Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I updated this. Time tends to fly, summer got in the way, and I'm sorry that this chapter has been 3+ months in the making.


Chapter 7: Secrets Revealed

Explosions continued to rock the earth and the air was so heavy with smoke and dust, that it made it almost impossible to breathe. Just outside the gates to Sector 7, the surviving members of AVALANCHE had made a crash landing from their death defying escape from the pillar. Every bone in his body ached. Good, Cloud thought. If I can feel pain, I'm still alive. Pulling himself to his feet, Cloud surveyed the scene. The playground that he was just at several hours ago with Aerith now looked like a junkyard with debris strewn all over the place. A steel girder had pierced the slide where they had talked just several hours ago. Cloud heard a groan to his right and saw Tifa starting to come to. Cloud was by her side in an instant.

"Tifa! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, I'm guess. But what about Barret?"

As if on cue, a string of curses and gunfire erupted nearby. Cloud looked up to see Barret shooting the rubble from the collapsed plate that now blocked the gate to Sector 7. Even when the clip emptied, the barrels still spun for several seconds before the big man fell to his knees crying and screaming for Marlene.

Tifa and Cloud walked up to Barret, not sure what to say. Tifa kneeled down next to Barret and put a tender hand on his shoulder. "Barret, I believe Marlene is safe." Barret just looked up at her. "I told Aerith to get her to safety."

"R, really?" Barret said wiping the tears from his eyes. "But, Biggs...Wedge...Jessie..."

"All three of them were on the pillar," Cloud said coldly.

"Think I don't know that?" Barret said with a hint of anger in his voice. "But, all of us fought together. I don't wanna think of them as dead!"

"And the people in Sector 7," Tifa replied on the verge of tears.

"This is all screwed up!" Barret continued. "They destroyed an entire village just to get to us! They killed so many people..."

"Are you saying that it's our fault?" Tifa interrupted. "Innocent people lost their lives because of us?"

"No Tifa! That ain't it! Hell no!" Barret exclaimed. "It's the damn Shinra! It's always been the Shinra! They're evil and destroyin' our planet just to build their power and line their own damn pockets with gold! If we don't get rid of them, they're gonna kill this planet! Our fight ain't never gonna be over until we get rid of them!"

Tifa looked at the ground with sadness and a look of doubt on her face. "I don't know."

"What don't you know?" Barret said with a confused look on his face. "You don't believe me?"

"It's not that," Tifa replied. "I'm not sure about...my feelings."

Barret took a look at Cloud, who had his back turned to them. "An' what about you?"

Cloud looked over his shoulder at Barret, but his mind was elsewhere. It was in the Shinra Tower and he was determined to get up there and get Aerith away from that God forsaken place. Sighing, Cloud started walking towards the road to Sector 5.

"Yo!" Barret yelled at Cloud, but he was ignored. Barret turned to Tifa. "Where's he think he's goin'?

"Oh! Aerith!"

"Oh yeah, that girl on the chopper. What's the story there?"

"I, uh, don't really know. But she's the one I left Marlene with."

"Damn, Marlene!" Barret yelled as he went to follow Cloud. Barret then turned back to Tifa. "Tifa. There ain't no turnin' back now." With that, Barret ran after Cloud.

Tifa started walking off after them, but stopped and looked back at the wreckage of Sector 7. It's all my fault, she thought to herself. With that she ran off to catch up with Cloud and Barret.


Cloud walked up to the front door of Aerith's house. God, how am I going to break this news to her mother, he thought to himself. He took a look over his shoulder at Tifa and Barret, sighed, and then opened the front door. The first thing they saw when the door opened was Elmyra Gainsborough sitting on the couch drying her eyes. She looked up at the group and immediately recognized the blonde ex-SOLDIER.

"Cloud, wasn't it? I take it this is about Aerith?"

"I'm sorry, but the Shinra have her."

"I know. They took her from here."

Cloud didn't know what to say after that. Being in SOLDIER didn't exactly teach him how to handle emotional situations in a tender, caring way. But still, the question had to be asked. "Elmyra, why is Shinra after Aerith?"

Elmyra looked up at the ceiling, and then sighed. Bringing her eyes back to Cloud. "Aerith is an Ancient. The sole survivor."

"What did you say," Barret said butting into the conversation. "I mean, aren't you her mother?"

