Disclaimer: I don't own any characters of Final Fantasy VII or Inuyasha. All characters, weapons, ect. are copyrighted their maker (Squaresoft, Rumiko Takashi, and anybody else). Only the storyline crossover and a certain monster that is one of the main characters in this chapter belong to me. Blah blah blah…

YES! Finally, no long author notes here. I've uploaded this chapter up at the same time as the previous one, so there were no reviews for the last chapter to reply too. Not much to say either, except that, as you all know, in the normal text of this fanfiction, words that are in italics are emphasized. In this chapter, however, words that are in italics will be flashbacks (so, they're the past, not present). Words that are normal (not in italics) in the flashbacks will be emphasized words. Well…if you see whole paragraphs that are in italics, they are flashbacks. If you only see a few words at once that are in italics, they're still emphasized. Hope you guys don't get confused! This chapter is kinda short. Well, shorter than usual.

Chapter 11 - The Dimension Materia

Naraku watched the mirror. He saw AVALANCHE and the Inuyasha-tachi laughing and joking as they walked towards the Gold Saucer.

"…they seem to be getting along well," Naraku commented softly. "Very well." Kagura scowled and fanned herself rigidly.

"Well, they shouldn't be getting along so well. How will they capture Inuyasha and the others once all the shards are collected, if they're best friends?"

"Oh, there is no need to worry Kagura," Naraku replied. "The lure of their dead ones being revived will overpower their friendship." Kagura glanced at him.

"You really are an evil one, aren't you?" Naraku did not answer, but a smile curled his lips.

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Sephiroth could not move. He struggled fruitlessly, but nothing worked. Surprisingly, his body did not need to breathe, eat, drink, sleep, or do anything else. It was as still as a statue. He couldn't even move his eyes. His feet were rooted to the ground. Sephiroth couldn't believe it. Somehow, that monster had paralyzed him. Somehow, it had defeated him, the mighty Sephiroth! That was supposed to be impossible…but it had overpowered him, and he remembered the battle clearly.

It had been a fine, sunlit morning. He was strolling along the mountain path, heading towards the snow-capped peak that loomed over the small village below. The reunion was drawing near…very near. Sephiroth looked up at the sky. Soon, the earth would be destroyed. He just had to wait a little longer. Just a while longer. Soon…

The mountain started shaking. The earth, the town, the rocks, the sky. The whole area was shaking. Sephiroth frowned and drove the Masumune into the ground. No, it wasn't just the area that was shaking. Strange…he hadn't summoned Meteor yet. So, why was the world shaking? Sephiroth gripped the hilt of the sword tightly as the world gave a final, violent lurch. Clouds of dust obscured his vision for a moment. They settled. Sephiroth's eyes widened, then narrowed. Snow-covered pine trees had suddenly appeared. They were dotted all over the mountain, occasionally bunching together to form a forest. There were odd creatures bumbling around in the distance. What had just happened? Sephiroth could feel an odd power that a form in the distance was emitting. It was also glowing pink. Well, if it was power, the ex-general had to check it out. Sephiroth pulled the Masumune out of the ground and sped towards the glowing creature. It flew high into the sky and headed off, but not before Sephiroth saw what it was. Sephiroth stopped, his frown deepening. It was a bee. A huge bee. It had a glowing shard of something in it. And that shard of something was powerful.

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The beast growled. It was free, and it was in control. But no…its freedom was gone. Taken away. It was controlled. By a mere human! How could it have lost its freedom to a human? How? No. It was not controlled by the human. It was controlled by the thing the human had implanted in its back. Yes. That was it. How stupid of it to think that a mere human controlled it. Humans always needed something powerful to dominate. To control. A human would be as helpless as a newborn kitten if it had all its little toys taken away. But still, there was the fact that the human did control it through the thing that was in its back. And it couldn't do anything to break that human's power. No. It was helpless. Controlled. Chained. By a shard in its back.

