Saria: (groans and pouts)
Tori: Your own fault. You knew you were still recovering and you pushed too hard.
Saria: I thought I was fine, it's been two months!
Zas: The doc said to take it easy for six months.
SA: (is the one typing) So are we going to start this chapter or not?
zzzzzzzzzz
We all met up at the stairs that led down from the plateau that Cosmo Canyon was built upon. Though I did the general greeting to everyone I found I just wanted to leave. I wanted to get away from Bugenhagen until I was certain I could shield my thoughts from him.
"So this is really it," Zack murmured as he paused at the top of the stairs.
"Goodbye for now Red." Aeris stood beside her boyfriend and stared up at Bugenhagen's house.
"Wait!" A shout came from the stairs. I was too far down to hear Red's words but I did smile as he jumped down the stairs past me and gave Barret the surprise of his life.
Everyone was in good cheer as we boarded the buggy again with the exception of Yuffie who groaned as she took her station on the roof.
By group consensus neither Barret nor Zack were allowed to drive anymore thus Tifa took the controls for the first shift at driving.
Shinra
Rufus read through the latest report from Caith Sith and he could say that the group was proving to be an amusement to him at least. Their insane adventures and encounters really did liven up his day, especially this planet-show put on by a research specimen's adopted grandfather that predicted the end of the world.
Studying the report did more than just give him amusement though. He was starting to see a bit of a pattern to the movements of Sephiroth and at the moment he was simply headed north after having exhausted most of the places to search on the western continent. But where would he go from there? Wutai? The northern continent?
AVALANCHE was serving a purpose right now though; he didn't have to waste valuable resources so long as they were chasing Sephiroth. As soon as they had a better idea of where the former general was headed he would have a better idea and be able to plan accordingly.
Normal
The rest of the desert passed smoothly enough and since we were going downhill for the most part we made excellent time. Aeris asked several times for a new story about the Jedi but I found myself too disturbed about Bugenhagen to be able to think of one aside from the original story and told her I would tell her one another time.
The main topic of the day though was on what we were going to do about the reactors that drained the planet especially now that we had seen the planetarium. Needless to say that Barret was all for charging back to Midgar and blowing all the reactors sky high. We had to remind him several times we had no means of getting in to Midgar much less actually getting there. He was placated slightly when Zack informed him there was a reactor in Nibelheim and that we were quickly approaching the village. Zack even promised that we would blow up the place since it was so remote.
That evening right before stopping, the mountains that surrounded the village had begun to come into view and both Cloud and Tifa were becoming visibly quieter, even borderline fearful.
Knowing that tomorrow would be a difficult day, I pushed past the discomfort I still felt from Bugen and told a Jedi story as we all gathered around the campfire. This time I told an edited version Revan, a talented Jedi who circumvented the Jedi counsel in order to gain the support he needed to finally end a genocide started by a battle-hungry clan known as the Mandalorians. I told of how he led his forces, encountered Sith teachings even as he fought, and then entered unknown regions to try to hunt down the stragglers of the Mandalorians and ceased all communications. That was where I ended.
Zack was the one who most visibly enjoyed the story and he whooped several times, most notably when Revan circumvented the counsel.
Red declared that the counsel sounded very similar to how Cosmo Canyon's elders were chosen.
Aeris seemed surprised about the major differences that existed between Hestizo and Revan. Her questions about their differences eventually led to me explaining the different classes of Jedi: the Guardians who did most of the fighting when it needed to be done, the Consulars who sought to stop disputes through diplomacy, and finally the Sentinels who worked most closely with civilians and learned extra skills other than just Jedi ones.
I noticed Kunsel giving me a sideways glance then and did my best to appear as though I didn't notice, grinning as Yuffie began to demand who I thought would win in a fight: a Jedi or a ninja. My response was quite firmly that a Jedi Knight could trounce a ninja.