"Not her real mother. It must have been fifteen years ago, during the war. My husband was sent off to the front. Some far away place called Wutai. One day, I went to the train station because I received a letter saying my husband was coming home on leave. But when I got to the station, he wasn't on the train. I clung to the thought that his leave was just canceled. I went to the station everyday hanging on to that belief. Then one day, I arrived at the station and saw a beautiful young woman laying on the ground with her little girl begging and pleading for her to get up. Her dying words to me were 'Please take Aerith somewhere safe.' My husband was gone, I had no child, and I was very lonely. So I took her home with me. Aerith and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything. She told me she escaped from some kind of research laboratory somewhere and that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely."

"Returned to the planet," Barret interrupted.

"I didn't know what she meant," Elmyra explained. "I asked if she meant a star in the sky, but she said it was this planet. She was a mysterious child in many ways. One day, Aerith came down from her room and just blurted out 'Mom, please don't cry.' I asked her if something happened, and she said, 'Someone dear to you has just died. His spirit was coming to see you, but he already returned to the planet.' At that time I didn't believe her, but several days later, we received notice that my husband was killed in action. A lot had happened, but we were happy. Until one day..."


"Good morning ma'am. My name is Tseng and I'm with the Shinra Administrative Department of Investigation. We would like for you to return Aerith to us. We've been searching for her for a long time."

A young Aerith looked up at the young Turk. "No! Never!" she screamed.

Tseng dropped to one knee so that he could be at eye level with the child. "Aerith, you're a special child. You are of special blood. Your real mother was an 'Ancient'." Tseng rose back up and looked at Elmyra while continuing. "The Ancients will lead us to a land of supreme happiness. Aerith will be able to bring happiness to all those in the slums. That is why Shinra would like Aerith's cooperation..."

"He's wrong! I'm not an Ancient! I'm not!" a visibly upset Aerith screamed.

Tseng smiled at the little girl. "But Aerith, surely you hear voices sometimes when you're all alone?"

"No I don't!" With that, Aerith ran up stairs to her room.


"But I knew. I knew about her mysterious powers. She tried so hard to hide them, so I acted as though I never noticed."

The last part of the story really peeked Cloud's interest. The Ancients, Cloud thought. I know I've heard of them before, but when and where? Realizing that the others noticed he went off into space, he quickly got back into the conversation. "It's amazing how she's avoided the Shinra for all these years. They need her though, so they won't harm her."

"But why now?" Tifa asked rhetorically.

Elmyra looked upstairs. "She brought a little girl here with her. On the way here, Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. She decided to go to the Shinra in exchange for the little girl's safety."

"Aerith was caught because of Marlene!" Barret screamed. "I'm sorry. Marlene's my daughter. I'm really sorry."

"You're her father?" Elmyra said with a scolding look. "How in the world could you ever leave a child alone like that?"

Barret looked at her apologetically. "Please don't start with that. I think about it all the time. What would happen to Marlene if I... But you gotta understand somethin'. I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene. But I gotta fight. 'Cause if I don't, the planet's gonna die. So I'm gonna keep fightin'! But, I'm worried 'bout Marlene. I really just wanna be with her, always. See? I'm goin' in circles now."

"I think I understand what you're saying. She's upstairs asleep. Why don't you go up and see her."

With that, Barrett quickly headed upstairs. Cloud could hear the cries of happiness as father and daughter reunited just above their heads. "So you're going after Aerith, right?" Tifa suddenly asked Cloud.

"Yeah," Cloud responded coldly.

"I'm coming with you."

That was not what Cloud wanted to hear. He'd already put one girl in danger. He wasn't about to put another one in peril, especially his childhood friend. "We'll be going right to the Shinra Headquarters. You're going to have to be prepared for the worst. That's why I don't want you to go."

"I knew you'd say that. But right now, I feel I have to push myself to the limit. If I stayed here, I'd go crazy."

Cloud turned his back to Tifa. Why did she always have to be the brave one? "Very well. I'll go talk to Barret."

Cloud went upstairs to see Barret locked in a bear hug with his daughter, tears rolling down his eyes. "I'm so glad you're all right."

"Daddy, don't cry. Your whiskers hurt!" Marlene giggled.

Barret let go of her and stood back up, trying to regain his composure. He saw Cloud standing in the doorway out of the corner of his eye. "You gonna go help Aerith, right? She's done so much for me...and if it's the Shinra you're dealin' with, then I just can't sit here."

"Guess what Cloud, guess what," Marlene screamed as she ran up to Cloud. "Aerith was asking me lots of questions about you. Like 'what kind of person is Cloud?' I bet she likes you Cloud!" Cloud's face turned beat red, not knowing what to say and obviously embarrassed by the words from the six year old. "Don't worry, Cloud. I won't tell Tifa."

