"All parts resound with tumults, plaints, and fears;
and grisly Death in sundry shapes appears."
—Virgil, 'The Aeneid'
Chapter 10
Chimera
Darkness. The whole world was suddenly swept into darkness as they fell down below. Cloud braced himself for the inevitable impact, but it still hurt like hell as he crashed into the hard, metallic floor below, landing awkwardly on his side. His sword fell down beside him with a loud clang, which resonated throughout the cargo bay. Unable to see anything, he forced himself to his feet as quickly as he could. All he could hear was his own ragged breathing as he struggled to make anything out through the impenetrable blackness..
He quickly took in his surrounding as one of the cargo bay's lights flickered briefly to life, causing a short burst of pale green light to illuminate the area, before quickly dying away again. Yuffie lay at his feet, clutching at her side, moaning, blood pooling on the floor below her. Behind them, the great beast was struggling to its feet, shaking off its concussion from the hard landing.
Thinking fast, Cloud knelt down, slinging the girl's right arm over his shoulder, helping her to her feet. Between her concussion from the fall and the wound she had just received, she could barely walk. He hurried the two of them behind a collection of metal crates in the far corner of the bay. The two of them lay up against the stack of crates, awkwardly huddled together as they hid from their pursuer.
Cloud peeked out over the corner of the crate, trying to spot the monster to see if it had followed them, before turning his attention back to the girl in his arms. "Yuffie.." he whispered. "are you.." he began, meaning to ask her if she was all right. "Of course she's not all right, you idiot.." he scolded himself mentally, before rethinking his question. "How bad is it?" he whispered, fearing for the life of his friend, while at the same time desperately trying not to attract the attention of the beast wandering around mere inches away from the two of them..
Yuffie remained quiet, resting against his frame, her breathing shallow. Cloud closed his eyes, wincing, as he ran his hand over her abdomen, finding several deep, circular marks with his fingers. He could feel the warm blood seeping out over his arm..
"I... I can still help.." Yuffie managed, clutching weakly at her combat shuriken, its edges scraping softly against the cold metal floor as she feebly attempted to heft it, but by the sound of her voice, she was close to drifting out of consciousness.
"Shhh..." Cloud cooed softly, caressing her raven black hair with his free hand, soothing her. "Don't talk.." he said, as he dug his hand down into one of his pockets, searching for his curative materia. The monster edged closer, searching, trying to pick up the scent of its prey. Cloud carefully looked out over the corner of the metal crate one more time. Then he began to concentrate on the small jade orb in his hand. He only hoped that it wasn't too late..
"Get that damn thing open now!" Barret shouted, waving his gun-arm wildly at the sealed access way.
The situation above was little better. Nanaki still lay unconscious on the floor. Tifa was busy nursing Reeve, who was recovering from a wound he had received during the unexpected attack only moments earlier, while Cid, Vincent and Barret worked frantically to try and get the floor access-way open again.
"Damnit!" Cid cursed, wrestling with the now hopelessly damaged control panel. He backed away, cursing heavily as several sparks flew from the torn wiring. "It's no good!" he shouted back. "We'll have to do it manually.."
The pilot hurried over to another section of the floor and knelt down, opening a hatch in the floor, inside of which were several gears apparently used in the door's locking mechanics. "We'll have to crank the floor open." he explained to the others, who were gathered around him. "Vince, Barret, go check the engine room for tools." he ordered. "Tifa, hit the storage container in the bridge and find me an oil can."
"What about me?" Reeve asked, as the others hurried off to carry out their respective tasks.
The airship pilot looked at him intently. "Go fetch our 'toy box'." he said in a lowered voice. "We're gonna teach that mother fucker a lesson he won't ever forget."
As Reeve and the others rushed off to assemble the equipment needed to pry the floor open, Cid lit up a cigarette to calm his nerves, and began to examine the mechanical workings inside the hatch to see how to best deal with them. As he did so, the chilling thought crept up into his mind. By the time they broke through, their friends might already be..
