith.
"Hey," he said as he rubbed his arm, "that wasn't corny." he defended as Aerith glared at him.
"Ok, maybe it was," he said as he held his hands up in defeat.
"Well, let's go," She said. Cid and Cloud sighed as they followed her, trying not to lose weight the rock way.
"Phew--- We did it!" Aerith gasped as she leaned against Cloud, once they reached the other side.
"Everyone all right? That sure took a lot out of us." He said as he cradled her against him.
They stood like that for a few moments, catching their breath.
"Oh no... Cloud. Come quick! Hurry, this way! It's full of knowledge ...consciousness... a living soul... It's trying to say something. I'm sorry, I don't understand. What? What is it? ...Danger? An evil... consciousness? ...show? You're going to show me?" Aerith asked as she stumbled forwards, only to be pulled back by Cloud as the air around them rippled.
"...What's going on?" Cloud asked as they seemed to be thrown back in time.
"Wait! Look! It's showing us!" Aerith whispered from the circle of his arms.
"Tseng, what's this? Can we find the Promised Land with this?" Elena asked as she held the Keystone in her hands.
"...I wonder. Anyway, we have to report to the President." Tseng replied as he sighed in resignation.
"Be careful, Tseng."
"Yeah... Hey Elena, how 'bout dinner after this job's over?" He asked, having finally found the courage to ask.
"Th... Thank you very much. If I may be excused..." she said before disappearing, Tseng chuckled to himself.
"Is this the Promised Land? No, it can't be..." He asked aloud once she had gone, his gaze taking in the Temple around him.
Tseng felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, turning slowly he came face to face with the one person he hoped to never see again.
"Sephiroth!"
"So you opened the door. Well done." He congratulated the Turk.
"This place... what is it?" Tseng asked as he gestured to the Temple.
"A lost treasure house of knowledge. The wisdom of the Ancients... I am becoming one with the Planet." Sephiroth said cryptically.
"One with the Planet?"
"You stupid fools. You have never even thought about it. All the spirit energy of this Planet. All its wisdom... knowledge... I will meld with it all. I will become one with it... it will become one with me."
"...you can do that?" Tseng asked as he took a step backwards.
"The way... lies here," Sephiroth said as he drew the Masamume and slashed Tseng, walking past him as he clutched his bleeding stomach.
"Only death awaits you all. But do not fear. For it is through death that a new spirit energy is born. Soon, you will live again as a part of me."
"Did you see it?" Aerith asked after a moment of silence.
"Hey hey! Wh, what's the catch?" Cid asked as he looked around suspiciously.
"...Where is the room with the pictures on the walls?" Cloud asked after some thought.
"Almost there..." Aerith whispered.
"Sephiroth is here, right? No matter what he thinks, it's going to end here. I'm taking him out!" Cloud said with determination, his arms unconsciously tightening around Aerith's waist.
"All right!" Cid said as he lit another cigarette, "Guess you youngsters gotta be enthusiastic like that!"
Leaving the 'rock and roll hall of fame', they pass down several corridors before arriving at a huge room with it's wooden doors thrown open.
"This is the room with the murals..." Aerith said in awe as they entered, their eyes going to the walls.
"Where are you? Sephiroth!" Cloud yelled as he stepped past Aerith, into the center of the room.
"So cold. I am always by your side. Come. Splendid. A treasure house of knowledge..." Sephiroth's voice called from around them.
"I don't understand what you're saying!" Cloud admitted as he shook his head.
"Look well." Sephiroth said as his voice seemed to move through the shadows.
"At what?" Cloud screamed at the ceiling.
"At that which adds to the knowledge of..." He breaks off in thought before adding more cryptic words, "I am becoming one with the Planet."
"Soon... we will become one." He said with a laugh that sent chills down the trio's spin.
"How do you intend to become one with the Planet?" Aerith asked as she stood behind Cloud, hand resting on his shoulder as she looked about for Sephiroth.
