Chapter 12: The Meeting
It was the crack of dawn when Cloud had gotten everyone up so that he could start the meeting. There was no room for everyone to sleep in the Seventh Heaven so they all slept on the Sierra, of course some of them had to share rooms, but there were hardly any complaints since Red didn't need a bed and Vincent didn't need much sleep after his thirty years of slumber.
"Alright!" Cloud yelled as he banged on the door of every room to wake everyone up. "I'm starting the meeting!"
There was much moaning and groaning as everyone got out of bed and made their way to the meeting room. Marlene and Denzel were also aboard the airship, but because they were too young to take part in the meeting they were allowed to sleep in. Cloud was already in the meeting room as everyone else filed into the room. There weren't enough chairs to go round so Max, Nightshade, Isis, Vincent, Reno and Rude volunteered to stand up.
"What time is it?" Drogo asked wearily as he swung his legs over one arm of his chair.
Sunny looked at her watch, "five o clock in the morning," she answered sleepily.
"Shit," Drogo cursed under his breath. Cid however was much more vocal about being dragged out of bed at this time.
"Why the bloody hell do we have to start the meeting at the bloody crack of dawn!" Cid yelled as he glared at Cloud.
"Because," Cloud retorted as he glared back at Cid, "the sooner we figure out what the hell is going on, the sooner we can do something about it!"
"Well can't we start the meeting when it's morning?" Drogo asked agreeing with Cid.
"There you see!" Cid yelled victoriously, "At least someone agrees with me!" Cid took a cigarette out of his pocket and he began to light it.
"Cid!" Angel yelled staring at the now lit cigarette in Cid's hand. "If you're going to smoke, please take it outside!"
"Damn woman!" Cid shouted irritably at Angel, "This is my damn airship and I'll smoke if I want to! I won't have some chick with a snooty accent telling me I can't smoke on my own bloody airship!"
"Oh crap," Lance muttered under his breath as he gazed nervously at Angel who was sat next to him glaring daggers at Cid.
"Snooty…Accent!" She shouted as she drew her blades and pointed them threateningly at Cid.
"Guys can we please start the meeting?!" Cloud yelled and everyone was immediately silent. Cloud smiled, he hadn't lost his authority over the years. "Good, now Angel put you're blades away, Cid didn't mean to insult you. Cid," Cloud stared at Cid as he spoke. "Put the cigarette out, no one wants to breath it in!" Angel said nothing and she put her blades away. Cid sighed irritably and he cursed so quietly under his breath that not even Pandora could here him and he rather reluctantly snubbed out the cigarette. Cloud nodded to show that he was satisfied. "That's better," he said, "now as we all know, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz have returned. How they came back after being dead for two years is anyone's guess. Of course I'm open to suggestions."
"Well Max said that Kadaj was turned into a bone," Tifa spoke up and everyone focused their attention on her. "Yazoo was turned into a hand and Loz was turned into a skull…"
"That means that they're not the real Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz," Barret cut in, he was looking as confused as ever. "And that just doesn't make sense."
"I think they may be necromical copies," Max suggested he walked over to the front of the room and stood next to Cloud, "it makes perfect sense."
"Are you saying that the return of Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz is the work of a Necromancer?" Red asked enquiringly not taking his eyes off the Kitsune.
"If Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz were turned into bones when they were killed," Vincent cut in, "that's all a Necromancer needs to bring back a person."
"But who's bringing them back to life?" Yuffie demanded staring at everyone in turn.
"That's what I want to find out," Max stated, "I remember back on Terra Firma there was a village that was placed under a Necromancer's curse, it could be a similar kind of spell."
Cloud thought about this, and then another, more pressing thought hit him. "What if Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz aren't the only ones that have been brought back? What if there's more of them?" Cloud remembered fighting Sephiroth in the ruins of Midgar two years ago despite having already killed him twice before. Cloud shuddered at that memory, he hoped that he wouldn't have to fight Sephiroth again. "Hmmm…" He said out loud when he realised that everyone was staring at him. "It could explain a lot."
"Could someone just explain to me what's going on?" Barret demanded as he banged his metal arm on the table, "this is all too damn confusing."
