Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII. Final Fantasy 7, the storyline and its characters belong solely to Square-Enix.

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Chapter 11

Darkness had finally settled over the Wutainese continent after what felt like an endless day of trials and troubles. There was no moon hanging in the star studded sky tonight, and despite the fact that it was a cloudless night, the starlight shining from the heavens down onto the sleeping world below was barely enough to discern the surf as it rolled in a continuous succession of waves along the mostly deserted stretch of beach. Further away from the reach of the ocean, a single fire shone brightly, creating a fragile oasis of light and warmth against the suffocating darkness and revealing a group of wary travelers gathered loosely around a makeshift camp.

Cloud was sitting on a washed up log with Aeris leaning against his right arm, lost in thought as he stared at the fire in front of him. Tifa was on his other side, her upper body propped up against the log as she rested on the cool sand. Both women were fighting to keep their eyes open. Sleep had long since won over Barret and Red, the two of them could be heard snoring in one of the nearby tents. On the opposite side of the fire, Cid was lying on the sand with his head pillowed against a backpack, peacefully smoking a cigarette as he stargazed. Cait Sith's mog was next to the pilot, the small mechanical cat having abandonned his usual perch in favor of lying accross Yuffie's legs as she sat indian style. The girl in question was currently craning her neck towards the shoreline, straining her eyes as she tried to make out the only person absent from the cirle of light, wondering briefly as to why the cloaked gunslinger would not join them.

Vincent was perched atop the Tiny Bronco as he had for the past few hours, surveying the surrounding darkness with his keen eyesight for any signs of fiends being attracted by the light of the nearby campfire. While knowing he could stand guard just as efficiently if he were lounging next to the fire with the others, the gunslinger chose to remain as far away from the ground as he could. Sand, he found, was something he did not enjoy in the slightest. The grainy substance easily found its way into any cracks or crevasses it could find, be it his boots, his hair or his gun. Not to mention his claw. Sand had entered in between the delicate joints of his claw, where try as he might he could not dislodge it completely. Even after dunking his claw in the water, he found that there was a maddeningly annoying grinding sound whenever he flexed his sharp digits. While he knew the grains of sand could not remain stuck forever, if for no other reason that they would be crushed to dust by the near-indestructible metal of his claw, Vincent had no desire to prolong the problem by adding more sand and so remained as far from reach of the irritating substance as he possibly could.

The gunslinger mused on the events of the past two days, on how their little adventure accross the western continent had somehow managed to come full circle and land them right where they had started, almost as if none of it had actually happened. They were in the exact same situation as they had been when they had first arrived on the continent, with no inkling as to where they should go next.

Vincent was brought out of his musings when he heard Cloud speak, the first to do so in nearly an hour.

"Hey Cid," he called out to the pilot, his voice cutting into the silence in spite of the swordsman's attempt to keep his voice down.

Vincent, who hadn't been paying much attention to his companions up to this point, turned in time to watch as Cid raised himself on his elbows. He, along with everyone still awake in the mismatched group, turned his attention to the leader of Avalanche.

"Somethin' bugging ya, Spike?" asked the pilot somewhat gruffly as he stubbed out his cigarette butt in the sand next to him, squinting his eyes against the glare of the campfire in an attempt to make eye contact with the blond man on the other side. They had all noticed the worry hetched on the young leader's face ever since they had arrived back at the beach, but no one had asked about it up to this point.

"I've was thinking about Rufus actually, about something he said to you on the day we met." Cloud shifted a bit as he mentioned the Shinra president, straightening up before continuing. "I remember he told you he had come to commandeer the Tiny Bronco from you in order to go after Sephiroth, but I can't recall if he mentioned where he would be going..." Cloud's voice trailed off as he once again stared off into the fire, a look of concentration displayed on his features.

Cid chuckled dryly. "I gotta admit I wasn't exactly paying much attention to what that son-of-a-bitch had to say after he said he was taking my goddamn plane. Hell, let me think about it for a sec." The pilot of the aforementioned plane sat up, scratching his stubbly chin in thought. "Dunno for sure, but I think he said somethin' about an ancien temple or some crap like that."

"The 'Temple of the Ancients'," corrected Aeris. "I remember it now, Rufus mentioned they were on their way to the Temple of the Ancients just before we had to go chasing after the plane."

Cloud turned to the pink clad girl next to him, hopeful. "I don't suppose you know were this temple is, do you?"

Aeris shrugged helplessly. "Sorry," she answered simply.

Knowing none of the others were likely to know the whereabouts of the temple, Cloud did not waste time in asking anyone else. Instead he stared down at is feet, looking forlorn.