Tifa and Cloud thankfully seemed to relax for the time of the story and as we all turned in that night I made a point to check Kunsel's mind as he slept.
Kunsel was brilliant; that much I could tell the moment I encountered his mind. He categorized everything about everyone and everything so finding his thoughts and observations on me wasn't that difficult. The former SOLDIER had noticed several things about me alright, the first of them being the night we had left Kalm when he thought he saw a hammer jump into my hand. He'd dismissed it at the time but was now starting to reconsider. The elevator guard in Junon was also starting to raise an alarm for him and I was somewhat glad he hadn't been there to see me flip Hojo. He had noticed the strange sudden appearance of the weapon I had "found" for Aeris on the tracks outside of Corel though. The conclusion he was coming to was that I did have a power but so long as he saw no sign of me using it against him or anyone else in AVALANCE he wouldn't call me on it. Jedi were simply filed under fiction for now though.
Satisfied that I wouldn't have any problem for a while longer, I turned over in my sleeping bag and let myself fall asleep.
Rising early the next morning, Cloud and Tifa were right back to being obviously disturbed about our location and I knew it was going to get worse.
"Think we'll see the ruins?" I heard Tifa murmur as we packed up and got ready to leave.
Nibelheim came into view right before noon that day and Cloud became visibly sullen. Knowing he was in for a bit of a shock I did my best to ignore his sullen behavior and tried to get Tifa to tell us how she came to live in Midgar. Needless to say that didn't work too well either.
When we reached the edge of the town, Cloud, who had been driving at the time, brought the buggy to a very sudden stop. I had been standing at the time and promptly found myself sitting on Zack while Barret tried to disentangle himself from Red. Luckily everyone else had been sitting at the time.
"Cloud! The hec-" Cloud must not have heard Zack since he had already jerked the door open and rushed out, Tifa on his heels. The rest of us glanced at one another before jumping out as well.
"…Nibelheim…" Cloud stared at the rebuilt town, disbelief evident in his face and voice.
"I thought this place burned down," Barret said as he moved up to offer Tifa some support since the young woman was shaking.
Zack walked next to Cloud. "Nibelheim did burn, but for some reason or another it was rebuilt. You just didn't notice when we…" Zack trailed off, obviously not wanting to think of the time.
"They bombed Banora and the repercussions were felt all over even if people didn't know what happened. Maybe Shinra wanted to try something a bit more subtle this time." I offered this explanation even as Tifa walked further into the town and stared around at the various houses. "Though I don't know how this could be called subtle to anyone who knows or may have survived."
The streets were empty of all people though I knew there were some about. A sudden call from the planet caused me to move into the square also then towards a nondescript wall cut from the surrounding rock.
"Let's see if we can ask questions and check into the inn," I heard someone say distantly, even as the soil called to me that it held something. Reaching down I dug my fingers into the soil and pulled it back and stared at what I found.
"Maybe the other survivors came back and rebuilt the town," I heard Aeris offer the explanation as I stood.
"I don't think so Aeris. The villagers wouldn't have left this." Everyone turned their heads to where I was standing and joined me. The grave was shallow, only about five inches down, but they saw what I saw immediately, the obviously human skull that looked to still be attached to the neck of the person it had belonged to.
Aeris's eyes filled with tears when she saw the fate of this person even as Kunsel started to quiz Tifa on Nibelheim's traditional burial rites. Cloud moved several feet over and dug his own fingers into the soil, unearthing another bone as well. Red joined a moment later as did Zack and we came upon another grisly discovery: these people didn't even receive the courtesy of private graves; this was a pit they had discarded all the corpses in.
"Man, I'm glad I managed to save that one kid's mother," Zack murmured, looking visibly ill. He rose then and escorted Aeris to the inn since she looked very ill over the discovery.
Rising myself, I glanced around and realized that Tifa wasn't around and Cloud was disappearing into a house. Rushing after him without a thought, I found him arguing with a woman who claimed to have lived there her entire life. He was almost in tears even as she demanded to know why he was lying.