"Yeah," Reno added, "maybe you could start telling us how you guys got here."
Max sighed, he'd already explained it enough times and he wasn't even sure himself. "Look, all I remember is seeing a planet that could have been this on in the sky. There was a strong wind and we heard a voice…"
"Voice?" Cloud interrupted as he stared at Max. "What kind of voice?"
"Like a mysterious woman's voice," Max answered unsure of how to explain it.
"Yeah," Pandora chipped in, "she said something about our troubles just beginning…"
"The next thing we knew, we were here," Max continued the explanation.
Cloud sighed, "this just doesn't make sense, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz have returned, even though you guys killed them again they can just as easily return."
"I don't know of anyone who's practiced or is practicing necromancy," Tifa told everyone.
"Which means that the one responsible for this is not of this world," Nightshade said bluntly, his eyes were shut as if he was thinking of something.
Cloud nodded, "yeah, it would explain a lot, maybe the person responsible arrived here when you guys did."
"The question is," Lance asked, "What do we do about it?"
"Well, until we find out who's responsible and what we're dealing with," Max answered, "I guess there's not really much we can do."
"We could go back to WRO HQ," Reno suggested, "If there is any suspicious activities going on they should know about it."
Cloud stared at Reno for a moment then nodded, "Ok, the WRO should've been able to pick up these strange activities." He stated, "Rufus or Reeve are bound to know something."
"So I guess this means we're heading to WRO?" Barret asked staring at Cloud. Cloud nodded.
"And I suppose muggins here has to take you there?" Cid asked a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"That would be a big help, thank you Cid," Cloud replied gratefully.
"Hey Cid!" Yuffie added loudly making sure that Cid heard her. "Do you think maybe you could take things a little easier when…"
"No deal!" Cid interrupted her, "You don't like how I fly the Sierra you can walk to WRO!"
"Fine, but if I throw up…"
"You're cleaning it up…"
"Can we just get going?!" Cloud snapped causing Cid and Yuffie to stop arguing. "Cid, can you please fly us to WRO?"
"Alright, seen as you asked nicely."
Everyone left the meeting room, Cid and most of the others went to the bridge, Max explored the airship and headed straight to the engine room.
"Wow!" Max exclaimed as he looked at the generator inside the room. "This reminds me of the airship we travelled in on Terra Firma, only this one is more advance." Max walked over to the generator and he was about to take a look at it when he heard Cid's voice on the intercom.
"Max! You better not be touching anything in that bloody engine room or I'll kill you, drag you're scrawny ass back from Hell and kill you again"
Max smiled and shook his head, "ok, ok," he muttered to himself, "you don't have to threaten me…not that I'm scared, but I better stay away from it." Max stepped away from the generator, he could hear the sound of a slap and Cid yelling down the intercom again.
"Ouch! That hurt you bitch!"
"Stop having a go at Max!" Pandora shot back, "And by the way, the intercom is still on!"
"I…what…" Cid shouted as he quickly found the button and switched the intercom off. Max chuckled to himself, he was going to tease Cid about that later and he walked out of the engine room.
Meanwhile Cloud was standing on the deck outside, he was leaning against the railing letting the morning breeze blow in his face making him feel more refreshed, the sun had just risen and Cloud sighed as he looked out. He didn't even notice Tifa come up behind him.
"You ok?" She asked as she stood next to him.
Cloud turned round quickly his eyes were wide with shock but his expression soon changed to one of relief when he realised who it was. "Oh, it's you Tifa, yeah I'm ok."
Tifa smiled, "Good, Marlene and Denzel have just woken up."
Cloud smiled back at Tifa, "that's good," then he sighed, "I feel terrible about bringing them with us."
"Don't worry," Tifa reassured him, "they're having the time of their lives, in fact they're glad to get out of Edge for a while, you know, a change of scene."
Cloud nodded, "yeah, you're right…" Cloud began to fall silent again, he hung his head low and he avoided Tifa's gaze.
"Cloud are you sure you're ok?" Tifa asked she placed her hand under Cloud's chin and she forced him to look at her.