Naraku had let it spread its wings and fly today while he watched the guinea pigs in his little game. It could go wherever it wanted, as long as it didn't cause any trouble. Oh, and one other thing. It was not to be seen. That left it a few choices. It could go to the North Crater. Or to the mountains near Wutai. Or to the ruined Temple of Ancients. Of course, the beast could also go to the desert near the Corel Mountains, next to Costa Del Sol. Not many places. The beast changed directions in midair and headed towards Wutai. The North Crater was too cold…though the beast didn't really mind the frigidness. It risked a better chance of being seen in the desert. The Temple of Ancients gave it a disturbed feeling. So, the best place would be the mountains near Wutai. The people of the town didn't travel in the mountains often, for there were ferocious monsters.

The beast landed softly at the base of a mountain. Perfect. Peace and quiet. It folded its wings and sat down to find a way to break out of Naraku's control. But there was no way. None. It had tried before, but nothing worked. When Naraku willed something, its body simply obeyed. There was not use fighting it. It was easier just to go along. At least it had control over its body if it went along. It had tried to take the shard out of its body, but its body would just freeze whenever it tried. The only was to get free was to get someone else to take the shard out, but no human would dare approach it. Usually, the beast would find this very satisfying, but now it found it annoying. The monster sighed and leaned against the mountain. It thought back to that day, quite a while ago, when it had lost its freedom…

It had found the materia in a pool of mako, in the Sleeping Forest. As soon as it picked the silver orb up, some kind of force went through it. It had changed slightly and had grown stronger. Something had told it to protect the materia…to guard it. But what told it that? What? And it realized just what it was. The Planet…the Planet had made it the guardian of the materia. it would protect the materia if it was the last thing it did. But…what was the materia? How did it work? The beast heard the Planet whispering to it. It was the first and only one of its kind. A dimension materia. Using the materia, the guardian could travel anywhere. To any world it wanted! The beast smirked. The materia was precious. It would not allow anyone else to have it. The monster held the materia tightly and willed it to take its guardian to another world.

Its wish had been granted. It was in another world! But the sudden change had dazed it, and it had accidentally dropped the materia. As its mind cleared, it saw a woman pick the materia up. It flashed in anger at its carelessness. Five minutes with the materia, and now it was in another's hands! It ordered the woman to give it back, but she refused. Why, she even smirked at it! Such insolence. It attacked her, but she escaped. She attacked it, but she barely even scratched it. It smiled as the woman looked terrified. To its annoyance, she managed to avoid injury from its attack, and fled on. She flew straight through a barrier. The dragon roared with rage. It would never be so careless again. As it pummeled the barrier, it promised itself that it would not loose the materia again, once it got it back. Unfortunately for the beast, it never got that chance.

The dragon remembered how the barrier shook and broke when it launched its final blast. And it also remembered when, in a terrifying moment, it realized that the materia broke. The world it had been born in and the world it was currently in combined with a clash. It had flew, in such a rage, towards the castle. Somehow, it knew that the man inside the castle dropped the materia. It set out to kill him. It had disregarded the thing that was heading toward it, glinting in the sunlight. And that was a big mistake.

After Naraku gained control of the creature with a Shikon Jewel shard, he summoned it to him. He ordered it to explain everything to him, and so it did. After the story, Naraku thought for a long time. Finally, he spoke.

"Is there anyone I should be worried about?" The beast smirked.

"No," it lied. A jolt of pain shot through its body and left it gasping.

"Do not lie to me," Naraku said quietly. The dragon growled. It loathed to tell the truth to the puny human man that stood before it, but it had no choice.

"Yes," it grumbled. "Sephiroth…" The man raised an eyebrow.

"Sephiroth?" Naraku frowned quizzically.

"Yes!" the monster snarled furiously. It told Naraku all about the man. And with every piece of information received, Naraku's frown deepened.

"He is dangerous," Naraku murmured. "We shall have to get rid of him."

"We?" The beast laughed. It was silenced by Naraku's smile.