Kunsel had followed me into the house and as I grabbed Cloud he rounded on the woman.
"Pathetic! Can't you see your lies are causing him so much pain? His mother lived here!" Kunsel's roar followed Cloud and me out of the house and I was quick to get us next door to what I knew had to be Tifa's house. We found her at the base of the stairs staring at one of the men or women that were draped in the black shrouds.
"This was my house…" Tifa murmured before walking up the stairs, looking to be in a trance. Cloud pulled away from me and followed her at a rushed pace and I reluctantly followed even as Cait Sith burst through the door.
Tifa unsurprisingly had run all the way up to her room and Cloud had followed her. He was tapping at the piano while she wandered the room, pulling at various drawers, inspecting articles here and there, exclaiming "This wasn't like this" or "This isn't right" as she yanked at what was supposed to be her belongings.
Walking to the desk, I yanked open the drawer and quickly found the research notes that Tifa had somehow missed throughout her ransacking of the room. Picking through them, I can honestly say that I was disgusted though I already knew what they said.
Turning, I saw that Tifa had sat down on the bed in the room and Cloud was sitting next to her, doing his level best to try to comfort her. Wordlessly I handed the notes to him and left the room, pushing by Cait Sith who had been watching from the doorway. Marching into the next bedroom, obviously either her parents' bedroom or a guestroom, I grabbed the black cowl of what was wandering around the room and yanked it down, staring at the pale, hairless face underneath that had sunken cheeks and eyes.
Moments later a very distraught Tifa ran down the stairs with an equally upset Cloud yelling for her not to go alone. Seeing as I was the only person left in the house, Cait Sith wandered into the room even as I tried to make the former resident of Nibelheim to look me in the eye.
"Who were you?" I asked firmly.
"Se… phi... roth… Where are… you?" The voice was raspy and I still couldn't tell if this was a man or a woman.
"Sephiroth is elsewhere, who are you?" I tried directing them to look me in the eye again and contemplated trying to enter their mind to see if I could awaken something but discarded the notion. As terrible of a fate as this may be, it would be worse for me to awaken them to themselves and for them to remember the perversion done to them by Hojo.
"Gr… eat Seph…iroth…" was all I got for my trouble.
Disgusted I pulled away from the person and realized just how Hojo had wanted Cloud and Zack to be for them to be considered "successful". They would have just been shells of themselves, no memory of themselves, just driven to Sephiroth.
"What is going on lassie?" Cait demanded when I turned to walk back to the hall. "What has the other lass so upset?"
Spying the notes scattered on the ground, obviously having been thrown by Tifa, I grabbed several up and handed them to the cat. "These are notes left by Shinra scientists talking about how they rebuilt the town and hired people to claim they are residents. Also outlined are notes on clones and wanting them to leave the town."
"So that's why Tifa looked so upset." Kunsel had appeared at the top of the stairs now, Yuffie a step behind him.
"Is the lass alright?" Cait asked.
"Cloud's taking her to the inn to calm down. I want to get a better look at the Shinra mansion in this town though." I nodded as I followed him down the stairs, Cait Sith right behind me.
"Perhaps we should bring Cloud or Barret along with us," Yuffie suggested as we trooped down the stairs.
"Bring us where?" A loud voice demanded and Barret appeared at the bottom of the stairs accompanied by Red.
"To investigate the Shinra mansion." Kunsel stated as he pushed the door open and trooped back out onto the street. The lot of us followed him to the inn and ignored the shouts of the innkeeper as we ran up the stairs.
Aeris had visibly calmed when we reached the room and Tifa seemed more angry now than upset.
Zack glanced over at us as we entered the room. "I know you guys were looking forward to the possibility of sleeping in beds tonight but I think we're better off if we just keep going. And we can't take the buggy into the mountains so we should get our stuff from it."
"Something stinks here beyond what has happened to the buildings," Barret spoke first.
