Saria: (groans)
Tori: You got sick?
Saria: (moans)
SA: No excuse! (throws laptop onto the bed)
Zas: Slave driver…
zzzzzzzzzz
The fire that was made from the remains of my sled wasn't big and it didn't last long, but it served the purpose of helping to warm those of us in the cave.
"How much longer is this storm going to last?" Yuffie whined at one point when we checked to see if conditions had gotten any better.
"Probably a seasonal occurrence and will last for months," Red advised, earning groans from all of us.
Although the sun hadn't come out that day, we did notice when night began to fall and all of us agreed it was better to stay in the cave than attempt to push forward in sub-zero temperatures at night.
"How do you think the others are doing?" Cloud asked that night as each of us wrapped ourselves in our respective sleeping bags and piled together with blankets thrown over our pile.
"I'm surprised they're not here," I responded as I began to bite my lip. This wasn't a game; you wouldn't be automatically saved if you got too cold. Had the others met up or were they alone? Was Aeris ok? Cait Sith? Not knowing was killing me.
Zack reached over then and squeezed Cloud's shoulder. "I'm sure they're just fine. Probably already waiting for us at the cabin. Tifa is plenty tough, Cait Sith is a robot, Kunsel is a SOLDIER, and Vincent a former Turk. Plus Cid's a pilot so he should be good at navigation, how else do they get through clouds?"
"It's called 'dead-reckoning' Zack," I informed him, not missing the fact he didn't mention Aeris.
Barret laughed. "Cheery name."
"Flying still seems so unnatural," Yuffie groaned, slightly green at just the thought.
"It's natural enough to me."
"You're weird."
"No, I'm passionate." Ok, we'll be getting an airship soon and Yuffie was neither cured of motion sickness nor did I get any sort of remedy or distraction such as gum. Sorry Yuffie, but it seems like you may have to deal with that for a while. Or I could finally test out my theory that Esuna might cure motion sickness.
"Hey, Rachas, could you ask the Planet if Ae-everyone else is safe?"
"Sure." Leaning back into our dog pile, I closed my eyes and focused on our absent friends. They proved to be easy enough to find, all of them had just made it to the cabin. Aeris was sitting in a room covered in blankets with Tifa and a shivering Cid. Vincent, Cait Sith, and Kunsel were in the front room with the man who owned the cabin.
"Any sign of them?" Kunsel's voice was warbled to me, but understandable.
"None."
"Should we search for them?" Reeve was in control, I could tell even now.
"At night?" the old man spoke up now. "You'll need saving if you go out there."
Aeris must have felt my presence then since she came into the front room, her eyes roaming around. "Do you guys sense something?"
Vincent instantly seemed more alert, glancing around also before going very still. "Yes, but not physically."
'Aeris,' I mentally called and the woman went stiff.
'Rachas?' the answering call was a bit weak.
'I'm with everyone else, we're fine for now.'
'Are you sure?'
'We've taken shelter in a cave; we'll set out in the morning.'
'Alright, I guess we'll see you then.'
Pulling back to my own body then, I opened my eyes and found myself staring at five eager faces.
"Everyone is ok, they're at the cabin."
"Everyone? Tifa and Aeris? All of them?" Cloud asked.
"Yeah, I even sent a message to Aeris to let her know we're all doing well. She should pass it along and put most of their fears to ease."
Zack and Cloud both visibly breathed easier knowing Tifa and Aeris were ok while Yuffie looked thoughtful at the notion that I could send messages to others.
"Could you let me talk to Kunsel?" she finally asked.
"I don't think it works like that," I informed her. "I've never heard of channeling another's thoughts."
Yuffie huffed and buried herself back into her sleeping bag and squirmed deeper into our pile.
"So, any volunteers for watch tonight?"
"In this storm I doubt we'll have any visitors to worry about." Red's response drew relief from everyone for although some of us didn't show it, we were all exhausted from the cold.
"What about visitors for that snow bitch?" Barret asked gruffly.