"It's just that…" Cloud started but then he faltered slightly unable to think of what to say next.
Tifa stared at him inquisitively, "Yes?" She questioned.
Cloud sighed again, "Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz coming back, what if it's a sign?"
Tifa shook her head, "oh Cloud."
"I'm serious Tifa," Cloud glared at Tifa and she laughed, she loved winding him up sometimes, then when she saw the seriousness on his face she immediately stopped laughing and Cloud was able to continue. "what if…he comes back?"
"Cloud, Sephiroth isn't gonna come back," Tifa said and she took hold of his hand to reassure him, "besides, even if he did we can beat him again."
"I don't know if I can this time."
"Of course you can, we can always depend on you, and we've got Max and the others helping us this time."
Cloud nodded, Tifa was right, she was always right about things like this. Cloud wrapped his arms round Tifa's waist and he pulled her close to him and he looked into those warm brown eyes, those eyes that he had grown to love. "Thanks Tifa, you always know just what to say."
Tifa smiled as she placed her arms round his neck, "What can I say?" She joked, "I've had a lot of practice over these past few years."
"I love you Tifa Lockhart," Cloud whispered in Tifa's ear.
"I love you too Cloud Strife?" Tifa whispered back, she placed her hands on both sides of Cloud's face and she kissed him on the lips, a few moments later she let go leaving Cloud momentarily stunned.
"Wow…" Cloud managed to utter, "you're…a…really…good…kisser…"
Tifa smiled. "Thanks."
"What did I do to deserve you?" Cloud asked.
"Oh shut up and kiss me Cloud!"
Tifa and Cloud kissed again but for much longer this time, they were so immersed that they didn't even notice that Nightshade had just come on to the deck. "Hey guys Cid told me to tell you that we were…" Nightshade stopped talking when he saw Cloud and Tifa kissing, they broke apart quickly and they stared at Nightshade. "I'll just come back later," he said before walking off.
"Hey Nightshade wait!" Cloud called after the Kitsune, Nightshade stopped and he turned round.
"Yeah."
"It's ok," Cloud replied, "we're coming now, we were just…"
"Hoping to be alone," Nightshade finished Cloud's sentence, "it's ok, I understand."
There was a moment of awkward silence where Cloud and Nightshade just stared at each other. "Let's just get inside," Tifa broke the silence and she, Cloud and Nightshade walked back into the airship and soon everyone was on the bridge.
"Well…looks like the two love birds decided to show up," Cid joked, "How long were you planning on keeping us waiting?"
"Well…I…"
Cid laughed, "relax I'm just messing with ya you knucklehead!"
There was a clicking sound and Cloud was shocked to see Drogo taking a picture of the shocked expression on his face. "Drogo!" Cloud yelled glaring at him.
Drogo laughed, "hey I couldn't resist, the look on your face, it was priceless and…hey, what you doing?"
Cloud snatched the camera off Drogo and he smashed it under his foot. "Don't you ever take pictures of me again, understand!"
Drogo merely shrugged, "it doesn't matter anyway it was a disposable."
"Anyway…" Cid cut in before Cloud could respond, "we're coming up to the WRO Headquarters now."
Cid pulled back on the controls and the Sierra began to descend, five minutes later and the group walked through the main entrance to the WRO HQ. Cloud walked up to the reception desk where a young woman with curly blonde hair who was blowing bubble gum was sat.
"Can I help you?" She asked staring at Cloud.
"Yeah," Cloud answered as he placed his hand on the desk. "Is Rufus Shinra or Reeve here? If they are tell them that Cloud Strife wants to see them."
"Just a second," the receptionist picked up the phone and dialled a number it rang for a few seconds then a posh sounding voice answered.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Sir, a man called Cloud Strife wants to see you."
"Is he alone, or are his friends with him?"
"There's a whole group with him sir."
"Hmmm…" Rufus thought for a while then he spoke again, "very well, send them up."
"Alright, bye." The receptionist hung up on the phone and she smiled at Cloud, "Rufus is in his office, he said he'll see you."
"Ok, thanks."
Cloud walked away from the reception desk and he made his way back to the group.