"And that's why we should just keep going!" Zack declared.
"What happened to you and Cloud happened here, right?" I demanded, knowing I was making an underhanded blow. "You're not thinking of everything else that may have happened."
Zack glared at me then. "I have a right to be! You saw how Cloud was when we first met and that was after we'd been on the run for days! You don't know what happened to us down there."
I wasn't allowed to answer due to Tifa grabbing me and walking me out the door. "I have a right to know what happened to my hometown!" she yelled back through the door. Cloud joined us moments later as did Aeris and everyone save for Zack.
"So, Shinra is even more rotten than I thought," Yuffie's murmur sounded almost gleeful.
Kunsel looked uncomfortable as we approached the mansion though. "They did something to my friend and all these people. I want to know what."
"Be careful what you wish for," Cloud surprised everyone.
We all slipped easily into the mansion and stood in the foyer, mostly uncertain of where to start. Yuffie ended up setting the pace by starting to look around and finding the sheet of paper with Hojo's note.
"I must get rid of all those that stand in the way of my research. Even that one from the Turks. I scientifically altered him, and put him to sleep in the basement. If you want to find him, then search the area. But… this is merely a game I thought of. It is not necessary for you to participate if you don't want to." She read the note aloud for all to hear then stared at the note again. "Sweet! It says to open the safe using the code we find using these clues! Treasure!"
"It just means the key will be there, probably," Kunsel stated with a groan as he snagged the note from her. "Still, this guy must have some information on what has happened."
Aeris perked up. "So, we're going to help him?"
"Yeah, now the clues are: Dial 1 – The lid of the box with the most oxygen. Dial 2 – Behind the ivories short of tea and ray. Dial 3 – The creak in the floor near the chair on the second floor… then to the left five steps, up nine steps, left two steps and up six steps."
"Three clues?" Yuffie puffed slightly. "I know safes and we need four numbers."
Grabbing the note from Kunsel, I smoothed the note out on a nearby table and stares at it. We didn't have a stove readily available or an incandescent light bulb and I was not going to even attempt heating the paper using a fire materia. Reaching into my pack, I yanked out a flashlight and studied the paper closely for indents from a pen since the note was written by hand. "Right… Ninety… seven?" I asked, suddenly angry that I didn't have this code memorized.
Cloud stepped up beside me and studied the note himself then nodded. "Right ninety-seven is the last number. Ok, let's split into three teams to find the other three numbers. When you find the number be sure to write it down and we'll meet back here at the foot of the stairs."
The groups were chosen with Cloud, Aeris, and Red looking for the "lid of the box with the most oxygen", Kunsel, Tifa, and I looking for "the ivories short of tea and ray", and Yuffie, Cait, and Barret following the step-by-step directions for clue number three.
Luckily Tifa played the piano so she needed no hints from me the moment her eyes found the piano in the parlor. Unsurprisingly, we were the first ones back to the base of the stairs and got to hear the various yells and bangs from Barret and Yuffie as they tried to follow the directions on the slip of paper.
"And to think I suggested they look for that clue since I didn't think they could mess it up." Kunsel groaned as another bang sounded and Barret's loud voice demanded to know how a wall got in front of him. Several minutes later Cloud, Red, Aeris, and Cait joined us, each having found their clues while Yuffie and Barret continued to argue over who was going in the right direction.
They managed to stop when Tifa called out to them that we had the numbers and were going to open the safe and I laughed when they came from the right instead of the left.
Cloud was the one who put the numbers into the safe and right as the door swung open, a large blob of red and purple poured from the safe and seemed to inflate before us.
Cloud, Kunsel, and Tifa wer already inside the room and immediately launched forward with their physical attacks, landing hard blows despite the confined space. From the doorway Red managed to push through between everyone's legs and joined the battling three while Barret took the top portion of the door, Aeris and I shared the middle, and Cait Sith jumped off his Mog and covered the lower portion of the door. We launched spells and attacks though none of us dared to even try to summon.