Marlene grabbed a hold of her father's hand, and the three of them walked back downstairs. Barret was struggling with the idea that he was going to have to leave Marlene again to go off and fight. But if he didn't, who would? And what would happen to the planet if Shinra won? No matter how painful, it was something he was just going to have to do. "I'm sorry to ask Elmyra, but can you take care of Marlene a bit longer?"

"Yes, I don't mind," she replied.

"This is a dangerous place to be right now, so you'd better go someplace else."

"I'm sure you're right. But promise me one thing. Promise me that you'll come back to her. Don't get yourself killed."

Barret then looked down at his daughter, who was not liking the prospect of seeing her father leave again as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Don't cry now honey. I know it hurts. Believe me, I'm hurtin' just as much, if not more. But we'll see each other again. Now promise me that you'll behave for Mrs. Gainsborough." Marlene nodded her head while trying to stifle her tears. "Gotta go now baby," Barret said, as father and daughter embraced one last time.

Barret, Cloud, and Tifa walked out the door into the slums of Sector 5. Marlene watched them leave from the window, and as they went out of view, she finally broke down in tears.


The surviving members of AVALANCHE continued on their way to the Sector 6 road. They knew what their mission was. It was carrying it out that was giving them problems. With the destruction of Sector 7, there was no way to take a train up to the plate. The group decided to head to Wall Market to see if they could find anything out there. Tifa looked over at Cloud and she could tell right away that he was somewhere else. She didn't know who Aerith was, but she knew that she had Cloud's attention. Why am I getting so jealous of her? Tifa wondered to herself. The group had been silent for awhile, and Tifa's curiosity got the better of her. "Cloud, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm just thinking about the Ancients," Cloud replied coldly. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his head and a red haze started to fill his vision. Oh no! Not again, Cloud screamed to himself. The pain was so great that he dropped to his knees grabbing his head. Suddenly, a memory locked deep away came rushing to the front of his brain. It was that cold, dark voice he hadn't heard in five years, and he heard it as if the person was standing right next to him. "In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients. I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet!"

All at once, the pain subsided and his vision cleared. Cloud shook the cobwebs out, but all he could think about was the name of the person he heard in his head...Sephiroth. Tifa and Barret rushed to Cloud's side and helped him up to his feet. "Cloud, are you all right?" Tifa asked.

"Pull it together man!" Barret screamed. Cloud quickly waved them off and the trio continued on their way to Wall Market.


"Oh my God! Are we next!"

"That damn AVALANCHE went too far!"

"AVALANCHE? I heard it was the Shinra who brought the plate down."

"You and your damn conspiracy theories!"

"Maybe I should spend more time looking up?"

The busy town of Wall Market was on the brink of anarchy in the aftermath of the Sector 7 collapse. The air was not as heavy in Wall Market, but the scent of the smoldering ruins of the Sector 7 collapse still lingered. Power had been restored to the sector, and at one of the local shops, people were herding around a television as President Shinra addressed the world. The crowd hung to every word that the president said, as he announced that AVALANCHE claimed responsibility for the collapse and that elements of SOLDIER were being mobilized in the city of Midgar. That dirty son of a bitch, Barret thought. I can't wait to give him a piece of my mind.

Cloud and the others were approaching the mansion of Don Corneo, when they saw a bunch of kids run off towards the ally adjacent to the mansion. Curious, Cloud decided to go and check it out. The ally was made up of the wall of the Corneo Mansion, and the wall that separated Sector 6 from Sector 7. Cloud finally saw what all the commotion was about, as he saw a little girl standing next to a wire. The little girl noticed them staring at the wire. "All my friends climbed up this wire to the top of the wall, but it actually leads all the way up to the upper world. Looks pretty scary."

"Awright!" Barret screamed. "We'll climb this wire!"

"Are you crazy?" Cloud said with a look of bewilderment. "There's no way we can do this. You know how far that goes up?

"There IS a way!" Barret said with excitement. "Look, what's that look like to you?"

"A normal wire," Cloud replied, not sure where the big man was going with this.

"Just a normal wire? Well to me, it looks like a golden shiny wire of hope!"

"It's the only way to get to the top so we can save Aerith," Tifa piped in.

Cloud looked up at the wire that hung from above. It appeared the wire was hanging from the junction between Sectors 6 and 7. This is crazy, Cloud thought. The best plan we can come up with is to climb up fifty or so meters on a simple wire. Then, we got to avoid capture and sneak inside the Shinra Headquarters. And who knows what will be waiting for us inside there. The ex-SOLDIER sighed, and looked back over to Barret. "Ok, that was a bad analogy, but Barret, I understand how you feel." Cloud looked up at the wire one more time before latching on to it and climbing up. Tifa and Barret followed suit as AVALANCHE began their long ascent to the top.