"Yes. You will go and either kill him or do something to make sure that he will not get in my way."

"Me?" The dragon laughed again. "I am not strong enough to defeat him." It did not like the look Naraku gave it.

"With another jewel shard," he said softly, "you will be."

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Sephiroth gazed out over the mountains and valleys that were covered in snow. So. Somehow, the Planet had changed. And there was a new source of power. Power that could make him stronger than he already was. Bu why bother? Why go to so much trouble just for something else when the world was going to be destroyed anyway? No…it was much easier to wait for the reunion. Then he would summon Meteor and end it. End everything. Destroy the Planet. A smile lifted the corners of Sephiroth's mouth. Everything was going to be alright. And the Planet would be his.

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The dragon spotted the tall, white-haired figure. Ah. There he is. It flew toward the man, flapping its huge wings hard. Even with two jewel shards, the beast would not escape injury. No. Sephiroth was much too powerful. But, it supposed that it could restrain Sephiroth. It probably couldn't kill him, but it could paralyze him. The man would probably be as good as dead. The monster gritted its teeth. This fight wasn't going to be nice. It did not want to fight Sephiroth, but it had no choice. And Sephiroth wasn't going to help it.

Sephiroth frowned as he saw a great dragon flying towards him. The ex-general was sure that the dragon was coming for him, because it was glaring his way. Sephiroth's frown deepened as he realized that the beast had two glowing shards in it, just the bee (except that the bee only had one). One was in its back, near the spine. The other was in its neck. Oh, and a few of those strange bees followed it. The great dragon stopped in midair, before Sephiroth.

"Sephiroth," it rumbled.

"Why do you seek me?" Sephiroth asked slowly, his right hand gripping the Masumune. The beast chuckled.

"Now, if I told you that, it would be a dead giveaway. Pun intended."

"Why?" Sephiroth demanded, eyes narrowing. The monster merely smiled, showing all of its horrifying fangs. These, of course, had no effect on Sephiroth. "What are the two things you possess?" The beast stopped smiling and looked at the man suspiciously.

"What two things?" it growled. Sephiroth brought the Masumune up and drove it into the ground.

"The shards in your neck and back." The dragon's eyes widened.

"So…you can see them?" Sephiroth nodded curtly. The monster looked at him. "Huh," it mumbled under its breath. "Naraku said that nobody except priestesses could see them."

"What was that?" The beast looked up sharply.

"Nothing. Could you…help me get them out?" Sephiroth pulled up the Masumune.

"And why could I want to help you?" he asked coolly.

"I could be of use to you," the dragon said quietly. Sephiroth laughed.

"I need no one to help me," he said. "So no, you would not be useful." Sephiroth looked up at the beast. "What are you here fore?" It flexed its claws.

"I am here to kill you, of course." Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"To kill me, you imbecile? You think you can do that?" The creature looked him in the eye.

"I can." Sephiroth smiled.

"I see." He held up the Masumune. "What are you anyway? The Bahmut? I thought it was in a summon materia." He jumped as the dragon lashed out with a claw. It smiled.

"No. I am the Bahmut's brother." It flew forward. "The Bahuite sends its greetings to you, Sephiroth."

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Kagura wandered around the castle grounds. She couldn't believe that Naraku managed to gain control over that dragon demon so quickly. He even let it go out. If Naraku hadn't gained control of it…Kagura shuddered. Undoubtedly, the dragon would've killed them all. With the two jewel shards, it had managed to defeat the strange man it had talked about. Sephiroth…or whatever that lunatic's name was. Well, the monster had made Sephiroth sound like a lunatic when it talked about him a long time ago. Come on, who would want to destroy a planet to become God? What would he become God over? Dead trees? Dirt? Kagura rolled her eyes. What about the band that was traveling with Inuyasha and his friends? Kagura was worried. Of course, they had to get along well. But they couldn't get along too well. Cloud and the others weren't stupid. If they became close friends with Inuyasha and co, they would start to trust them more. Then Naraku's plans would fail and all would be lost. Kagura gritted her teeth. Naraku's plan had better work. He was weak from the last battle with Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. It was fortunate that Naraku had gained control over the dangerous dragon demon. He could not afford to get attacked in his current state.