"I'll take first watch!" Zack volunteered.
"I'll take a watch if I don't have to leave the pile," I called.
We settled that night with the agreement that everyone would a watch of one hour twenty minutes so we could all maximize our rest and still not be defenseless.
It was very cold outside of that pile we created, though six bodies with sleeping bags under a blanket/tarp didn't warm things up as much as one would think. We were warm enough to sleep and take our watch at our turns, but it was still not comfortable.
The next morning was the same as yesterday and just like yesterday it was impossible to enjoy the voices of the Planet as we finally left the cave and started across the fields again. One of Cloud's markers was still in place so we used that as a marker as our little group of six trekked single file onward. Red was in the lead followed by Cloud, Yuffie, Barret, me, and Zack.
There were moments when the snow was so thick I could barely see Barret and there were moments when it settled enough that Red could be seen. The wind roared so loudly that every time we had a message it had to be passed along by word of mouth, yelling from one person to the next. It was a relief when Red sent a message back that he had someone's scent after Zack asked his fifth consecutive "Do you see anything?"
Three hours after we set out on this snow field the wind and snow finally died down enough for us to see the cabin, which we were all of five hundred feet from. The line broke down instantly, all of us rushing to the door of what looked like a slice of paradise.
We piled into the house eagerly, surprising Tifa, and old man, and Kunsel who were sitting in this front room. Vincent was there too but if he was surprised he didn't show it.
"We're here!" Zack called out as Yuffie ran up and hugged Kunsel.
Aeris came out of the backroom a moment later, jumping up and hugging Zack then giving me a quick hug. Cait Sith came out next and surprised me by jumping up to my shoulders and hugging me.
"You're safe!" Reeve must have been worried again because once again he was in control of Cait Sith.
"Is something wrong Reeve?"
My question caused the knee-jerk reaction of everyone in the room turning to stare at us.
"Just worried is all."
The old man who owned the cabin appeared then. He looked to be in his early sixties, his face lined and weathered from years and harsh weather though his form indicated that he was in very good shape.
"You may use my cabin to rest up some before heading out. I was briefing your friends about climbing the cliffs and what trails I know of."
"Thanks," Zack said before turning to the rest of us. "Well, we're all here now, so let's rest an hour and let those of us who just got here warm up before pushing onward."
"I'd suggest using the next room over. There are blankets and a fire there," Kunsel stated as he gave Yuffie a quick push towards the door.
"Alright!" Barret was the first to go barreling through the door followed by me still carrying Cait Sith, his mog following.
Cid was in the next room over, looking rather glum and wearing a thick fur lined coat.
"So, ya'll made it here too!" Cid said as we trooped in. "Pretty cold out there and the old guy won't let me smoke in here!"
"So, how did your snowboarding lesson go?" I asked nonchalantly.
Cid glared rather darkly. "Should've gotten some tips from some of those snowboarders at the shop."
Barret laughed loudly as I rolled my eyes and took a seat next to the fireplace.
"How're things on your end?" I asked Cait/Reeve, unsure of how much of anything could have changed.
"The Turks are still watching me and the President has declared he will be going on a trip. He's scheduled to leave in a few hours. How was your night?"
"Very cold. And at some point I promised Zack a Costa Del Sol vacation. The night in the cave didn't help though I'll admit that it was the most interesting camp-out I've ever been on."
Cait/Reeve seemed to laugh then as well. "I've not gone camping since I was young and they were never the adventures that you seem to have."
"May you'll need to join us sometime then, once this is all over."
"Hmm… A Shinra Exec on a camping trip with us…" Barret's eyes had a bit of a sadistic gleam to them. "How's my daughter doing?"
There was a pause as I'm sure Reeve looked around for files on her. "She's actually doing quite well. I sent a back-up unit to watch out for her and Mrs. Gainsborough, Jessie, and Wedge. According to a recent report they made cookies yesterday. If you stay anywhere for a few days or can give me some advance notice, then I can have some pictures sent to you."
