Cloud, Tifa, Red, Yuffie, and Barret exited the dome. The screaming had ceased. They looked out toward the rest of the city. The townspeople had begun to tend to the wounded and look for survivors. People with wheelbarrows could be seen transporting pieces of rubble from the temple.
"This is awful," Yuffie said.
"In retrospect," Red XIII said. "It seems the time we spent fighting was wasted since we couldn't even stop that monster."
As they walked down the brick road away from the temple, they passed various stands of food and clothing turned into makeshift shelters for wounded and lost children. Barret felt a bump at his waist. He looked down and saw a young girl with tears in her eyes.
"Hey, what's the matter, sweetheart?" Barret asked as he kneeled down.
"I can't find my papa," She sniffled.
"Let's go look for him, huh?" Barret said, fighting back his own tears. "Where was the last place you saw him?"
The girl pointed behind Barret towards the crowds of people clearing rubble. Barret looked over at his friends ahead, looking back at him. He took the little girl's hand.
"I can't walk away from this, guys," Barret said. "Sorry. Back when the plate fell down on Sector 7, if we had the chance to help people like this, we would've, right? But we didn't. We got this chance now though."
Barret and the girl walked off back toward the dome.
"He's right," Tifa said. "We should help out before we go."
"I guess. I mean, I don't think we're anywhere near Midgar," Cloud agreed. "No point in rushing out, now."
The party began to follow Barret. For an instant, a sharp pain shot through Cloud's head, causing him to stumble. Cloud looked around in confusion, without a clue as to what caused the pain.
"Hey," Tifa said. "You okay?"
"Yeah…" Cloud answered.
Slotting Restore Materia, Red XIII and Yuffie approached a triage of wounded and began slowly closing wounds and healing bruises. Tifa and Cloud started helping to clear rubble and carrying survivors to safety. Barret had helped find the young girl's father, who was caught up in rescuing the wounded.
At sunset, the father of the girl Barret helped invited the group into their home to rest. It was a short walk from the temple, but Cloud and his friends could already see the difference their help had made.
"For those of you who I haven't met yet," the father said. "My name is Rou, and my daughter's name is Raina. I can't thank you all enough for taking care of her and helping our town."
He opened the front door of his house to his guests. Raina ran in and began to prepare tea for her new friends. They all crowded around the kitchen table, just beyond the front door. Rou brought in extra chairs and stools from other rooms for everyone to sit on.
"Barret was telling me about Marlene earlier," Rou said. "and the awful things that happened with you and where you come from. Midgar, was it? Not sure where that is, but I guess terrible things happen no matter where you go, huh."
"Speaking of which," Yuffie said. "We're not entirely sure where this place is. And by 'not entirely sure', I mean 'we have no idea'."
"Is that right? Well then," Rou said. "Welcome to Baaj: home of the great Aeon Cerberus… or at least it was until today."
"Was the Aeon what caused the incident at the dome?" Tifa asked.
"I believe it was," Rou said. "Since the beginning of this town, we worshiped the Fayth, and Cerberus would watch over and protect us. I suppose ever since the catastrophe at the Wutai temple, this was bound to happen here, too."
Cloud, Tifa, Red XIII, and Barret all looked at Yuffie.
"Uh, come again?" Yuffie said. "Wutai doesn't have a temple. Or an Aeon, or a Fayth, or anything like that."
"You must be mistaken, miss," Rou said.
"I'm not," Yuffie said. She lifted her bangs to show off her headband with the Wutai symbol etched in it. "I was born in Wutai. It's where I'm from."
Rou looked at the headband for a moment. "Well, that is the Wutai symbol," he said. "But that still doesn't change the fact that there's a temple there. Maybe you can go visit and see for yourself."
"Wait," Tifa said. "You mentioned there being some sort of catastrophe there? What happened?"
"Same thing that happened here," Rou answered. "Suddenly Wutai's Aeon appeared and tore the temple apart. That was two weeks ago. Word has it that several other temples have suffered the same fate. I was skeptical of all this until today."
"Are these attacks random?" Cloud asked.
"Attacks?" Rou said. "I'm sure this is all just some accident; a natural disaster."
"People are hurt, dying;" Cloud said. "These are attacks."
"Hmmm. I'm not sure I have an answer to that," Rou said, leaning back in his chair. "But like I said, visit Wutai in the West. By now they might have some of the answers you're looking for. It's at least a few days away by boat, though."
"Luckily, we've got something a little faster than a boat," Cloud said. "We should get going."
Cloud, Yuffie, Tifa, Red, and Barret got up and started towards the door.
"Thanks for inviting us in," Barret said. "You take care of your old man, Raina!"
As they walked away, Raina and Rou stood in their doorway waving at the group.
"Did we really have to leave like that, Cloud?" asked Tifa.
"We only stayed because we had nowhere to go," Cloud answered. "Now we have somewhere to go. Besides, Vincent and Cid have been waiting for us since we left the temple."
"Yeah, Cid's probably complained Vincent's ears off by now," Yuffie agreed. "Poor guy."
"Still, it seems like a rushed exit, Cloud." Red XIII chimed in. "What's on your mind?"
"I've got a feeling that these incidents at the temples aren't natural disasters," Cloud answered. "There's something bigger at work here, I think. Let's get back to the Shera."
"Ooh, sounds like our boy's gonna go on a tear!" Barret said excitedly.
"He really gets me going when he's like this," Tifa whispered to Yuffie, fanning herself.
"I know what you mean," Yuffie giggled.