"Then again," Kagura thought viciously, "if he died, he would do everyone a great service. I would be free from his grasp. Better a dead Naraku than a live Naraku!" The wind sorceress kicked a rock. "I hate him!" she said out loud. Kagura sighed. That silvery orb…the dimension materia…what was it, anyway?

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Naraku looked at the four pieces of the dimension materia. They had lost their silvery-white glow shortly after the materia was broken. The pieces lay dull and cold in the man's hand. He stared at it, frowning. He thought back to what the beast had told him earlier.

"How was this dimension materia formed?" Naraku asked the dragon. It looked at the pieces of the materia disdainfully.

"You want to know how the materia came to exist?" it rumbled. Naraku nodded. The beast snorted and shifted itself into a comfortable position. "Crystallized mako," it grunted. Naraku frowned.

"Crystallized what?"

"Mako," it answered. "That's how all materia are made in the first place. Materia is crystallized mako. Mako is the Planet's life energy." The monster continued before Naraku could speak. "The dimension materia is special crystallized mako, though. It is made like a summon materia, but is used like a command materia."

"How are summon materia made?" Naraku asked, since he had a good idea what summon materia were, and didn't need a full explanation. He looked hard at the beast. It sighed and stretched its great wings.

"Summon materia are made," it said impatiently, "by capturing the essence of something alive in mako. The mako is then crystallized to form a materia. However, the summon materia will not work if the essence of the thing is not strong enough. In this way, you cannot trap the essence of a human being in a materia. You can only trap creatures of greater strength; creatures that are very powerful. Although the essence in a summon materia has to be that of a live creature's, the creature is dead." Naraku was greatly confused.

"What do you mean?" The dragon scowled.

"In order to trap the spirit of the creature in mako, the creature has to die in the mako. That way, its spirit will not fly away to join the lifestream, and its essence will be captured by the mako."

"So the dimension materia," Naraku said slowly, "was originally the trapped essence of a powerful monster in mako?"

"Yes and no," it grunted. "It was the trapped spirit of a creature, but not a powerful one, in that sense. You see, the creature was special. It was the Time Keeper from the Temple of Ancients. The Time Keeper was the creature that enabled the Cetra to travel from world to world, to find a suitable planet to live in. It had the power of world traveling. As you can probably tell, the Time Keeper died in a mako pool shortly after it went to the Sleeping Forest, since the Temple of Ancients was destroyed. The mako encased its essence and crystallized over a few days." The dragon let out a long breath. Naraku raised an eyebrow at it.

"And how did you come to possess this materia?" The monster looked arrogantly at Naraku. It sat up tall, looking regal and frightening.

"I am one of the first creatures to walk the Planet," it rumbled. "I have a connection with the Planet and the Cetra. The spirits of the Cetra called me to the Sleeping Forest. They gave me the dimension materia and told me to use it to travel to all the worlds, to protect it. To guard it with my life."

"Yet you failed."

"Silence! I did not know the power of the jewel you posses. I cannot overpower it, or I would! You insolent, little, impudent, useless, unimportant human!" Naraku smiled.

"I am not entirely human," he said quietly. "I am only a half human, a hanyo." The dragon frowned and looked at Naraku suspiciously.

"You're a hanyo? Impossible! You look human." Naraku's smile widened.

"Ah, but this is only my human form. I grow less human every day."

"You have another form?" The beast growled. "Do not lie."

"I am not lying. I can choose to be human or demon whenever I wish." The creature snorted again and bared its razor-sharp fangs.

"You are still weak. You are only able to control me with the jewel you hold. If it was not for that, you would be helpless. I would squish you." Naraku's grip tightened around the four pieces of the dimension materia.