"Hey! I've heard about that place before!" Cait Sith piped up suddenly, sitting up in Yuffie's hold. The toy cat put a finger to his lips, his fuzzy face scrunched up as if deep in thought. "Or at least I think that was the name of the place... Hmmm..."

Cloud's head shot up, a hopeful look in his eyes. "Do you know where it is, Cait?"

"Well..." Cait stretched out the word as the others held their breath in anticipation for his answer. "Not exactly," he finally said, and everyone else sighed, their hopes crushed. "But I did overhear Dio talking about it once, back at the Gold Saucer," added Cait quickly before anyone had a chance to cut in. "He got some artifact from a friend of his that said it came from the Temple of the Ancients."

"So Dio knows where we can find the Temple of the Ancients," surmised Tifa, the brunette looking much more awake now that her interest was piqued.

"Well..." The robotic cat made a show of looking thoughtful as he paused once more before answering, seemingly enjoying the attention he was getting. That is until Yuffie bumped him on the head. "Oww! That hurt!" Cait whined dramatically as he held onto his head with both hands.

"Oh please! Give me a break!" Yuffie rolled her eyes at him. "We both know you didn't feel that, so quit being such a baby about it," she told the furry robot, sighing exasperatingly when he didn't immediately put a stop to his charade. She hit the annoying cat a few more times, for good measure. "Now quit stalling and tell us what you know already, you stupid toy."

"Alright, alright!" Seemingly deciding he'd had enough of being hit, Cait dropped the act and struggled out of Yuffie's grasp, running to Tifa to seek refuge from any more abuse. Once he was settled in the martial artist's motherly embrace, the furry robot stuck out his tongue at the ninja, extracting a similar response from the girl.

"That's enough you two..." Tifa scolded playfully, as she scratched Cait Sith behind the ears. She looked down at the robotic cat cuddling comfortably against her. "Now, how about you tell me what it is you know about the temple, Cait?"

"For you Tifa? Of course!" Cait gave the girl his most endearing smile, ignoring a mumbled "Oh brother..." from a sulking ninja on the other side of the fire. "So as I was saying before being rudely interrupted," he stared pointedly towards Yuffie when saying this, "Dio did mention the Temple of Ancients, but I don't think he knows where it actually is. I think his friend might know where it is, though."

"You mean the guy who sold him the artifact?" prodded Cloud, his attention focussed fully on the group's smallest member.

"Yup!" answered Cait Sith cheerfully, happy to once again be the center of attention. "Great guy, I might add. Real friendly. He's a weapon seller, so he used to come around the Gold Saucer a lot to sell Dio some weapons for the Battle Arena. He lives near Gongaga, from what I've heard. Can't remember his name, though..."

"Isn't this great, Cloud?" Aeris grabbed at the swordsman's arm as she said this, excitement making her emerald green eyes sparkle as she smiled beautifully. "Now we know where we need to go! We're one step closer to catching up to Sephiroth!"

"Yeah, it's great," agreed Cloud as he turned towards the flower girl, not quite sharing his friend's enthousiasm but cracking a small smile for her sake all the same. He placed his hand over the girl's smaller ones on his arm, letting it linger there for a moment longer than necessary before releasing her hands and standing up. "We should all go and get some rest. We're going to leave bright and early tomorrow in order to find that weapon seller."

With that said, Tifa, Aeris and Yuffie got up and followed after Cloud towards the tents, stretching and yawning as they turned in for the night. Cait Sith hopped onto his mog, promply shutting down as soon as he was secure atop the white monstruosity. That only left Cid by the fire, as he was the one elected to keep first watch that night. He stood up, taking a moment to light a new cigarette before walking over to the other side of the fire in order to sit on the now abandoned log.

Cid was nearly done smoking his cigarette by the time he noticed he wasn't alone. He caught movement near the Tiny Bronco from the corner of his eye and made to grab his spear, before he recalled seeing the silent gunslinger on his plane earlier. Hardly discernable in the shadows, Vincent was right where the pilot had seen him last on the wing of the plane, only now he had shifted position so that he was sitting down with one leg propped up, his left arm resting on his bent knee. The movement had hardly been noticable, but it had been enough to give Cid a slight scare.

"Shit..." Cid swore between his teeth a bit too loudly, and then in a softer tone when he remembered that there were people sleeping nearby. "Shit Vincent..." He was clutching at his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. "I swear, you nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought you were a fiend or something..."

"There aren't any fiends in the immediate vicinity," said the gunman in a low voice. "You should try to relax." Vincent turned his head toward the jittery pilot just then, his eyes catching the light of the fire in the same way a cat's eyes might and making them glow eerily, leaving Cid with the distinct impression that a fiend might have been a less frightening alternative at the moment. He hadn't gotten the chance to get to know the cloacked man up until now, but Barret had been kind enough to warn the pilot about Vincent's peculiar situation. While he thankfully hadn't witnessed the transformation first hand, Cid had a vivid imagination that had a tendency to run wild sometimes, which at the moment wasn't doing the captain any favors.