Barret visibly relaxed and even wore a half-smile now at the prospect of pictures of his daughter.
"Not too bad a guy, for Shinra."
Yuffie came in a minute later and parked herself next to the fire as well. "The old guy is going to lend us some gear though it seems he doesn't have enough for everyone."
"Does he hav'a coat to spare?" Barret asked and Yuffie shrugged.
"Thought you might want one." The old guy came through the door then, an enormous coat under one arm. "You'll still be walking back after your climb so you'll likely wish you had one."
"Thanks." Barret accepted the coat and just barely managed to squeeze into it after temporarily removing his prosthetic gun arm.
About thirty minutes later we all left through the front door, thanking the old climber for his kindness. As we began the final part of the climb to the North Crater, Barret glanced around while we were still in the vicinity of the cabin.
"Ya know what?"
"What?" Cid asked as he shoved a cigarette into his mouth and lit up.
"Seein' a place like this like this makes you realize just how awesome nature is. But if anyone told me to live here, I'd tell them to… ya know…"
Zack laughed as did several others then, Cait Sith included since Reeve had departed a few minutes ago. "I think we know what you mean."
"If I had to live here, I'd change things around 'n' make it better. Guess the total opposite of this would be… Midgar."
"Wouldn't be too sure of that," Zack responded. "Midgar still has plenty of monsters and can be a jungle on its own, look no further than Hojo and the slums."
"My point is that when you think about it, Shinra don't seem too bad… Uuuurgh! What am I sayin? The Shinra? Not bad?" Barret looked very angry at himself for his slip up.
"Maybe you mean those who want to make things better within the company aren't bad," Kunsel offered. "Don't forget some of us were in Shinra and our intents were to help people."
"Some are still in Shinra with similar goals," I pointed out.
Barret sighed after a moment and hung his head slightly. "I just been viewin anything Shinra as bad so long, it's hard to remember there are individual people in there."
"Yeah, like the guy who gave me the phone numbers so I could spam the SOLDIERs and executives some years ago!" Yuffie was grinning in a beyond mischievous manner. Barret and Tifa on the other hand roared with laughter.
"It wasn't that funny!" Zack argued. "Because of her I got assigned some of the lamest missions you'd ever believe and wound up facing a Summon without a summoner!" If possible Barret and Tifa laughed harder than ever, while several of the rest of us also started to laugh. I remembered that particular Crisis Core mission and thought it was a total hoot when Zack gets to the end of the dungeon, opens the chest, and promptly shouts for Yuffie to run while he does the same.
Though he didn't have much, Holzoff, which Kunsel stated was the old man's name, had been able to spare not only the coats for Cid and Barret but had also given us two lengths of rope and some wood for a fire if we needed to stop to warm up along the way. Yuffie had apparently been offered pants but still refused them, declaring them not to be sexy.
Those ropes proved to be life savers when we reached the cliffs, both Cloud and Zack climbing ahead, tying them off on a ledge when they reached one, and half of us climbing up the rope. Kunsel carried Red and Cait's mog could carry him up.
The climb even with the rope helping was still a bit of an agonizing experience. Though the trip had changed many things about me, physically I was still not a superwoman. Climbing with the wind blowing at my back and ice under my gloved fingers wasn't easy though it was exhilarating. My heart raced in excitement and every so often I had to glance at the ground. At least the wind wasn't as bad as it had been on the plains.
By these means we quickly reached the first cave system and entered the ice caverns.
The entire structure was filled with light that shined through the thick icy walls and bounced from surface to surface. It was bright, beautiful, and everything seemed to glisten.
I nudged Barret with a grin. "So, still think man's intervention is always necessary?" He gave me a firm smack on my shoulder for my comment.
Our enjoyment of the area came crashing down pretty harshly after our third encounter with the yellow penguins and the toxic slugs. Aeris and I were almost continuously casting Cure and Esuna during those fights though we did gather a fair number of valuable monster parts and gil. We also found another Ribbon; this one was given to Red.