In the encroaching darkness, Cloud felt the wound slowly closing, as the viridian tendrils of mako wrapped around the lesions on the girl's abdomen. Yuffie was awake almost instantly, her ashen eyes snapping open, now full of vitality, as the jolt of mako energy shot through her body. As she came about, the two of them heard the beast roar knowingly behind them. Cloud tensed up. Just as he'd feared, the luminescence caused by his use of the materia had given away their hiding place..
Cloud pushed the two of them up and out of the way just as the beast charged, smashing into the pile of crates behind which they had taken cover. The topmost crate crashed overhead into the opposite wall as they ducked away into the corner of the room. They tried to get away, but there was nowhere to run. They were trapped, their backs up against the wall as the monster sauntered up towards them. In the dark, all they could make out were the faint outlines of the hulking beast before them, its red eyes ablaze with fury.
Suddenly, a thin sliver of light penetrated through the darkness from above. Cloud looked up. "The others..." he realized. They were prying the floor open by hand. There was still hope of getting out of this situation alive..
Yuffie looked out behind the approaching beast. Her shuriken lay a foot or so away, but out of reach none the less. Cloud's sword still lay in the middle of the floor where he had landed. Weaponless and caught in hopelessly confined quarters, their chances were still poor at best. The two of them glanced at each other, reaching a mutual, unspoken understanding. As the beast pounced, they ducked away in separate directions. The monster hit empty air, but the dagger end of its tail cut into Cloud's side as he attempted to dodge its attack.
The beast turned its attention to the blond swordsman, swiping away. Cloud dodged, rolling sideways across the floor, catching his sword with one hand as he rose again, entering his battle stance. He held his blade straight forward, using it to force a distance between himself and the monster directly opposite to him. They began to circle each other ever so slightly, eyes locked on each other. Cloud glanced over the creature's shoulder to see Yuffie moving behind it, going for her weapon. He turned his attention again to the beast in front of him, trying to keep it distracted long enough to allow his companion to rearm herself.
"Cloud, duck!" Yuffie's voice called from the other end of the room. He ducked away just as the young ninja's shuriken flew across the center of the cargo bay, slicing into the top of the beast's head, cutting into its flesh quite badly. The animal roared in pain, turning its attention towards its attacker. Cloud jumped on the opportunity and slashed into the beast's side with a hard sideways stroke, causing it even more damage. The two of them continued to distract the beast as the other attacked, striking and defending as the opportunity presented itself. They both knew that they could fend the monster off for a few moments in this manner, but there was no way that they could defeat it in such narrow conditions..
The monster backed away at last, becoming aware of its attackers' plan. Cloud and Yuffie joined up in the middle of the room, facing the animal. The beast charged the two, coming at them with full force. Cloud moved in the way to try and stop it, but Yuffie pushed him out of the way before he could react. The beast's attack knocked her away, smashing her against the wall. Cloud rose to his feet again, jumping right into the beast's way as it attacked again. The two intersected each others path in the air, cutting each other quite badly. Cloud fell down on the floor close to Yuffie. They were both too badly hurt to put up any further resistance, and they knew it.
The monster began to approach them, moving in for the final kill. Yuffie crawled over to her friend, who was struggling in vain to get back up. They huddled together awkwardly on the cargo bay's floor, knowing that the end was approaching. They could hear voices coming from above, sounding distant and distorted. A sharp brightness suddenly washed over them. The thin sliver of light had slowly grown larger as they had fought off the beast that was coming to finish them off..
They looked up, realizing that the cargo bay's accessway had been spread open just wide enough. The others stood above the monster, weapons in hand, grim looks on their faces. The monster paused, turning its attention to the people standing above it.
Cid shook his head, raising his gun. "It's lights out for you, pal."
The monster bared its fangs, growling..