"It does not matter whether I use the sacred jewel shards or not, for you cannot squish me now."

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Sephiroth jumped aside to avoid the Bahuite's strike. He twirled in midair and cut the air with the Masumune, narrowly missing the Bahuite. It opened its mouth and used Light Sphere. A great ball of light formed in its mouth and engulfed Sephiroth. The white-haired man was thrown into the side of a mountain. Sephiroth was shocked. He hadn't expected the dragon's attacks to be this powerful! Numerous cuts and burns covered Sephiroth's body. His right arm was sore and his left ankle had dislocated. Sephiroth closed his eyes.

"Cure 3!" The cuts, burns, sores, and his dislocated ankle mended instantly. He leapt up and swung his long blade, which issued a powerful blast that got the Bahuite bleeding. It roared with pain. The Bahuite's tail glowed dangerously. It then struck out with Light Blow. It swung its tail, and the force of the blow shattered part of the mountain wall. Rocks came tumbling down as Sephiroth cured again, for the attack had broken his left arm. It mended and the white-haired man leapt off the rocks, speeding towards the great dragon. He held the Masumune in front of him like a sphere, and energy gathered at the tip of the blade. The beast opened its mouth and a great ball of light formed in it again. Sephiroth, however, wasn't going to let the Bahuite use Light Sphere again. Sephiroth had misjudged the timing, though. Just as he drove the Masumune into the beast's stomach, it let the ball of energy go. Sephiroth pulled out the Masumune and was blasted into the wall of fallen boulders. He felt his legs and right wrist break. A large gash had appeared in his side, but he was already healing. That was what was good about the mako in him. Sephiroth used cure 3 once again, and sprang up in time to escape injury from the Bahuite's swipe. This monster was no ordinary monster. It was powerful. Very powerful. Sephiroth used fire 3 on the monster. It did little damage to the Bahuite's thick, armor-plated hide. Bolt 3 did nothing, and ice 3 only managed to slow it down for a few seconds. Sephiroth frowned, then used barrier and haste on himself. He also used slow on the dragon.

The dragon slowed. It gnashed its teeth in frustration. Sephiroth had cast slow on it! Well, it didn't matter. The Bahuite caste haste twice on itself to even them up. They zipped through the air, exchanging blows. The beast used ice 3 on Sephiroth and managed to freeze him for a second. This gave it enough time to smash Sephiroth will Light Blow. Sephiroth crashed into the iced snow below, sustaining several severe injuries. He groaned and used full cure. The beast stared, exasperated. When was this going to end? It was rather hurt, and it had already gave Sephiroth serious injuries that he shouldn't have healed! But he did. He kept healing and getting back up. The dragon decided to use its last weapon. It would not kill the white-haired man, but it would end the battle. Sephiroth stood up, raising his sword over his head. The Masumune glinted in the sunlight. The monster looked at Sephiroth. It was time to use its final weapon. The Bahuite opened its mouth and let forth a rush of its Paralysis Fog just as Sephiroth raised his sword to strike.

Sephiroth remembered. He remembered how, at that very moment, he was defeated.

I can hear you all groaning. Why did you have to give us great big paragraphs to read, sokymo! (my penname is iyoku-ishi, of course) Sephiroth and the Bahuite! Whooo, the tension. Lol…poor Sephiroth. Remember, the jewel is powerful. The Bahuite is powerful. The Bahuite + two jewel shards a Bahuite more powerful than Sephiroth. I hope this chapter answered a lot of the questions you guys might've had in mind (like, about the mysterious dragon that had the dimension materia, and about the materia itself). We're getting near! I finished writing chapter 14 last night (today's Jan. 04, 2006), I'm currently writing chapter 15, and this is chapter 11! Chapter 12 is next. Only 3 more chaps to go! Bet you guys can't wait. The next chapter is…Chapter 13 - The Gold Saucer.

Pretty obvious, huh? Lol. It's VERY long. Oh yes, and -- REVIEW.