"Well," Reno asked, "What did she say?"
"She said that Rufus was in his office," Cloud answered.
"So are we all going up there?" Max questioned.
Cloud nodded, "yeah, but I don't think we'll all fit in the elevator."
"I'll take the stairs," Vincent stated and he made his way upstairs.
"I'll follow him," Isis replied, she was about to walk off when Cid stopped her.
"Won't you get tired?"
"I'm a cyborg," Isis answered grinning smugly, "Cyborgs don't get tired that easily." She then followed Vincent up the stairs, Lance, Drogo, Max and Nightshade took the stairs leaving everyone else to take the elevator. Ten minutes later and they were standing outside Rufus' office. Reno knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Rufus called out. Reno opened the door and gestured for everyone to go inside before he entered himself and closed the door. The office was a large rectangular room, there were two desks one belonging to Reeve which was now currently empty and the other desk was by the window and Rufus was currently sat at it and he stood up when he saw Cloud and the others approaching. "Aaahhh, Cloud, I see you've located everyone."
Cloud nodded, "yeah."
"I heard that Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz returned and were causing trouble in Kalm," Rufus replied.
"We contacted Rufus as soon as they were defeated," Reno explained.
"WRO agents have been sent to try and make everything as normal as possible," Rufus told everyone.
"I have a feeling they'll be back though," Max spoke up suddenly causing Rufus to stare at him but Rufus wasn't shocked for long.
"You must be Max," he spoke calmly and he smiled as Max gave him a blank stare. "Pandora has told me all about you, she said that you were quite the mechanic."
Max ruffled his already unruly hair, "yeah, she told you that?"
Rufus nodded, "yes, anyway, you were saying."
Max with the help of Pandora, Drogo, Reno and Rude explained everything that had happened in Kalm and how Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz had appeared out of nowhere and were causing trouble.
"So let me get this straight," Rufus asked again, "you think that they were just necromical copies of the originals."
Max nodded, "it's a possibility," he answered, "we were hoping that you'd know something."
"I have agents all over the world who send me hourly reports, they haven't reported anything suspicious or out of the ordinary," Rufus informed them.
"Unless of course this person was so powerful that they can mask their presence," Max suggested.
"Hmmm, an interesting theory," Rufus said not taking his eyes off Max, "that could mean that Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz and possibly many others could return at anytime."
"Which is why we need to nail this thing and fast," Cloud cut in a hint of urgency in his voice.
"But we can't do anything unless we know who's behind it," Tifa told the group.
Rufus was about to reply when the door opened and Reeve entered the room.
"You're late Reeve!" Rufus snapped at his partner.
"Sorry Rufus," Reeve apologised, "I was just adding the finishing touches to Cait Sith, anyway, we received an urgent message from the Northern Cave five minutes ago."
Rufus stared at Reeve, "What?"
"I have it here on tape," Reeve handed Rufus a tape and he placed it into the radio and pushed the play button.
"Sir it seems that there are suspicious activities going on in the Northern Cave, we're not sure what it is exactly but it's something huge and…oh no it's you…" There was the sound of gunshots and a sword slashing its victims followed by muffled cries for help before the transmission was cut off.
"The transmission ends there," Reeve told Rufus
Rufus pushed the stop button and he banged his hands on the desk, "this can't be happening," he muttered to himself.
"We have to go to Northern Cave," Cloud stated finally and he began to leave the room but Tifa stopped him.
"You want to go to Northern Cave?" She asked him.
"We don't have any other choice," Cloud answered, "if there are strange things going on there then we need to do something."
"But Cloud…" Tifa started but Cloud interrupted her.
"No buts Tifa, we have to do something."
"If you're going to Northern Cave, then I have a favour to ask of you," Reeve requested staring hopefully at Cloud.
Cloud stared at Reeve, "shoot."
"I've just finished adding the modifications to Cait Sith and he's ready to go out into the field again." Just as Reeve finished speaking Cait Sith entered the room and smiled at the group.
"Cait Sith version 6 at you're service."
"Oh great," Cid muttered sarcastically, "I have to put up the with stuffed cat again."