Cid stared back at it coldly, squeezing the trigger of his pistol. The gunshot echoed throughout the airship. The next moment quickly faded into a barrage of muzzle flashes, expended casings littering the ship's floor as the others joined the pilot in his relentless attack on their enemy. Guns extended, they rained fire upon the beast until they were satisfied that it was dead..
Ample light flooded down upon the grizzly scene from above, the accessway having been permanently forced open. Cid walked up to the large carcass laying in the middle of the cargo bay's floor, casually prodding it with his spear. The monster was quite dead, or at least it certainly seemed that way. "How the hell'd this thing sneak on board..?" the pilot muttered, asking no-one in particular..
The group was gathered below in the cargo bay. Yuffie sat huddled against the far wall of the room, almost in a state of shock, brought on by the brutal fight she had endured only moments earlier. Tifa sat down next to her and Nanaki, tending to their wounds and offering small talk.
Cloud was a little better off, his wounds already beginning to heal, thanks to the Jenova cells in his body. Reeve and Barret were busy examining the area to determine exactly how much damage the attack had caused. A few electrical devices here and there let off the occasional electrical spark, indicating ruptured wire work. Vincent surveyed the whole scene with characteristic calmness.
"I don't think it did." Cloud stated simply, replying to Cid's question. The others looked at him, confused.
"What do you mean?" Tifa asked.
"It was us. We brought it on board.." Cloud stated simply.
"He's right." Nanaki's gravelly voice came from behind them. The red-maned beast rose to its feet, finally well enough to move again. He paced over to the middle of the floor, where Cloud and Cid were busy examining their fallen enemy.
"Notice the areas where the smaller animal's bodies were? The residue they left behind when they decomposed... it's all gone."
The others considered the implications of what they were saying. Yuffie rose to her feet, clutching at her arm, looking over at Cloud and Nanaki, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Wait. Are you telling me that those things... fused? Came back to life, just like that?"
Cloud and Nanaki remained quiet, the look on their faces grim.
"No way!" Yuffie shouted, incredulous. "That's not possible!" She paused, searching for any change in gesture or mood from the two. She didn't find any. "...is it?" she finally added, uncertain.
"It is." Cloud replied, his expression darkening, as he regarded their fallen foe.
"Just what the hell are dealing with here?" Reeve muttered under his breath.
"Jenova... evolved." Nanaki replied, eyes focused on the rotting carcass. "Look," he remarked. "It's already starting to decompose again."
The body was indeed becoming thinner as they all watched, as if it were simply leaking apart.
"What do we do with it?" Yuffie asked, her tone of voice somewhat fearful.
"Burn it." Cloud replied sharply, gaze fixed upon the decaying, yet still alive entity before them..
It was closing in on midnight when the Highwind finally landed on the outskirts of the lost city, leaning as before over the cliffs overlooking the cityscape. They had all gathered in silence outside of the ship to build the fire. The sickly corpse was hastily wrapped in cloth, doused with gasoline and set on fire, with few words exchanged. They silently watched it burn, hoping that it would be enough.
It would have to be, because they all knew that there was no turning back now..
Cloud paced the command deck of the Highwind restlessly. He sighed, clenching and unclenching his fists. He didn't know why, but he had been feeling irritable all night, ever since they had landed, and was certainly in no mood to sleep. An hour or so had passed since they had arrived back at Ajit. It was sometime just after midnight, and the others were all fast asleep in their rooms, having decided to rest overnight, before heading out through the gate in the morning.
He tapped idly on the ship's control console as he passed it by yet again, trying to concentrate on something, anything. His mind was working overtime, trying to make sense of all the things that were happening around him: The portal gates, Jenova, their new enemy's' ability to seemingly regenerate themselves after death, the ruins waiting for them on the other side, the mysterious visitors whose tattered and torn bodies they had left behind in rocket town... all jagged pieces of a puzzle that refused to make any sense. And then, of course, there was that certain someone, who he recently couldn't stop thinking about..