There was an ackward moment of silence, in which time Cid felt sweat gather at his brow in spite of the cool night air. Vincent looked away after a short moment, and the chain-smoking pilot released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Wiping quickly at the moisture on his forehead, he steeled his nerves enough for him to find his voice again. "So Vince, care to tell me why the fuck you aren't sleeping like the others right now?" The pilot took a short drag from his cigarette before continuing. "Barret's the one taking over my shift later tonight, so there's no reason for ya to be up so late."

"It's Vincent," corrected the ex-turk as his eyes fell once more on Cid, his disturbing gaze lingering only for a split second before turning once more towards the surrounding darkness, answering the pilot's question a moment later. "I don't sleep much."

"Oh..." mumbled Cid around his cigarette. Vincent didn't elaborate any further, seemingly content to continue staring into the surrounding darkness much like he'd been doing for most of the night. Realizing he wasn't up to the task of holding up a mostly one sided conversation with the abnormally silent man, Cid stared off into the neaby fire and concentrated on smoking his cigarette, trying his best to simply ignore the shadowy figure seated upon his prized plane.

Both men stayed as they were for a few long minutes, until finally Vincent seemed to have had enough of the other man's discomfort and shifted once more. The dark haired man swung off the side of the plane in one swift movement and landed silently on the beach, but he did not head for the tents like Cid had assumed he would. The gunslinger instead stalked away from the camp site and into the surrounding darkness. Cid didn't ask where he was going, and Vincent didn't bother to tell him. The captain watched him go until the tall figure had melted into the darkness, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Swallowing down the lump stuck in his throat, Cid brought his cigarette to his lips and inhaled deeply, trusting his lifelong addiction to help him relax just as Vincent had suggested he do earlier. He knew he would get over Vincent's oddities eventually, much as the others had. He just hoped he didn't crap his pants before then...

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Vincent had returned to the beach a few hours prior to sunrise, and was now looking down on the campsite from where he stood on the sheer cliff towering over the coastline. The campfire had died down during the course of the night, he noticed absentmindedly. Cid had apparently turned in sometime earlier, and Barret was now the one seated next to the smoldering remains of the fire, fighting to stay awake. Vincent was in no hurry to rejoin his fellow gunman just then, and so he opted instead to enjoy the scenery for his viewpoint.

The wind had picked up during the night, creating large waves along the shore and tossing the gunslinger's hair and cape all around him. The tide was high, allowing some of the bigger waves to nearly reach the Tiny Bronco, which they had dragged halfway up the beach upon their arrival. They would have no trouble dragging it back to the water when they decided to leave later that morning. It was still dark at the moment, but daylight was slowly turning the sky a clear blue in the east, promessing a warm and sunny day ahead. The world would start to wake soon enough. A few seagulls could already be heard going about their morning activities.

The night had felt especially long to Vincent. He had roamed amlessly, exploring the peninsula on which they had landed in search of some wild game to occupy his mind. The monsters were not being very cooperative that night however, and so the gunslinger had found himself with nothing better to do than think over the pieces of the puzzle that was his life.

His mind had inevitably turned to Lucrecia, which by association had then led to thoughts of her son, Sephiroth. There was no doubt that they would meet up with the general in the near futur, which would almost certainly lead to a confrontation. While Sephiroth's ultimate goal was still mostly obscure up to this point, what little information Avalanche had been able to give Vincent about Sephiroth's actions in the recent and not so recent past left no doubt about the general's malevolent intentions.

Vincent was worried. He knew that logically Sephiroth needed to be stopped even if that meant killing the first class Soldier, but the thought of doing so repulsed him to no ends. Had this been any other man, Vincent wouldn't have thought twice of ending his life for the greater good of the Planet. But this wasn't just any man; this was Lucrecia's son, the only legacy left behind by the love of his life. Killing him would be akin to killing her, which he knew he could never bring himself to do.

He hoped that they would encounter Hojo before the confrontation with Sephiroth took place. That way he could alleviate his conscience by killing the man responsible for this whole mess, and take his leave from Avalanche. They could very well take care of Sephiroth without him there, or so he hoped.

Trying to steer his thoughts away from the worries that had plagued his mind all night, Vincent looked down again towards the brightening campsite, noticing his companions were stiring awake. Cloud and Red were the first to get up as usual, but the others were quick to follow.

Realizing they would be leaving soon, Vincent took a fearless step forward and dropped down from the cliff in a flurry of red and black, landing with ease on the sandy bank below. He rejoined his companions a moment later, lending a hand as the group hurried to pack up and leave.