"Hey! Let me through, I can't see anything!" Yuffie demanded from behind those of us at the door as Cloud made a strike at the purple side, eyes widening as his sword bounced off even as a fire spell impacted the area and left a rather large mark. Kunsel who was attacking the red side was having much better luck, his sword cutting deeply into the hide of the monster. Tifa and Red both seemed to notice and focused their attacks on that side as well.
A large howl cut through the air then causing even Yuffie to pause in her rants, then the monster changed completely into a large purple monster and sent one of its large tentacle-like arms at the door.
Those of us in the door scattered instantly as the arm slapped at the frame though Aeris did try to cast an ice spell at the appendage. Yuffie whooped and jumped through the door as soon as it was clear, ready for a fight.
Retaking our positions around the door, Barret loudly cursed when he saw that the physical attacks of Kunsel, Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie were all to no avail. Even his bullets bounced off and seemed to have no effect.
Red was the first to try a magic spell and he shot a fire straight at the beast. The scorch mark that appeared acted as the catalyst that got everyone firing with their materia.
Kunsel had an ice of his own and a gravity spell. Cloud used ice also and lightning. Yuffie had acquired a fire somewhere and Tifa used a restore to heal those who had been fighting close range.
The monster looked very odd by now, covered in patches of ice, burns, scorches, and several places looked rather green. The thing seemed to deflate bit by bit, even as it swept its arm at Cloud and knocked the swordsman into a wall. While the rest of us retaliated, Tifa healed Cloud and he was up and casting again.
Finally the safe monster just seemed to collapse inward on itself and seeped into the floor as an ooze. No one bothered to stop Yuffie from grabbing the materia left behind. Red zeroed in on another item entirely that looked to be a scroll of some sort even as Kunsel reached into the safe and extracted the key.
"This is… it can't be…" Red was staring at the book as though it was the Holy Grail and I guess for him it would be.
"Cosmo Memory, sounds like it belongs in Cosmo Canyon," I stated as I picked up the scroll, Red's eyes following my hand the whole while. "Think we should give this to Bugenhagen next time we see him?" I asked Red with a grin.
"That is a treasure of my race!" Red declared hotly. "Shinra has no rights to it."
"Then it's yours. Would you like to carry it or prefer someone else to hold it?"
Red studied each of us in turn before his eyes landed on Aeris. "Would you mind?" he asked and received a smile and a nod from the young woman. I handed her the scroll as we all left the room.
"So, now we look for the basement," Barret said as we left the room. "Anyone see any stairs?"
Everyone shook their heads in the negative so we decided to split up once again. This time I was paired with Yuffie so I had no problem convincing her to stay on the top floor, pointing out that most forgotten articles would be up here. We went through the rooms, searching for anything we could use and found a surprising amount of gil. When we finally reached the room that I knew held the secret passage, I ran to the wall as Yuffie started poking through the end table.
A quick search of the wall revealed the switch that I knew had to be there and the door opened, revealing the plank-way that descended down into the darkness.
"Cloud, Cait, everyone! I found something!" I shouted out the door and immediately the sound of running feet could be heard.
"Woah!" Barret declared as he passed through the doorway, Red, Aeris, and Tifa close behind him.
"That looks familiar…" Cloud murmured as he stared at the hidden door.
I shrugged and stared down the hole then pulled out my flashlight, flicked it on, and studied the place. "We'll have to go single file and spaced. This doesn't look all that steady, but it is definitely deep enough to go down to a basement."
"Okay then, I'll go first," Cloud declared as he walked out onto the planks that descended down the hole. I followed him, illuminating the way with my flashlight, Cait Sith jumped off his mog and followed, Aeris after him, then Tifa, Red, Yuffie, Barret, and Kunsel brought up the rear.