Finally, he gave up, and decided to head out to the observation deck for some fresh air. His footsteps echoed hollow off the metal walls of the airship in the quiet of the night. As he stepped out onto the deck, he noticed that someone else was already there, leaning over the rails, looking up at the night sky.
Her..
The storm had finally subsided, and the stars were out, brightening the clear night sky. The northern lights danced and wove their way across the heavens. Coupled with the dizzying sight of the ancient city below, the view from up there was truly breathtaking. But most striking of all was the girl silhouetted by it all, seemingly unaware of anything else in the world around her as she watched the mesmerizing spectacle being played out in the cosmos.
"Gods, she's beautiful.." Cloud thought, frozen still for a moment by the scene before him.
Finally, he managed to force himself to move again. "Can't sleep?" he asked, walking over to Yuffie's side, leaning over the rails next to her.
"Oh...no." Yuffie replied, turning around as she noticed that she was no longer alone. "Not after what happened tonight." she explained, offering an apologetic half-smile. "You?"
Cloud shook his head slowly. "I'm not really feeling tired."
"You sure?" Yuffie asked, concerned. "You look pretty beat."
"Yeah.." Cloud replied, looking down. "..guess I do." He certainly felt tired, mentally as well as physically, but somehow he found that he just couldn't rest easy. Not with the events of the past few days in mind. He looked over at Yuffie. She still seemed fairly shaken up after the night's events, but she was looking a whole lot better than earlier that night.
The two of them looked out over the cityscape for a moment, before Yuffie broke the silence between them. "Hey..." she began. "I forgot to say thanks.." she looked over at Cloud. "..for what you did tonight." she explained. "I guess that's two I owe you."
Cloud made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "It's nothing, really. If it hadn't been for what you did, I'd probably be missing half my head right now." He replied. "Besides, no-one's counting, right?" he said, offering a friendly smile.
Yuffie grinned, nodding. "Right.."
Another moment of silence. This time Cloud spoke up first. "I didn't know you were one for stargazing." he said.
"You kiddin'?" Yuffie replied. "I used to do this all the time." she gestured out towards the sky. "Sometimes we'd have the fiercest rows, my dad and I." she explained, "I'd get so worked up, so I used to climb up Da Chao at night and watch the stars to calm myself.." she explained.
The two of them continued to look out at the scenery before them. There was nothing else besides the two of them to interrupt the quiet of the night. The ship's positional lights flaring rhythmically in succession, the only discernable movement. The world was still, as if they were the only two beings left in it.
Yuffie glanced at Cloud, regarding his eyes briefly. Every time she looked at them, she found herself entranced by those deep blue irises, which seemed as thought they were always slightly moving, pulsating ever so slightly, never quite staying still..
She forced herself to stop looking, and her eyes fell down to the gate, below in the city, its arcs still crackling with the raw energy of the lifestream, bleeding amber light in the dark.
"So, we're heading back out there tomorrow, right?" she said. "Think it'll be as much of a shock to the others, you know, seeing what's there?"
Cloud shrugged. "Probably."
"What do think we'll find out there?" Yuffie asked.
"Besides an archaeologist's wet dream, you mean?" Cloud replied.
Yuffie chuckled. "Ha, I guess you're right. We'll just have to wait and see, huh?"
Cloud smiled warmly at her. "Guess so.."
Talking about their journey, they both couldn't but feel a certain sense of togetherness, being the only ones who had actually crossed over to the other side. Now they had something in common that none of the others did.
"Say, you never told me where you went." Yuffie said suddenly, changing the subject. "All this time that you've been off on your own, travelling. Where'd you go?"
"Everywhere I could." Cloud explained, looking out over the railings. "I just felt like I had to keep moving."