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It had taken them two and a half days to reach Gongaga by ways of the Tiny Bronco, a full day longer than expected thanks to an freak encounter with a storm system that had forced them to take shelter on land for a few hours. The going had been rough to say the least, especially for Yuffie who had been sick for most of the trip. It had left her in a foul mood to say the least, which she was more than happy to share with her unfortunate companions.

The group had stopped in Gongaga to get directions to the weapon seller's home, and in order to save time they had separated into smaller groups to look for information. Since it appeared Vincent was the only one immuned to Yuffie's none-stop ranting, Cloud had deemed it wise to pair the two of them together.

"Gawd! I swear these people are as useful as a one legged chocobo!" Yuffie huffed as she stalked away from the old man she had been attempting to question. "It's like they don't even want to talk to us or something!"

"It is to be expected, given the circumstances," answered the stoic gunman patiently as he followed after the exasperating girl. The young girl stopped in her tracks and whirled on her much taller partner, intent on giving him a piece of her mind, but the words died on her lips with just one look from her intimidating partner.

"Look around us Yuffie." Vincent extended his hand out towards the somber scene around them, his red eyes never leaving hers. "We are standing in the middle of a cemetery. These people are in mourning. The last thing they need is a group of strangers bothering them with questions to which they do not have the answer."

Yuffie crossed her arms, feeling somewhat embarrassed by her outburst now. "Yeah well, I don't see why we even bothered coming here in the first place..." She said more quietly, suddenly hyper aware of the growing attention the two of them were attracting from the few mourners around them. They were looking at her mostly, as they all seemed too frightened of Vincent to stare at him upright. Not liking their suspicious glares one bit, she grabbed onto Vincent's human arm suddenly, tugging him close behind her towards the entrance to the cemetery. "Come on Vinnie, we're not gonna get anything from these people." She froze momentarily when she realized her slip, waiting for Vincent to correct her over the missuse of his name. To her surprise he acted as if she hadn't said anything out of the ordinary, which she assumed meant he either hadn't noticed or just didn't care anymore. Either way she wasn't about to ask. "Come on. Lets go look for the others instead and see if they're having more luck than us."

Yuffie didn't relinquished her companion's arm as they approached the nearby town, using the intimidating gunslinger as a very effective shield against the townspeople's stares, some showing hate or fear, others a troubling emptiness. These people were not too fond of strangers, which was quite understandable considering the tragedy that had befallen the once quaint little town the last time they had trusted outsiders, namely Shinra. So many people had lost their lives when the Shinra reactor had malfunctioned. It was no wonder that there seemed to be an almost tangible shroud of sadness and sorrow everywhere you looked.

"I swear this place is even more depressing than the last time we were here..." mumbled Yuffie mostly to herself as she looked around for the rest of Avalanche.

"Yuffie! Vincent!" Tifa called out to the duo as she, along with Cid and Red, exited a nearby house. She ran over to them, her PHS held out in view. "Cloud just called and said they've found directions to the weapon seller's home." She came to a stop in front of them, Cid and Red not far behind. "They're waiting for us on the north end of town."

The young ninja seemed relieved to hear this. "Oh good! The sooner we leave this gloom fest, the better..."

"So kid..." Cid said suddenly, giving the young girl a strangely knowing smile. "Any particular reason why you're hanging on to Mister Sunshine here's arm like he's somekind of goddamned teddybear?" he nodded his head towards Vincent as he referred to the man in question.

Yuffie gawked at the pilot for a moment, and then realizing she was still holding onto the gunslinger's arm with both hands, dropped the much abused appendage as if it had suddenly burned her. She took a step away from Vincent for good measure, trying and failing to hold back the furious blush rising on her cheeks.

Cid couldn't hold back an amused chuckle at seeing the girl so flustered, which predictably got a rise out of the teenager. "Hey! This isn't funny so quit laughing, old man!" Scolded Yuffie as she crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "And if you have to ask, I got freaked out in the cemetery, alright?" she admitted somewhat reluctantly, looking at her yellow sneakers like they were the most interesting thing in the world at the moment. "In fact this whole place is freaking me out. Can we go now, please?"

"So let me get this shit straight..." Cid scratched at his head in consternation, not quite ready to drop the subject yet. "You got scared of a little ol' cemetery, and yet you don't think twice 'bout holding hands with a guy who looks like he could belong in a goddamn horror flick?" He looked over to the tall man next to Yuffie. "No offence there Vincent."

"None taken..." deadpanned the gunslinger, looking utterly uninterested with the discussion.

"Get your eyes checked, grandpa! We were not holding hands!!" cried out the young girl as she stepped over to Cid and poked him in the chest. "And Vincent isn't scary, so there!"