After a bit of wandering we reached the dead end due to ice skewers.
"We either need to turn around or cut through those," Zack stated after a moment.
"How about melting with a fire?"
"We might melt more than just the spikes." Kunsel responded to Yuffie's suggestion.
"What about that?" Cloud was staring up at a boulder that was just barely visible on the top tier of the ice paths. "We could probably break the ice if we dropped that on it."
"Great idea!" Zack cheered then glanced around before attempting to scale the ice wall and promptly slid down the slick surface. "So… how do we get it?"
I glanced at Aeris and smiled. "Think you're ready for some training?"
Aeris caught my drift instantly and smiled herself. "Would all of you back up a few steps?"
"Whoa whoa! This is different than a few pebbles!" Cid was the voice of this objection.
"We don't have to lift it, just roll it," I replied as I focused on the boulder and tugged, Aeris joining me a moment later. Her presence was significantly stronger than it had been previously so she was definitely growing stronger.
The boulder made a loud groaning noise as it began to roll, the rough surface scraping loudly on the otherwise smooth ice. I stopped pulling the moment it dropped down the side to the second level and grabbed Aeris's hand, pulling her back slightly as the boulder disappeared into a cave.
"Great! Now we lost the boulder!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"No we didn't!" Red was staring at the tunnel beyond the ice where the noise of a large rolling rock was just beginning to grow.
The boulder exploded out of the tunnel with near incredible speed then and slammed into the ice formation hard, cracking and shattering most of it before bouncing off the edge of the walkway due to one particularly thick piece that deflected it to the side.
Barret whistled loudly at the mostly clear path while Zack stepped forward and cleared a bit of the debris away.
"That's one way to get things done."
"Coulda used you two on a site!" Barret declared. "Coulda turned ya into some great miners!"
"Thanks?" I offered, uncertain whether I should be insulted or flattered at being told I'd make a good miner.
"Thank you!" Aeris at least seemed positive and enthusiastic at Barret's comment.
"Let's go!" Zack called, the way mostly cleared.
The boulder had cleared most of the ice blocking the path but had left a number of sharp splinters and ice dust that made the floor rather slick. We had to go through the new opening in the ice one at a time and carefully at that, one misstep and you'd either slip or get a nasty gash in your leg.
Moving through the tunnel just beyond where the ice had been we were able to collect more gil and monster parts due to the fact that the boulder had crushed two more of the yellow penguins and what looked to be the Mt. Nibel monster's ugly little cousin.
Soon enough we found ourselves back out in the wind with Zack and Cloud repeating the process of climbing the face of the cliff, lowering ropes, and the rest of us climbing up as well. Surprisingly, the wind didn't seem to be as bad as it had been previously so the climb was easier than the one previous.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Cid yelled when we entered the next chamber and found two entrances, one blocked by a large, cold pool of water with various other pools and breaks in the ice in the area.
"Any volunteers to jump?" All eyes were instantly on Zack.
"Not over that!" the former SOLDIER declared. "I'd make it just fine, probably Kunsel and Cloud as well, but what about everyone else?"
"So, one choice then?" Kunsel started towards the unblocked tunnel.
The wind outside still wasn't bad, but it could have been because the area was well sheltered.
"Why the HELL would anyone EVER think that the Promised Land would be somewhere like this?" Barret was glaring out at the snow again.
"Least expected place?" Red offered.
"Promised Land, Shromised Clan!" I scoffed. "This is not even close to how I envision paradise!"
"Do you really not believe in a Promised Land?" Cait Sith's voice piped up.
"Not in this plane of existence! We have what we have and we should do what we can to make the best of it without ruining the Planet!"
"She thinks the Promised Land is heaven," Aeris explained. "That we never reach it in life."
"So Ancients were always searching for their deaths?"