The walk was a slow one. The planks groaned and creaked alarmingly and I seriously wished that this place resembled the environment displayed in Crisis Core. Behind me I heard Aeris gasp once when she slipped and caught herself on the wall and Barret didn't sound like he was walking regularly either.
Solid ground didn't come soon enough and then we were walking slowly up the corridor, weapons drawn. Cait Sith had climbed back onto his mog as well and held his megaphone at ready. Though I still hadn't received a lesson, I even had my sword out and was prepared to strike at any blood sucking bats I saw.
Cloud was the one to spy the door that was off to one side of the corridor and after unlocking it we all slipped in to the room, eyes widening at the coffins in the room. There were also mummy-like forms in the back of the room that ranged in size from very small to adult. I made a point to not shine the flashlight in the direction again.
"Was this town made to simulate a horror movie?" Aeris asked as Barret, Cloud, and Kunsel knocked on the lids of the various coffins.
"...To wake me from the nightmare. Who is it?" The lid of a coffin that Kunsel had just knocked on flew off and caused most of us to jump. Even I grabbed Cait Sith as he jumped and Aeris grabbed my arm. Yuffie let loose a small scream while Red's hair stood on end.
From his coffin Vincent sat up and studied each of us in turn, his eyes lingering on Cloud the longest. "...Never seen you before. You must leave."
Cloud returned the Vincent's red gaze without backing down. "You were having a nightmare."
"We woke you up. Ya outta be thanking us." Barret was elbowed by Tifa then.
"We found a note upstairs indicating that you were locked down here by a mad man," I finally added.
"Hmph… A nightmare... My long sleep has given me time to atone." Vincent's voice and face were devoid of emotion but you could feel his sadness, it seemed a tangible thing in the air.
"What are you saying?" Cloud asked, he wasn't begging, but he was beseeching.
"I have nothing to say to strangers, get out. This mansion is the beginning of your nightmares." Kunsel huffed angrily at Vincent's words which drew the gunner's attention.
"Nightmare?" He declared loudly. "You want a nightmare? I have a friend that Shinra told me was dead but was actually brought here and used for experiments. Five of our group have been used as specimens by Shinra's resident mad man, Hojo, for experiments. Hell, we all might have been if Sephiroth-"
"Sephiroth?" Vincent's interruption was punctuated by the uncharacteristic widening of his eyes.
"You know Sephiroth?" Vincent and Cloud asked in unison. Vincent flipped out of his coffin then, floating down easily onto the back of the coffin. It was truly mesmerizing to watch. In my arms I felt Cait Sith wiggle a little so I set him down on his mog.
"You first," Vincent indicated towards Cloud. Cloud looked unsure but finally told Vincent what he knew of that had happened, of how Sephiroth had discovered the contents of the mansion and gone insane. Of his burning Nibelheim and murdering the townspeople then fighting at the reactor. He even told about us meeting, the capture of Aeris and me that led to them being in the Shinra HQ when Sephiroth came through and murdered a number of the people, including the President and now we were all chasing him with the intent of trying to keep him from reaching the "Promised Land". During all of this Vincent listened quietly and intently, never saying a word. I was fighting down a yawn since I had heard the story so many times now.
"And that's how it is," Cloud finished.
"So Sephiroth found out how he was created five years ago? And about the Jenova project? He was missing, but recently reappeared. He has taken many lives, and seeks the Promised Land?" He said all of this out loud but it was easy to see it was rhetorical.
"Now it's your turn," pushed Cloud.
"I'm sorry... I can't speak."
"What?" Kunsel demanded, visibly angered over being denied answers.
"Hearing your story has added upon me yet another sin. More nightmares shall come to me now, more than I previously had... please... leave." He flipped back into his coffin then, intent to return to his self-loathing.
Kunsel wasted no time, grabbing Cloud's arm and giving the coffin a kick before turning back to us. "We'll find our own answers," he announced as he pushed us all back through the door.