Tifa cut in just as Cid was about to add something. "You've had your fun Cid, now stop teasing the girl," she said, saving her young friend from any more embarrassment at the hands of the amused pilot.

"It's time for us to go," said Red as he turned to leave, looking over his shoulder at his companion as if to make sure they would follow. "I have a feeling we've overstayed our welcome here," he added in reference to the unfriendly stares being aimed their way from the townspeople, most from the concealement of their homes, but a few bolder men had started to gather in the streets.

Without further argument, the five of them took their leave of the devastated town, heading for the rendez-vous point as quickly as they could with Red in the lead.

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They had found the weapon seller's home without too much trouble, a few miles north of Gongaga, but did not stay there for very long. As it turned out the man knew about the Temple of the Ancients, but could not help them in locating the temple as he had never been there first hand.

He was however very knowledgeable when it came to the legends surrounding the Temple of the Ancients, and was more than happy to share what he knew with the group of travellers. He told them how the ancient structure had supposedly been built a long long time ago in order to safekeep an artifact so powerful that it was said it could destroy all of Gaia – The black materia. He didn't believe in those ancients stories though; in his opinion they amounted to nothing more than old wives' tales.

Fortunately for Avalanche, he was able to get give them a lead as to how they were supposed to enter the temple once they had found it. Apparently he had sold something called the 'Keystone' to Dio a while back. In order to enter the temple, they would need to aquire the artifact from Dio, which meant they now needed to travel to the Gold Saucer. Despite an invitation to rest for the night from their hospitable host, the group set off on foot immediatly upon receiving the information they needed, leaving the Tiny Bronco in the care of the kindly weapons seller.

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Vincent did not know what he had expected when he had first heard about the Gold Saucer from the others, but it certainly wasn't this. Nothing could have prepared him for the assault on his senses. In all his life he had never seen a more extravagent or flamboyant place than this. There were strange colors and blinding light patterns everywhere he looked, deafening sounds and horrible smells, the mix of which was making him feel dizzy and somewhat nauseous. However the people in this place were by far the worst part. The place was overcrowded with loud tourists and bizzare mascottes who ran around exitedly from one attraction to the next, pushing and bumping into him and just basically not caring about his personal boundaries at all. He was having a hard time navigating in the sea of people as he followed after his companions, trying to limit the contact he had with the people rushing past him and keeping his claw concealed under his cloak, as close to his body as possible so as not to accidentally injure a hapless sightseer.

Vincent had always been a private person and so he had a natural dislike of crowds, but it was only after joining the Turks that he had truly started hating them. In that line of work, control over every little element was essentiel, and in fact sometimes vital. Crowds, which were chaotic and unpredictable, were a nightmare for men of his profession. You could easily loose your mark in a crowd, and worst you could become one yourself. You could never tell if the person brushing next to you was simply a business man in a hurry to get to work, or an agent from an opposing faction trying to get close enough to you to plunge a knife in your gut. While Vincent knew that there was little chance of that happening here, where most of the people were parents with young children or teenagers looking for a bit of fun, he couldn't help but feel somewhat exposed, vulnerable even.

Despite his best efforts not to give in to his old Turk habits, Vincent found himself observing the people around him a little too closely, looking for any suspicious behavior. He knew he was being overly cautious, but he could have sworn that a few of the men he saw looked a lot like Turks. They were probably just security guards, but still, Vincent couldn't shake the feeling that these men were watching them specifically. Chalking it up to a simple case of paranoia brought on by the strange surroundings and the overcrowding, Vincent chose to ignore these feelings.

Being forced into a place as crowded as the Gold Saucer was putting the gunslinger on edge to say the least, but he knew there was no way around it and so he endured as best as he could, staying as close as possible to his companions as they pushed their way towards the Battle Arena. Hopefully they would get the Keystone from Dio without too much trouble and then they could leave this god forsaken place behind.

The group quickly reached the lobby leading to the Battle Arena and made a right towards Dio's show room, where the owner of the Gold Saucer kept all his most prized possessions. The museum of sorts was apparently the least popular attraction by far and so there was no one else present when Avalanche entered the room, much to Vincent's relief. Looking around, he found that the collection consisted mostly of junk that no one in their right mind could possibly find interesting, which probably explained the noticeable absence of people here. Most of the group lingered near the entrance, glancing around the room as if unsure where to look first, but Cait Sith seemed to know exactly what he was looking for. He quickly steered his Mog over to a display case in the back of the small room, the robotic cat jumping onto the glass enclosure as soon as he was within distance to do so. "This is it, guys!! Come and see!" said Cait as he gestured excitedly for the others to come closer. The group gathered around the display, looking inside at the small round object sitting on a red velvet cushion. At first glance it looked like a materia orb, but below it was small bronze plaque with an inscription that simply stated 'Keystone'. This was what they had come looking for.