"It's simple.," the mad General replied with a laugh. "Once the Planet is hurt, it gathers Spirit Energy to heal the injury. The amount of energy gathered depends on the size of the injury. ...What would happen if there was an injury that threatened the very life of the Planet? Think how much energy would be gathered! Ha ha ha. And at the center of that injury, will be me. All that boundless energy will be mine. By merging with all the energy of the Planet, I will become a new life form, a new existence. Melding with the Planet... I will cease to exist as I am now... Only to be reborn as a 'God' to rule over every soul."
"An injury powerful enough to destroy the Planet? Injure... the Planet?" Aerith asked in shock, almost falling to the ground had Cloud not caught her.
"Behold the mural. The Ultimate Destructive Magic... Meteor."
"That'll never happen!" Cloud swore to the voice.
"Wake up!" a voice seemed to say for Cloud alone.
They looked to the shadows for the former General, but found nothing. Cloud began shaking, a maniacal laugh escaping his throat.
"Cloud!" Aerith said in concern.
"What the hell is going on!" Cid asked as he approached the young man.
"Ha ha ha... Black Materia. Ha ha ha... Call Meteor." Cloud said as he shook.
"Cloud! Get a hold of yourself!" Aerith said as she slapped him, this helped to break him from his trance.
"Cloud... I'm... Cloud... How should I? ...I remember! I remember my way." He said in a daze.
" ...Cloud," Aerith said in a worried tone.
"Mm? What's wrong? Is something wrong?" Cloud asked, totally unaware of what just happened.
"...It's nothing so don't worry about it. Right, Cloud! It's nothing. Sephiroth got away."
"...Don't worry about it. I understood what he was saying. So this must be Meteor, right?" he said as he looked at the mural.
"I don't know what the hell it is but it's falling from the sky? Hmpf! It's not even an omen." Cid said as he puffed his cigarette.
"...this must be magic. Just what Sephiroth was saying. The Ultimate Destructive Magic, Meteor. It finds small drifting planets with its magic. And then collides with them. This Planet might get wiped out entirely..." Aerith said with a shudder, Cloud hugged her in reassurance.
"Sephiroth?" Cloud said as they heard a roar around them.
"Ha ha ha... It's not me." He replied as a red dragon appeared before them.
"Great, just what I needed," Cloud said as they engaged the beast in battle.
The battle lasted a good half hour, both sides weakening during the fight. Finally Cloud delivered the finishing blow. As the dragon lay dying, Aerith healed their wounds as best she could.
"Any sign of Sephiroth?" Cloud panted.
Aerith shook her head.
"He disappeared." Aerith said as she cast cure on him.
With a monumental sigh, Cloud pulled himself from the floor. Walking with a slight limp he approached a model of the Temple.
"What is this?" he asked Aerith as she stood beside him.
"There's something written on it. ...B.l.a.c.k...M.a.t.e.r.i.a." she said slightly confused.
"Black Materia!" Cloud said in shock.
"Hey!" she said, realizing what that meant. "...Black Materia. What should we do, Cloud?"
"Take it," he said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Wait a minute, I'll ask! I don't understand... What? Really? They said that the Temple itself is the Black Materia." She said in confusion once again.
"What do they mean?" Cloud asked, just as confused.
"So, this whole building is the Black Materia?" Aerith said with dawning realization.
"This huge Temple?" Cloud asked shocked, Cid almost dropped his cigarette from the shock. "This is the Black Materia? Then no one could take it."
"Hmm, it's pretty hard. You see this is a device, which gets smaller each time you solve a puzzle. As the model becomes smaller, you become smaller too. Until it's small enough to fit in the palm of your hand." Aerith explained, having just had it explained to her by the spirits.
"So, if we solve the puzzles, the Black Materia will get smaller and smaller and we can take it out?" Cloud asked, slightly doubtful.
"Yes, but there's one thing..." Aerith said with a dramatic pause. "You can only answer the puzzles inside the Temple. So, anyone who solves the puzzle will be crushed by the Temple."
"I see..." Cloud said as he crossed his arms over his chest in thought. "The Ancients didn't want dangerous magic to be taken out of the Temple so easily..."