"That sounds more like it!" Barret declared as we walked down the tunnel towards the lab. I guess I was going to be trying to get Vincent out of his coffin again after the Sephiroth encounter.
The lab looked horrific and that was speaking in a very light manner. Blood, spilt and dried long ago stained the medical table. Dust and rust was everywhere and one of the large test tube-like chambers was busted, the one Zack obviously escaped from. All around I felt the cold all over again calling to me, but it wasn't overwhelming because these weren't fallen souls pulling at me, they were the tortured memories of many different victims of unspeakable crimes. And underneath it all, I again heard that scream…
"Sephiroth!" Cloud had moved into the small hallway leading from the lab to an office.
"Being here brings back memories." The silver haired man focused his eyes on Cloud now. "Are you going to participate in the Reunion?"
"I don't even know what the Reunion is!" Cloud yelled, his form shaking.
"Jenova will be at the Reunion. Jenova will join the Reunion and become the Calamity from the Skies." I made a point to gasp at what he had said.
"Jenova, a Calamity from the Skies? You mean she wasn't an Ancient?" Sephiroth's smile dropped.
"...I see. I don't think you have a right to participate. I will go north past Mt. Nibel. If you wish to follow... then follow. You are more than welcome to bring guests." Sephiroth's grin returned while looking at the group, everyone shuddered.
"Reunion? Calamity of the skies? Sephiroth you aren't making any sense!"
Sephiroth's grin stayed in place as he threw a materia at Cloud, catching him solidly in the stomach before the former General levitated off the ground and flew past us.
"Cloud!" Tifa called, rushing over to him. Nobody, not even Yuffie, approached the materia Sephiroth had thrown.
Kunsel stood angrily and marched through to what looked to be the main office. I noticed more doors that you didn't see in the game for the first time as I watched his progress.
"What did he find here?" Kunsel demanded as he grabbed up a book, flipping through it before tossing it aside and grabbing another. He was joined after a moment by Barret.
I reached for a book myself, it was grisly but I admit that I did want to know what had happened here. I also knew that Hojo had something to do with the events in Dirge of Cerberus, so maybe I could get a clue of what here. I was stopped by Aeris.
"Rachas, what is a Calamity from the Skies?" she asked loudly, drawing the attention of everyone.
Glancing around, I took a deep breath. "The Calamity from the Sky was said to happen many years ago, around two thousand if I remember correctly. When it happened, a horrific being descended upon Gaia, intent to take the planet for her own, either to rule or destroy. The people managed to stop her though but her corpse was said to still have consciousness because she couldn't be absorbed by the planet."
"Then if Jenova can become-" I interrupted her there.
"You can't just become a Calamity Aeris, you just ARE that way. Jenova IS the Calamity from so long ago."
Kunsel grunted as he pulled another book from a shelf while almost everyone else stared at me in shock.
Red is the one to finally piece together some of the vague information I had presented. "If she is a corpse, even with consciousness, there is no way she is the mother of Sephiroth."
I nodded as I grabbed a book that was labeled "Crescent" and found the information of Lucrecia Crescent flooding my mind. All the data she had accumulated on the various demons that were placed in Vincent and another being called Omega. This must have been something Hojo had studied before experimenting on Vincent. It took a bit of effort but I managed to let go of the book, dropping it into my pack.
"I'm bringing some of these along," Kunsel announced as the rest of us moved about the lab, me wandering back into the main lab. I noticed then that Cloud had picked up the materia thrown by Sephiroth.
"It's DeBarrier," he stated upon noticing my interest. I felt my eyes widen as I remembered this particular materia. In the game it wasn't so bad, but here it meant something else entirely.
"Put it away," I ordered, not even wanting to look at the thing.
"It's just a materia," Cloud replied as he began to slot it into an empty slot on his sword, but I swatted the materia away, causing it to roll under a nearby bookcase. "Why'd you do that?"
I stared at Cloud, agitated myself. "The final form of that materia is Death. Sephiroth is promising death if you continue!"