Cloud grabbed the glass box and tried to lift it off the display with Cait still on it, but it wouldn't budge an inch. "How do we get it out?" asked the blond leader as he cirled around the display, trying to find a release of some sort to open the case, but finding a keyhole instead.

"Just smash the glass and take the stupid thing," said Yuffie matter-of-factly, as if stealing it was the most logical choice. "The less time we waste in here, the more time we have to mess around the Gold Saucer and have some fun!!" She grinned at the thought of all the attractions and games she wanted to try out, and all the materia she could acquire from unsuspecting tourists.

"Unless you're in a hurry to visit Corel prison again, stealing something here is probably not a good idea, Yuffie," Tifa said before her young friend decided to do something reckless and got them all into trouble.

"Oh, right... I forgot about that icky place..." Yuffie cringed at the not so pleasant memory of their last visit to the Gold Saucer.

"Maybe we could just ask Dio to lend it to us," suggested Aeris. "I'm sure we could come to some sort of an agreement with him."

"What sort of agreement?" came a new voice from the entrance. They turned to see Dio entering the room, the buffed man wearing a pair of dark shorts and a white muscle shirt many sizes too small for his bulk. He walked over to the group, taking notice of the display they were hovering around. "Oh I see, you're interested in getting my Keystone, are you?"

"Could you lend it to us?" asked Cloud, getting straight to business.

Dio came up next to the Avalanche leader. "You're name's Cloud, right?" Cloud nodded and Dio laughed goodheartedly, giving Cloud a slap in the back as if they were the best of buddies. "Now Cloud, I can't just give something like that away, can I? You'll have to work a little for it."

"What do we have to do?" asked Cloud, ready to agree with just about anything Dio asked of them if it would get them the Keystone.

"Nothing much, I assure you," answered Dio with a smile. "We haven't had a good fight in the Battle Arena in a long time. Since the last time you came here, actually. All I want is for you to fight a few rounds in the Battle Arena for some intertainment." The bodybuilder grabbed the chain hanging from his neck and pulled it out his shirt, showing off the key dangling from it. "You do that for me kid, and I'll give you the key to open this case."

"Deal," agreed Cloud without hesitation, already making his way out of the room and towards the Battle Arena.

Dio turned to the rest of the group before they had a chance to follow after Cloud. "Come with me, I'll let you watch the fight from my VIP box. Best seats in the house." They followed after him as he made his way to a side door, leading them up a set of stairs that led to a vast room overlooking the Battle Arena through huge glass panels. There was already a fight in progress, a young dark haired man fighting off a few small monsters with a staff. They didn't seem all that strong, but they were proving to be quite a hand full for the clearly inexperienced fighter. A huge crowd was cheering from their stadium seats all around the arena, but it was unclear whether they were cheering for the fighter or for the monsters to win. Vincent suspected it didn't matter either way. These people would be happy so long as they got to see some bloodshed, no matter how fake or unfair the fight turned out to be.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," said Dio as he gestured for them to take a seat in the sofas near the windows, which Tifa, Aeris and Cid did. The others opted to follow Dio's exemple and stood by the windows to watch the fight progress. "Your friend will be fighting just as soon as this guy finishes up." He informed them. He then pointed over to a nearby fridge, almost as an afterthought. "You can have some refreshments while you wait, if you like."

"Oh man, that guy is a terrible fighter..." commented Yuffie as she watched the unfortunate fighter trip over his own staff as he tried to take a swing at one of the monsters, hitting his head hard on the way down and effectively knocking himself out.

"Ooooh! And he is down for the count!" stated the disembodied voice of the announcer over the roar of the crowd.

"No kiddin'..." agreed Barret, shaking his head at the scene. It was clear the man wasn't getting back up and so staff members rushed in, ignoring the booes from the crowd as a they dragged the dazed fighter to safety and herded the monsters back towards the hidden inclosure in the back of the arena.

A few moments later, the announcer's voice returned. "Ladies and gentlemen!! For his second time in the Battle Arena, please welcome Clouuuud Strrrrife!!" Tifa, Aeris and Cid stood up as soon as their leader stepped into the arena.

"Go Cloud!" yelled Tifa as she tapped her palms into the glass window. She knew he couldn't possibly hear her, but that didn't stop her or any of the others. Everyone in the room except for Vincent, Red and Dio were whooping excitedly and hollering encouragements to their friend down below.

The spectators cheered and applauded enthousiastically as Cloud stepped to the center of the arena, is Buster sword in hand. He ignored the crowd in favor of concentrating on the coming fight, eyes fixated on the back door from which the monsters would be sent.