During his travels in that past year, he'd pretty much been everywhere and done everything. Climbed mountains, crossed valleys and deserts, lived in the wilderness, gone between continents by sea and air, driven for miles and miles down seemingly endless roads, in search of something... but he didn't even know what that something was, whether he was searching for inner peace, or just fulfilling the inexplicable urge that he felt to get from one place to the next, it seemed to be all that mattered. All that he could do..
"Why?" Yuffie asked, perplexed.
Cloud shrugged. "I don't know. I just felt restless, I guess."
"Restless?"
Cloud nodded slowly. "Restless... and numb."
"Numb? What do you mean?" Yuffie asked, confused.
Cloud sighed. "Like when we all met up in Cosmo Canyon... I knew I should have felt happy to see all my friends again, but somehow, I just didn't. I couldn't feel anything... at all." he explained, offering her an apologetic look.
Yuffie waited, studying her friend's features. "What about now?" she finally asked.
"I'm not sure.." Cloud replied. He shook his head slowly. "Maybe it's just a matter of time."
It was strange, Cloud thought. In a way, it was easier to open up to someone with whom he had no past. Aside from their meeting each other little under a year ago, there were still a lot of things that they didn't know about each other, their relationship not weighed down by the distant past.
Yuffie nodded, a thoughtful look on her face. She leaned out further over the railings, casting her gaze downwards. After a moment, she looked up at her friend again, her expression somewhat difficult to read this time..
"Cloud?" she asked. "Did you... hate Wutai?"
Cloud was put off balance by her question, which seemed to be completely out of the blue. Certainly nothing he had expected.
"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.
"Your dad was killed during the war, right?" Yuffie asked. "Tifa told me about it." she explained. "Is that why you signed up with Shinra? For revenge?" she asked. Her tone was not one of bitterness or anger, but simply one of curiosity.
Cloud shook his head slowly, leaning over the railings, looking off into the distance. "I never really thought about it like that." he explained. "...I had other reasons for joining up." he sighed, shrugging. "I guess I wanted to... I don't know, impress people. Prove something to them. To myself.."
"Mmmm..." Yuffie replied thoughtfully, looking out towards the horizon as well, her manner distant, all of a sudden. Cloud had a distinct feeling that she wasn't really looking out at anything in particular anymore, but rather reminiscing..
"You know... I always despised the Shinra, after what they did to us." she spoke up. She looked over at her friend. "When I first met you, I instinctively hated you, even if you weren't with them anymore. All that mattered was that you were once part of them. That made you an enemy. Someone to focus all my anger and resentment on." the young ninja girl told him. She let out a slight sigh, casting her gaze downwards. "And I really wanted to hate you for all the things they'd done to us. I thought that would make things easier.."
Yuffie looked back up at Cloud, directly into his eyes this time. "But then I learned... things are never that simple."
"Yuffie.." Cloud said softly, moving closer to the girl next to him. They hadn't realized before, but they were now standing quite close to each other. Little by little, they both found themselves leaning in closer..
Yuffie tiptoed slightly to make up for their difference in height, giving Cloud a quick peck on the cheek. Then she backed down again, blushing fiercely, not looking up.
"Um, I just... felt like doing that." she explained demurely, tapping her right foot nervously on the ground, placing her hands behind her back. "...That's all." She looked up at her friend again briefly.
"Uh... good night." she added hastily, before rushing off back inside the ship.
Cloud smiled slightly, nodding. "Goodnight.." he replied. "...your highness."
Tifa stood by the window of her quarters, arms folded, a look of worry on her face.
"Tifa.." Vincent said, as he entered the room. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing.." Tifa lied, but she knew that Vincent would see right through it. She felt his hand fall upon her shoulder as he moved up next to her.
"Come on, Tifa. I know you better than that." Vincent said in an empathic tone of voice. "What's bothering you?" he asked.
Tifa sighed, accepting Vincent's hand as he encircled her in his arms. "It's just.." she began, faltering to put it into words. "I couldn't do it.." She cast her gaze down towards the floor, as she continued. "When we were being attacked tonight. I couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. I just couldn't."