"Did you say something Cid?" Cait Sith asked as he glared at Cid.
"No nothing," Cid answered.
"We'll take Cait Sith with us," Cloud told Reeve.
"Thank you Cloud."
Tifa looked at Denzel and Marlene who were sat on chairs fast asleep and then she looked at Rufus. "Rufus, is it ok if we leave Denzel and Marlene here for a while?"
Rufus' eyes grew wide with shock as he heard that. "What?" He asked staring at Tifa.
"Please Rufus, it's just for a little while, until we can sort this out."
"This is the WRO! Rufus snapped, "Not a baby sitting service!"
"Please Rufus," Tifa gave Rufus a pleading look and in the end Rufus sighed.
"Fine," Rufus gave in, "but they better not cause any trouble, we're very busy here."
Tifa smiled at Rufus, "thank you Rufus, I really appreciate this."
"Don't forget to pick them up when you're finished, Reno, Rude!" The two Turks snapped to attention. "I want you to accompany Avalanche and Max's friends, contact me if you find anything."
"Yes boss," Reno and Rude said in perfect unison.
"Let's go," Cloud ordered and everyone left the room, Max however remained behind for a moment.
"Hey Reeve, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Reeve smiled at Max, "Sure."
"You created Cait Sith, right?"
Reeve nodded, "Yes, why?"
"Well," he took a bag that contained all of his friend's broken teleportation devices and he gave them to Reeve. "I invented these back on my home world, they're teleportation devices, but they got damaged in the storm, and what with everything going on I don't have time to fix them. I was wondering if you'd be able to look at them for me."
Reeve looked at the devices, "hmmm…this is interesting technology, I've never seen anything like it, but I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks Reeve," Max said gratefully. "I appreciate it."
Reeve smiled, "Anytime."
Max smiled back and he left the room to catch up with the others, ten minutes later and they were all on the Sierra again. They were all currently on the bridge and Cid spoke to them through the intercom. "Alright this is your damn captain speaking!" He boomed in his usual voice whenever he spoke on the intercom. "We're on our way to the Northern Cave, it'll take a couple of hours to get there so shut up and enjoy the ride! Oh and Max if you go within five meters of that engine room and I'll skin you alive and use your fur as a rug, understand!"
"Come on Cid," Max pleaded, "I can make this ship go five times as fast if you just let me…"
"I wouldn't let you meddle with my ship if my life depended on it now shut up and leave that bloody engine room alone!"
Max sighed, "Fine, it's your loss."
Cid ignored him, "Alright, we're clear for take off!" The Sierra took off and was heading towards the Northern Cave, the familiar sound of Yuffie throwing up and Cid yelling at her could be heard.
"Are you doing that on bloody purpose?!" Cid cursed at Yuffie, "I had the damn floor waxed yesterday!"
Yuffie moaned as she got the all too familiar mop and began to clean up where she was sick. An hour or two later and the Sierra landed at the top of Northern Cave and everyone was in the meeting room again.
"So who's gonna go down there?" Pandora asked the group.
"Don't look at me!" Yuffie quickly spoke up. "I'm not going down there!"
Cloud sighed, "I'll go," he told everyone, "I'm not afraid to go down there any more."
"I'll go with you," Max said as he stood next to Cloud, "I feel responsible for this."
"Why should you feel responsible?" Tifa asked him.
"All this trouble started when we arrived," Max answered.
"You shouldn't blame yourself," Tifa reassured Max, "besides if Cloud is going then so am I." Cloud was about to respond when Tifa interrupted him. "I know what you're going to say and it won't work, I'm going and that's final."
Cloud sighed, "Fine, does anyone else want to come?"
"I'm gonna go too," Drogo answered he too stood up and walked over to Cloud, Tifa and Max.
"Don't forget me too!" Sunny exclaimed and she ran to Drogo.
"Sunny I…" Drogo started but Sunny just glared at him.
"I don't care what you say! Sunny yelled at him, "I'm coming with you!"
"You should take Cait Sith too," Vincent suggested.
"Yeah," Cid cut in, "then you can push him off the nearest chasm, he, he, he…" Cait Sith glared at Cid and he stopped laughing.