Hours after the collapse, activity was bristling on top of the plate. The Shinra Tower was bathed in the bright light of the massive search lights that surrounded the corporate headquarters at its base. Helicopters were constantly buzzing the skies of the metropolis. Things were just as busy at ground level, as the Shinra Military Police imposed marshal law on the streets of Midgar. Lost in all this madness, were three figures using the shadows to slowly make their approach towards the center of the city, and the massive Shinra Tower.

Finally, after several hours that involved climbing a wire up to the plate and sneaking amongst the shadows of the city, the surviving members of AVALANCHE finally found themselves at the base of the Shinra Tower. Something was tugging at the back of Cloud's mind. They had seen plenty of the Shinra Military Police out on the streets, but they never once came across SOLDIER or the Turks. This could get rough, Cloud thought to himself.

"Hey Cloud, you oughta know this building well," Barret said.

"Umm, not really. Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've ever been to the headquarters," Cloud said, cursing at his memory, which seemed to be failing him a lot lately.

"I heard about this place before from some of our spies," Barret exclaimed. "Every floor above the 60th requires special access. It's not even easy for the employees to get on those floors. Probably where they took Aerith." Barret took a quick survey of the scene. "The security's pretty light now. Let's go!" Barret shouted as he started off towards the front door.

Tifa though quickly grabbed a hold of the big man's arm. "Wait a second! You're not thinking of just going right through the main entrance, are you?"

"Well what else does it look like," Barret yelled, agitated that Tifa stopped his charge. "I'm gonna kick some Shinra butt and..."

"That's not going to work! We've got to find another way," Tifa getting agitated herself, as she couldn't believe that Barret just wanted to simply walk through the front door.

"Ain't gonna be no other way! If we keep wastin' time like this, Aerith'll..."

"I know that Barret! But if we get caught here...Hey, Cloud. What should we do?"

Cloud had been watching this argument unfold and trying to figure out what to do himself. The trip just to get to the Shinra Tower had taken too long in his opinion, and he was afraid that every hour delayed could possibly lead to Aerith being moved somewhere else. If that happened, there's no telling if they would ever find her. Cloud looked over and saw a door off to the side of the main entrance with a sign over top of the door indicating it was the stairwell. Cloud knew that taking the stairs would probably be a lot better way of entering the building than through the front door. Climbing all those flights of stairs though would take a long time, time he felt they didn't have. Busting through the front door would be risky, but it offered him the quick resolution he was seeking.

"Tifa, I know you're against it, but busting through the front door is our only option."

"Hell yeah!" Barret yelled, as he loaded a clip into his gun arm. "Let's kick some Shinra ass!"

"Easy Barret. We're not going in there guns blazing. Our goal is to get to the elevators in the lobby, not to shoot up the lobby. If we're lucky, we may be able to just walk in." If we're lucky, Cloud thought to himself.

With that, the three entered the spacious lobby of the Shinra Tower. It didn't take long for the receptionist to notice these three suspicious looking characters coming into the lobby. "Excuse me," the lady said. "If you don't have an appointment, you'll just have to..."

Barret cut the lady off when he whirled his gun arm around and pointed it right at the receptionist. "We don't need no appointment. This is a 'mergency! Anyone who don't wanna get their face bashed in better git outta the way!"

"OH MY GOD!"

"Who do you think they are?"

"Y, you don't think that's AVALANCHE, do you?"

The lobby of the Shinra Tower went from business as usual to mass hysteria as soon as Barret made his little speech. Employees started ducking for cover wherever they could find it. The receptionist ducked under the desk, unable to reach for the button to trigger the silent alarm without Barret seeing her.

"FREEZE!"

Cloud looked off to his left, as three guards with handguns drawn came running up on them. They weren't even military police, these three. They were just low rent security guards. Cloud smirked, as these guys were simply no match for an ex-SOLDIER like himself. Cloud took off in a dead sprint toward the aggressors. The guards, seeing this guy charging at them, immediately came to a stop and started discharging their firearms. Cloud's SOLDIER reflexes kicked in, as he started somersaulting in an effort to dodge the bullets. No matter where the guards aimed, they simply couldn't hit him. Cloud rolled to the ground and then sprung up into the air and planted his right foot into the face of the guard on the right, then in one motion, dropped to the ground and used his left leg to kick the legs out from under the guard in the middle. Finally, Cloud used his arms to spring himself back up off the ground and delivered a brutal roundhouse kick to the last guard. The guard in the middle got back up to his feet, but Cloud swung around and nailed the guy with a left hook that knocked the guy unconscious.