She looked back up at her fiancé, tears welling up in her eyes. "..even if my friends' lives were at stake." she whispered. Vincent caressed the side of her face with his good hand, brushing his lips gently against hers.
"I know." he replied, as they parted. "It'll be all right." he assured her, running his fingers through her long, raven black hair. "I'll take care of that, for both of us. You don't have to worry about that. Ok?"
"Ok.." Tifa replied, resting her head on his shoulder. They stayed that way indefinitely, caught up in each other's arms, unmoving. There was nothing else, and no words necessary.
A cold rush of air slipped inside as Cloud shut the door leading out to the observation deck. He's spent a few more minutes alone out there, watching the stars, trying to make some sense of his muddled thoughts, before eventually giving up and deciding to go back inside the ship. By now, the others would almost certainly be asleep. He sighed as he descended the steps leading back down into the airship. He knew that the others were all counting on him to hold things together. They looked up to him to take care of things, even though they knew that he was far from infallible..
He didn't quite know what they all expected of him. He'd never felt like a hero, or the proverbial "fearless leader" that they might be hoping for. If anything, every time danger surfaced, all he could feel was a mixture of fear and anxiety, an adrenaline rush that somehow seemed to impel him through whatever he came up against. But he had to try and keep it together, for the sake of the others, if not for himself.
He thought of Yuffie, and the scene between the two of them earlier. It was true that they had always been good friends before, but they were steadily growing closer now, and things were changing. Things were undeniably different between the two of them. Maybe something had always been there, maybe not. Or maybe he was simply reading too deeply into everything. He didn't know. He didn't want to think about it, or anything for that matter. All he wanted now was a good night's sleep, and to let go of all his worries and concerns for a few moments..
As he passed the meeting room on his way back to his quarters, a chilling, cold voice, little more than a whisper suddenly spoke, breaking into his thoughts.
"You're going to die out there.."
Cloud stopped. Not turning around, he tilted his head slightly in the direction the voice had come from. And there it was. He could just barely see it in the corner of his eye. The faint silhouette of a person standing in the doorway behind him. He didn't need to see any more than that. He knew exactly what was there..
It was him...
Sephiroth
A wraith. A shadow, stalking him. Cloud tensed up. He could sense the presence growing stronger. He could feel its seething anger, its unbridled hate towards him.
Could see the long, bloodied katana clutched tightly in its hand..
"You're going to die... and rot.."
"Go away." Cloud whispered, closing his eyes and clenching his fists. "You're not real.."
"..as are all of your friends." the voice continued, full of malice and hate. Cloud waited tensely for a moment, before opening his eyes again, turning around to face the apparition. But it was gone..
Cloud let out a terse breath. These occurrences were nothing new to him, but somehow the experience had felt stronger this time, as if they were slowly growing more powerful, becoming real.. The presence had seemed... closer, almost palpable... as if reaching inside the borders of reality..
"I'm slowly going insane." Cloud thought. "One day I'm going to wake up in a padded cell, wearing a strait-jacket.."
He sighed, shaking off these unpleasant thoughts, and headed for his room. But the encounter had left him disquieted and disturbed. Sleep would not come easy for him that night..
The Highwind hovered above Ajit, the early morning sunlight reflecting sharply off its polished metal surfaces. A set of cables hung from the belly of the ship, lowering the dune buggy from the airship's cargo bay. The buggy slowly sank down between the multitude of naturally formed pathways, down to the crevice where the gate was located. Cid stood on top of the buggy, holding onto one of the thick steel cables for balance, controlling the vehicle's descent, while Reeve sat inside.
"All right, give it some more slack!" Reeve's voice came over the radio attached to the pilot's belt.
"Roger!" Cid yelled back into the radio, continuing to lower the buggy.