Cloud's eyes widened at my words then everyone jumped when Zack came barreling through the door.
"I saw Sephiroth! Is everyone ok?" He demanded as he raced around the room and grabbed everyone including Barret and Cait Sith. After doing his version of a head count, he seemed to calm down significantly though he looked ill about being in this room.
Kunsel finally seemed to finish his search and entered the lab with a large pile of books. He shoved several into my arms rather roughly and I stumbled back into the lab table and felt my breath freeze as memories screamed up at me. Dozens of people screamed their pain, and many took their last breaths on this horrific slab. In better detail than I ever wanted I finally saw some of what Cloud and Zack had gone through here. The visions were interrupted by Cait Sith when he helped me stand again, leaning on his mog, I came very close to kissing the cat.
Surprisingly I felt nothing from the books and surmised that it was probably because the writer either wasn't strong of mind or wasn't suffering anything at the time of their writing.
We left then, and at my insistence, we visited Vincent again.
"Hey, I saw this guy down here five years ago when Sephiroth, Cloud, and I visited!" Zack declared when the coffin lid blew off.
Vincent showed no emotion though one his eyebrows rose. "You're still here."
"Who are you; at least tell us your name." Cloud once again was our spokesman.
"I was with... the Shinra Department of Administrative Research. Otherwise known as..." He struggled to remember for a second. "The Turks...Vincent."
"The Turks?" Cloud burst out.
"Hojo's note did indicate he was a Turk," I reminded everyone, but that didn't cause anyone to put away their weapons.
"Formerly... of the Turks," he emphasized the word formerly. "I have no affiliation with Shinra now... and you?" He focused now on the group again. Cloud stepped forward.
"Cloud, formerly of SOLDIER."
"You were also in Shinra? Then do you know Lucrecia?" He actually sounded a little hopeful.
"Who?" Vincent's small hope must have died painfully.
"...Lucrecia." Vincent stated. Cloud shook his head. "The woman who gave birth to Sephiroth." That got everyone's attention.
"Gave... birth... I thought Jenova was Sephiroth's mother." Cloud said, confused. Vincent just blinked.
"That isn't completely wrong, but just a theory. He was born from a beautiful lady. She was Lucrecia, an assistant to Professor Gast of the Jenova project. Beautiful...Lucrecia..."
"A human experiment," Cloud concluded.
"That's horrible, how could someone do that?" Tifa exclaimed.
"There was no way to cancel the experiment." He looked back down. "I couldn't stop her. That is my sin. I let the one I loved, the one I respected the most, face the worst."
"So you lock yourself up to make up for it? That's weird." Yuffie stated as she stared at him, but even she sounded slightly choked.
Vincent gave no other indication of listening, instead choosing to settle back into his coffin as the lid resettled over him.
I couldn't just leave him like that, so even as everyone else started to file out I walked up to the coffin. "You say you want to atone for your supposed sins, what better way than in using the gifts you have to stop Hojo from doing what he did to Lucrecia from ever happening again? Or in showing your respect to her by stopping her offspring who gives her title to a Calamity?"
Vincent didn't stir as I turned to leave the room, but just as the game indicated, as our party moved toward the plank-way, Vincent came running after us.
"Wait!" He called as he ran after us. "If I go with you, will I meet Hojo?"
"Don't know, but we're after him and Sephiroth. So I guess sooner or later..."
"Lucrecia... I've decided to join you." The reactions were varied. Some like Aeris and Barret were shocked, Tifa was surprised, Cait Sith seemed irritated, Red had little emotion, and Cloud and Zack looked thoughtful.
"Being a former Turk, I may be of help to you."
"Alright then," Kunsel announced and then we were all moving again, this time with Vincent bringing up the rear.
"Alright! Shinra better beware, we now have their vampire on our side!" Yuffie cheered. Since I was behind her I gave her a head swat then shot Vincent an apologetic look.