"Guess stuff this dangerous is best left alone?" Cid asked.
"No. We've got to think of a way to get it out. Because Sephiroth has lots of different flunkies. It's nothing to him to throw their lives away to get the Black Materia. This place isn't safe." Cloud answered with finality.
"So what are we going to do?" Aerith said, asking the question that was on all their minds.
As Cloud was about to answer, the PHS rang.
"Hello?" Cloud said, not many people had this number.
"Hi, Cloud. This is Cait Sith. I overheard the whole story! Don't forget about me. Everything you said makes perfect sense! You can use my stuffed body for the future of the Planet."
"We can't let Sephiroth get his hands on the Black Materia. And we can't let the ShinRa get theirs on it either." Cloud said with some heat, still feeling the threat and betrayal.
"But Cloud. There's really nothing else you can do. Everyone, please trust me." Cait Sith begged.
With a sigh, Cloud accepted the inescapable fact that he was right.
"I guess we have no choice."
"All righty then! Leave it all to me! Please hurry, you've got to get out of here! I'll be waiting at the exit!" Cait Sith said as he hung up.
After resting for a while longer, the trio moved to the door, only to find it locked.
"It's warm..." Cloud said as he placed his hands on the door. "This isn't good..." he added, turning to face Aerith and Cid.
"Cloud..." Aerith screamed, "...behind you."
Cloud turned from where he was standing to find that the door had turned into a monster, its goal obviously to keep them from getting the Black Materia. Cloud sighed as they engaged the demonic door.
After the long battle, Cloud, Aerith and Cid sat slumped against the wall, recovering their energy as best they could.
Aerith was leaning back against Cloud when a banging began on the other side if the door. It continued to get louder until it suddenly stopped. All three were alert for an attack as they heard the door begin to open.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Cait Sith said as he appeared in the portal. "It's me! I'll handle the rest! Well, everyone... Take care of yourselves!"
"Cait Sith..." Aerith began, only to find she had no words to express what she felt. "Come on, Cloud... Say something."
"I'm not good at this," he admitted ruefully.
"Mmm, I understand. I feel the same too," Cait Sith replied as he approached Cloud and hugged him, pulling Aerith into the embrace.
"Why don't you read our fortunes?" she suggested when he let them go.
"Say, that's right... I haven't done it in a while, huh? I'm so excited. Right or wrong, I'm still the same 'ol me. Now, what should I predict?"
"Hmm, let's see how compatible Cloud and I are!" Aerith replied with a giggle, already knowing the answer, Cait Sith grinned and decided to play along.
"That'll cost ya. Exactly one date! Here I go!" He began his spasmodic dance once again, the fortune appearing a moment later. "This isn't good. I can't say it. Poor Tifa."
"No! Tell me! I promise I won't get mad!" Aerith replied, trying to stifle the giggles that threatened to escape.
"Is that so? Then I'll tell you. Looks good. You are perfect for each other! Aerith's star and Cloud's star! They show a great future! Cloud, I'll be your matchmaker, preacher... I'll do whatever you want me to! You just call me when it all happens!" he said with a wink, having already been to their beautiful ceremony. "Thank you for believing in me, even knowing that I was a spy. This is the final, final farewell!"
"Be strong Cait Sith!" Aerith said as she kissed his furry cheek. Cloud merely shakes his hand.
The trio then leaves Cait Sith behind to fulfill his new purpose in life.
"She told me to 'Be strong'." He said as he slowly walked towards the puzzles, occasionally jumping for joy that they trusted him again. "I feel so happy. Owwww..." he said as he tripped, the moggle tripping over some rubble from the fight with the Demon Gate. "What happened? I can protect the Planet too! I'm kinda embarrassed... There's plenty of stuffed toys like my body around, but there's only one me! Don't forget me even if another Cait Sith comes along. Good bye, then! I guess I'm off to save the Planet...
Having said that, Cait Sith straightened his bow tie and set off to his fate.
TBC Chapter 7 Part B