He didn't have to wait very long as the first wave of monsters was released from their pens. He knew from fighting here the last time that the first monsters were always the easiest, and so he wasted no time in defeating them. No sooner had he cut down the last one, a second wave of monsters was set loose, these ones being a bit tuffer then their predecessor. This cycle would repeat itself until either Cloud couldn't fight anymore, or if he successfully defeated eight consecutive waves of monsters. There was no doubt in his mind or that of his companions that the latter was the only possible outcome for this fight.

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Sometime later, the group was once again gathered around the Keystone display, only this time Cloud had the key to open it. He had been victorious in all eight rounds of the Battle Arena, the first to do so in months. The crowd had been in a frenzied uproar by the time he had finished and Dio had gladly given over his key, satisfied with the intertainment Cloud had provided. Dio had not returned with them, opting to stay and watch the other fights.

The leader of Avalanche sported a few cuts and bruises from the fight and was in dire need of a shower, but none of this mattered to him at the moment. He unlocked the case using the key and lifted the glass box, finally gaining access to the Keystone. He held the orb up to eye level for a few moments, turning it this way and that to try and see if there were any identifying markings on it, or for any other clue as to what made this orb so special. Finding nothing of interest, he pocketed the Keystone and turned to the others.

"We should get going," he said to the group as he wiped a smear of blood from his forehead. "It's getting late and we have to get to the tramway before the park closes."

"Aaww man..." whined Yuffie, as she kicked her foot into the ground to show her annoyance. "We don't have time even for one itsy bitsy ride? Pretty please?..." She pleaded half-heartedly, already knowing the answer.

"Sorry Yuffie," came Cloud's predictable response. "It's gonna have to wait till next time we come here."

"I never get to have any fun..." mumbled Yuffie as she crossed her arms over her chest, but otherwise did not object to Cloud's decision.

Cloud took the lead as he always did and hurridly led the group out of the Battle Arena section and into the main part of the Gold Saucer, weaving his way through the crowd as he tried to locate the exit. Vincent, being taller than the swordman and in a hurry to get away from this place, helpfully pointed Cloud in the right direction when it became clear that they were going nowhere fast.

The group finally reached the plateform where the aerial tramway awaited to taxi people back to the ground, only to be stopped short of climbing onto the lift by an oversided chocobo mascotte.

"Choco!!" cried out the kid in the mascotte, probably out of habit. "I'm terribly sorry, but the tram is in repair at the moment. There won't be any more rides out of the Gold Saucer until morning."

"So that means we're stuck here all night?" asked Cloud, somewhat impatiently. He wasn't in the mood for delays at the moment.

"I'm truly sorry, sir, but there's nothing I can do," the kid lifted his arms up in what probably should have been a placating gesture, but it ended up looking as if he were flapping his yellow chocobo wings. "You'll just have to be patient like everyone else." With that said, the mascotte moved to another group of tourists who were making their way to the lift to give them the bad news.

"What do we do now?" asked Tifa as the group formed a loose circle.

"Well since we're stuck here anyways, we might as well go on a few rides!!" Yuffie suggested with glee, more than happy about this turn of events.

"We can't stay up all night, Yuffie," pointed out Cloud. "We're gonna have to find a place to sleep."

"Hey guys!!" piped up Cait Sith suddenly. "I know the guy who owns the Haunted Hotel. I'm sure if I go talk to him, he'll let us stay the night for free!"

"That would be great, Cait! You're the best!" praised Aeris, smiling warmly at her furry companion.

"Off I go then!" Cait gave the others a humorous little bow before running off towards the entrance to find the Haunted Hotel.

The others followed after their small companion, albeit at a much more leisurely pace since they were no longer in a hurry.

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"This place sure is spooky!" commented Yuffie as she looked around the main lobby of the Hotel. She, along with the others were waiting for Cait Sith to finish the necessary arrangements for their stay. "You know what this place reminds me of?" asked the spunky ninja to no one in particular. Not waiting for an answer, she went on talking. "This place looks a lot like the Shinra Mansion, only the ghosts here are just holograms and the monsters are made of rubber... You know, come to think about it this place isn't so spooky after all. It's too fake..." Suddenly noticing how well Vincent seemed to melt into the gothic decor, Yuffie couldn't resist but tease him a little. "I have to say Vincent, you make for a very convincing vampire over there. If you're ever looking for a job, I'm sur the people here would hire you in a heartbeat." She gave the gunslinger a huge grin, trying her best not to laugh. He of course just went on ignoring her.