Tifa was awestruck by Cloud's display. She had never seen anyone move so quickly and so gracefully. She was considered to be a very good martial artist herself, but even she couldn't do what Cloud just did. Barret on the other hand, was disappointed that Cloud left none for himself. Damn showoff, Barret said to himself.

AVALANCHE made their way to the bank of elevators at the back of the lobby and boarded the only one that was at the ground floor. Cloud looked at the number board and noticed that it only went up to the 59th floor. They would have to figure out a way to get to the special access floors once they got there. Cloud pushed the button for the 59th floor and the elevator made its way up the tower. Cloud was disappointed in himself. They couldn't even get out of the lobby without a fight. He was sure by now the whole tower knew they were here.

"What's wrong, Cloud?" Tifa asked, seeing Cloud's pained expression in the reflection of the doors.

"I didn't want to start a ruckus till we saved Aerith. I should have known that was impossible though."

For some reason, Barret started to laugh. Cloud turned around to look at the big man. "What is it? You're givin' me the willies."

"So there are times when even you fight for other people. I'm impressed."

A scowl came over Cloud's face. "Who cares if you're impressed?"

Barret grabbed the back of his neck. "Y'know, I ain't good at sayin' this, but...sorry, for lotsa things."

Suddenly, the elevator came to an abrupt stop. Cloud was wondering if he had accidentally pushed the stop button, but that thought quickly left his head when the doors opened and he felt something jabbed into his side.

"Hands up!"

Cloud looked over his shoulder and could easily make out the bright blue uniform of a Shinra MP with his rifle jammed into Cloud's ribcage. There were two more behind him with rifles drawn. Cloud knew that trying to pull his sword out of its magnetic locks in such a tight space would be suicide, but Barret was in perfect firing position. Cloud looked at Barret and winked.

Cloud started to slowly raise his hands, but then used his left hand to grab the barrel of the rifle. He quickly spun around and threw a right hook right into the jaw of the man. Cloud spun out of the way, and Barret quickly fired his gatling gun at the other two guards, killing them before they could even get a shot off.

"C'mon Cloud, let's get this show on the road," Barret screamed.

"We got a problem guys," Tifa piped in. "The elevator won't work. They must've locked it down from the security office."

"Well, they've probably locked down all the elevators by now," Cloud said to the group. Cloud quickly looked around and spotted a door to the stairwell. "There, we'll just take the stairs the rest of the way. We're on the 50th floor, so it shouldn't be too tough."

AVALANCHE quickly made their way up to the very top of the stairwell, which came to an end on the 59th floor, the highest floor for general employees and visitors. Cloud slowly opened the stairwell door and noticed two glass elevators side by side. Must be the elevators for the top floors, Cloud said to himself. Unfortunately, the elevators were being guarded, and the suits were unmistakable. They were being guarded by a couple members of the Turks. There was no way around them though. The elevator they were guarding was the only ticket for AVALANCHE to get up to the floors above.

"Barret," Cloud said as he looked over at the big man. "Cover me."

In one swift motion, Cloud took off towards the two Turks and drew his massive sword from the magnetic locks on his back. The two Turks quickly saw Cloud coming and one reached for his radio to call for help, but Barret shot him before he could make the call. The other Turk pulled out his baton and tried to fight Cloud hand-to-hand. Cloud quickly realized that this guy wasn't on the same level as Reno in combat prowess. The Turk went on the offensive, but Cloud easily parried every slash the Turk made. Finally, Cloud found an opening, and used his sword to force the Turk's baton down to the ground. Cloud quickly spun around and kicked the Turk in the gut. With the Turk in a prone position, the ex-SOLDIER spun around with his sword and buried it into the Turk.

Barret and Tifa rushed up to Cloud, who was searching the Turk's dead body, and found what he was desperately hoping he would find...a key card to the upper floors.

"I don't think he'll be needing his access card anymore," Cloud told the others as he got up and headed for the glass elevators. Cloud swiped the card through the reader, and the red light signaling the elevator was locked turned to green and the elevator doors opened up. The board on the elevator only lit up to the 66th floor, but there were buttons all the way up to the 70th floor. Cloud pushed the button to the 66th floor and the elevator made it's way up even higher over the city of Midgar.


As always, all comments are appreciated. This chapter seemed a little rough, considering it was written off and on over the last several months. I'm usually my harshest critic though, so maybe it is just me.