The others were already on the ground, waiting for the buggy to arrive. Four thick and heavy mooring lines fastened near the gateway held the airship in place. The Avalanche crew had decided to leave the ship floating on autopilot while they left on their first excursion through the gate.
Cloud and Yuffie stood close to each other, watching as the buggy, along with the last of their supplies, descended to the ground. Cloud glanced over at the girl next to him yet again. Recently, he found that he couldn't help himself. Whether it was her short, raven black hair billowing in the wind from the airship's downdraft, the tiny freckles on the sides of her face, or her stunning, ashen eyes, he could barely stop himself from looking at her.
"She is beautiful." he thought. Then he tore his gaze away, shaking his head slightly. He reprimanded himself mentally for getting off track. "Focus, Cloud, focus. You don't have time for this.."
"You never did before, either..." another part of his psyche told him sardonically. Look where that got you."
"This is stupid." Cloud thought, irritated. "I'm not going to argue with myself. I have a job to do."
He and the others gathered around the dune buggy as it touched the ground. The buggy's engine roared into life as Reeve turned the key in the ignition.
"We all set?" Cloud asked Cid as the pilot jumped down off the buggy.
"Yeah, we're good to go." Cid replied simply.
"All right. Time to play hero.." Cloud thought, leading the others up to the gate.
"This is it." he announced solemnly. "We're heading out into the unknown. Right now, we have very little idea of what we're up against. And not knowing means that there's a chance we may not come back alive." he paused. "So... anyone who wants to back out, now's the time to do it."
He regarded the group standing before him. The look of determination on their faces told him that the thought of staying behind hadn't even crossed anyone's mind.
"Anyone?" he asked, just in case.
"Hey, man. You know how it goes." Barret replied. "We're with you all the way."
Cloud nodded, a small smile on his face. He turned to face the gate, along with the others. "All right." he said, motioning for the others to follow him. "Let's mosey."
Cid poked at Barret. "He does that just to get on my nerves, you know." the pilot said. Barret simply chuckled, as they walked inside the gate..
They stepped out of the vortex, one by one. As they did so, all they could do was stand there and stare in sheer, quiet awe of the sight before them. The impossibly vast city was almost too much to take in.. as was the extent of its apparent destruction...
Tifa simply gasped in awe. Cid muttered a string of incoherent cuss-words, as did Barret. One way or another, all of them reacted strongly to the vision that they now beheld. Cloud and Yuffie had, of course, seen it before, so their initial reaction this time was not so great as that of the others, but now that the city was visible in broad daylight, rather the obscurity of darkness, they still could not help but be impressed, and yet also apprehensive. The damage done here was cataclysmic. And they knew that it was certainly not done by the passage of time..
They waited momentarily for the others to regain their composure. As they all finally did so, the red buggy arrived through the gates at last, being driven by Reeve. Nanaki paced around the gate, examining it, comparing it to the one they had just stepped through.
"Hmmm.." the red-maned beast growled.
"What is it?" Cloud asked, walking over next to his four-legged companion.
"Strange. I didn't notice this before.." Nanaki muttered, peering at the side of the gate, where several multicolored orbs had been set, reaching out across to the other side. "No... I'm certain this wasn't emplaced on the other gate."
"What is it?" Yuffie asked curiously, wandering over.
"...I think it's materia." Nanaki explained.
"Materia?" Yuffie perked up at the mention of the word, unable to conceal her enthusiasm, her eyes widening with interest. She rushed over to where Nanaki was facing one of the many orbs set into the gate, reaching out to touch one.
"No, Yuffie! Don't touch..."
The gate suddenly went dead. The swirl of energy dissipated almost immediately, and all that was left was a semi-circular archway, seemingly no more than a mere decoration in the center of the city square.
"..that.." Nanaki finished limply.
The young ninja girl looked up at the others. She was receiving the worst death glares she had ever seen in her life.
"Um, oops?" she offered weakly.