Two small boys, who Yuffie hadn't noticed were listening to her until that moment, suddenly focused their attention on Vincent at the mention of the word 'vampire'. The oldest of the two boys, brothers by the looks of it, ran over to the tall man half concealed in a shadowy corner of the room. The younger one followed obediently after his playmate. Vincent took notice of the two approaching children a little too late and found himself cornered by the two, a barely concealed look of shocked horror on his face.

"That's a neat vampire costume, mister!" said the older boy as he stopped directly in front of Vincent, look up at the man with undisguised awe. "You have a cape an' everything, jus' like in the movies!"

"A vampire like the movies!" the younger one repeated as he bounced up and down, eager to emulate his brother.

Having gotten over his initial shock, he ignored his two young fans in favor of glaring death at the laughing ninja on the other side of the room. It had no effect on her what-so-ever as she kept on laughing maniacally, holding on to her ribs as her face slowly turned red. Much to his annoyance, he noticed his other companions weren't faring much better, as they seemed to share the young girl's amusement. He didn't get the chance to think much on it however as his focus was forced back to the two children when he felt one of them pull at his cloak.

"Where can my mom buy a costume like that mister?" asked the eldest, pulling at Vincent's cloak with sticky fingers to get his attention. "I wanna dress up like that for Halloween!"

"Wow that's a neat hand you've got there mister!" cried out the younger lad when the older boy pulled at the red material concealing Vincent's left arm and the shiny appendage suddenly came into view. The gunslinger just barely got his lethal claw out of reach just as the boy made to grab it.

He barely had time to sigh in relief when he felt the other boy pulling at something to his side.

"Oh cool! Can I see your gun mister?" But the boy wasn't waiting for an answer, as he was already trying to take out the gun from its holster. Vincent's blood ran cold for the few moments it took him to get the kid to let go of the weapon and bring it out of reach over his head, like his claw. Thankfully he didn't carry any other weapon, or else he would have been in a load of trouble.

"Those aren't toys..." said Vincent to the two boys jumping in front of him and crying out "Gimmegimmegimme!!" repeatedly, the pair apparently thinking this was some sort of game.

"Ok..." said the older boy as he stopped trying to grab for the gun, the other boy stopping a moment later. Vincent hoped for a moment that they had finally grown bored of him, and tried to move away from the pair, but the older one was suddenly pulling at the front of his cloak, trying to bring the high collar away from his face. "Do you have fangs, mister? Let me see, pleaaase!!"

"Pleaase!!" echoed the younger one as he started pulling on the red material as well. Vincent found himself utterly helpless to do anything but endure the children's mistreatement of his clothes. He still had both his arms otherwise occupied with keeping his weapons out of reach, he couldn't pull away from the two boys without either pushing them to the ground or ripping his cloak, and he didn't dare open his mouth to shoo them away since the boys, along with everyone else in the room, would undoubtebly see that he did in fact have fangs, and that wasn't something he wanted to advertise.

Thankfully Aeris and Tifa came to his rescue before the situation got anymore out of hand. They each took one of the children by the hand, asking them sweetly where their parents were as they pulled them away from the flustered gunslinger.

Holstering his gun once the children were out of view, he straightened his clothes as best he could, taking that time to recollect his usual composure. Once satisfied with his overall appearance, Vincent glared up at his snickering companions, daring any of them to say something. By that time, Yuffie had opted to hide behind Barret's large frame, but he could still hear the young girl's muffled giggles.

Having endured enough for one night, the tall gunslinger stepped out of the shadowy corner and headed straight for the front desk. "The key," he said simply to the terrified hotel employee behind the desk as he towered threateningly over her. She practically threw him the room key, barely taking the time to check it was the right one. Vincent caught the key midair and whirled away from the young woman, striding past his companions and heading up the stairs without a look back.

"G'night Vincent!" he heard Yuffie call out from down stairs just as he reached the top floor. He paused briefly at the top of the stairs, before finally giving an answering "Goodnight." Not checking to see if she had heard or not, he continued on to his room, closing the thick door behind him just in time to muffle Barret and Cid's hysterical laughter downstairs.

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Author's note: Ok so I wasn't sure where to end this chapter, but this seemed as good a place as any considering I didn't want it to get too long. I haven't double checked this chapter, but hopefully no big mistakes slipped through. I'll post this now anyways, since you guys have been so patient with me, and check it on a later date. Next chapter is already in the works, but I can't be sure how long it will take before I can post it.

Thank you to the following people for reviewing on the last chapter: Burnout Wolf; Thunderstorm 101; Cresent-Moon-Love and Moo. Love you guys!! :)

Also, speedo's should be outlawed... I know Dio is wearing one in the game, but I couldn't bring myself to describing him wearing that horrible excuse for a bathing suit. Bleh... Glad I got that out the way! ;)

Till next time guys!!