"I'd be glad to be of some use," Cait Sith told Cloud.
"Yeah," Cloud said, "you can report anything we find to Reeve."
"We'll come too," Reno told Cloud, "so we can report anything we find to Rufus."
Cloud nodded, "Fine, so me, Max, Tifa, Pandora, Drogo, Sunny, Cait Sith, Reno and Rude will go to the Northern Cave."
With everyone in agreement, Cloud, Max, Tifa, Pandora, Drogo, Sunny, Reno and Rude went to their rooms to sort out their equipment. They came out ten minutes later wearing Winter gear.
"So is everyone ready?" Cloud asked.
"Yeah!" The whole group shouted.
"Let's go."
Cloud, Max, Tifa, Pandora, Drogo, Sunny, Cait Sith, Reno and Rude left the Sierra and made their descent to the Northern Cave. The cave hadn't changed much in four years but Max, Pandora, Drogo and Sunny were intrigued by this place.
"Wow!" Sunny exclaimed hardly able to contain her excitement, "I wonder how far down this place goes!"
"All the way to the centre of the Earth," Cloud answered as he took the lead, "now everyone stay close and follow me."
Everyone followed Cloud as they made their way deeper into the cave. It was a vast network of winding tunnels and it was easy to get lost if one didn't know the way. A few monsters attacked them but they made short work of them. Eventually they got to the area where the path split into two.
"Which way do we go?" Drogo asked.
"It doesn't matter," Cloud answered, "They all lead to the same point."
Max wasn't listening he walked off a little to the right, his eyes were focused as though he was in a trance, he continued to walk until he stepped into a puddle. He looked down and was shocked to find that it was a pool of blood.
"What happened here?" Max thought to himself.
Max looked ahead and he saw a body slumped against the wall, he ran over to the body and he examined it, there was a long, deep cut that ran the length of his chest and there was a look of pure horror on his face. "Hey guys!" Max yelled, "You should come and see this!"
Everyone ran up to Max and they saw the body, Sunny and Tifa gasped when they saw it. "What happened to him?" Tifa asked not taking her eyes off the body.
"He was stabbed," Max answered, "it must've been a powerful strike to produce a cut that long and deep."
Cloud took a closer look at the cut and from looking at it he recognised that kind of cut as he had seen it so many times before. "No," Cloud said fearfully to himself. "It can't be, he can't be here, not now."
Tifa grabbed hold of Cloud's shoulder and he turned to look at her. "Are you ok Cloud?"
Cloud nodded, "Yeah."
Reno took one last look at the body and he took a mobile out of his pocket and dialled a number and he spoke into the phone. "We found the missing agent," Reno told Rufus who was on the other end of the phone. "I'm afraid he's dead. No sir, we haven't found the others, we'll let you know if we find anything else. Reno out." Reno hung up on the phone and he turned to the others, "I told Rufus the situation," he informed them, "he told me to keep searching."
"I don't think it's a good idea for us to split up," Cloud decided, "it'll be safer if we stayed together."
"But which way do we go?" Pandora asked.
"Hmmm," Drogo said thoughtfully. "It seems that the blood trail leads that way, we should head right."
Cloud nodded, "Alright, we'll go right."
Without another word the group continued down the right path, again they met some enemies when they followed the spiral path, and again the group made light work of them. However when they reached the bottom of the path they saw two more men wearing WRO uniforms being killed in the most brutal fashion by a shadowy figure. Cloud and the others stared in horror as they witnessed the men being slaughtered as though they were nothing but sheep. The men fell to the ground already dead before they hit it. The man grinned and he turned to face the group his face was still hidden in the shadows and he spoke with a voice that was all too familiar to Cloud and he had hoped to never had heard it again.
"It's good to see you, Cloud."
Well Chapter 12 is done, a bit of suspense there. If you're fans of Final Fantasy vii, which you most likely are otherwise you probably wouldn't be reading this, you may have already guessed who Cloud and the others saw at the end of that pathway. Just a reminder that I don't own Final Fantasy vii or any of its characters. I do however own characters that I have created myself.