"No, I think that they lived with the hope of going there after they had lived." Tifa was the one who spoke now. "Think of what we found at Aeris's mother's house."
"What did you find?" Red called out.
"Some history about the Cetra," I returned. "It focused specifically on Jenova."
"And we have a dead end," Cloud announced from the front of the group.
"So… we gotta jump that water?" Yuffie didn't look particularly pleased.
"Maybe not…" Red was staring at the icicles looking rather thoughtful. "Maybe we could knock one of those down and form a bridge."
"Good idea!" Zack called.
"Ok, there are four we can reach, split into groups and start trying to knock them down!" Kunsel called and the lot of us broke into groups of three. I ran to the end of the hall, grabbed the elixir, and then began to throw lightning spells at the base of the ice cone.
Throughout the hall was the sound of gunfire and spells being shot off to try to knock the ice loose and when each finally did fall, it created a cacophony of noise.
The jump down wasn't far, only about twelve feet, so naturally everyone jumped to save time. Yuffie grabbed the speed source and then we were back out on another trail, back through the ice cave through one more tunnel, and onto the ledges again.
Having grown a bit tired of having to carry Red; Kunsel insisted that Zack let him climb this time with one of the ropes. Zack relented so this time it was Kunsel and Cloud who climbed then lowered the ropes for the rest of us. It was still bitterly cold and a lot of us, me included, were resorting to a rather strange looking "I'm cold" dance in order to remain warm. It actually reminded me of what Cloud supposedly did in the game while climbing these cliffs in order to keep his temperature up.
Reaching that final cave system was like a breath of fresh air since I was ready for this particular session to be over.
Moments later we were all crammed into the cave and I glanced at my watch, blanching to realize that not even three hours had passed since we had left the cabin. It felt a lot later than just midday!
As we finally settled into the cave I saw that Yuffie and Barret looked about how I felt, more than a little worn out. The day hard been difficult already and it was just going to get worse when Cloud… Hell! Could I even attempt to advert what was to transpire in the crater? Cloud needed this to finally win against Jenova/Sephiroth, but why not try to prevent her from ever getting the materia? Why not volunteer and make a run for it with the Black Materia?
Simple: even if I evaded everyone else, there was no way I'd survive on my own all the way back to Icicle Inn. I was not acclimated to cold weather and would require help. Even if I could make it, Jenova would never give up and I was no match to her brainwashed drone that she passed off as Sephiroth. Then there was Cloud and Zack, would they view me as a traitor? What about Reeve? And Shinra, they'd never give up either. As painful as this was to admit, I was going to have to keep my hands off for now. And kill that blasted Hojo if I had even a glimmer of an opportunity!
A rather loud "thump" jarred me from my thoughts and everyone jumped to their feet, hands immediately on their various weapons. I drew my own sword and stared in the direction the noise had come and felt another "thump" pass through the air and ground.
"Whatever this is, it's big," Zack called and we all spread out to begin building a defense. I checked that my Elemental was equipped in conjunction with Shiva on my armlet and took cover behind a large pillar of ice as everyone either cast defensive spells or took cover also.
A minute passed and the "thumps" came closer, growing louder in the confines of the cave, when finally the two giant heads and body of a dragon appeared. The heads glared at Cloud, Kunsel, and Zack who were in the center of the room before its nostrils flared and the heads turned and glared at various points in the room. Apparently it was aware of us, evidenced by when it glared at both my spot and Yuffie's, who gave a slight "Meep!"
It roared loudly then both heads attacked, launching ice and fire attacks aimed either at the three who were out or at those of us who were hidden.
I ducked down as the first sweep came through, a flaming attack that licked around the side of the ice I was hiding behind. As soon as it had passed though, I checked around the side and upon seeing neither head coming my way, I launched a lightning spell. The moment it hit I ducked back behind my ice shield as the ice head launched an attack. The ice crept around the ice pillar but due to my Elemental I didn't feel any pain.
The roar of a machine sounded from the other side of my barrier and the noise told me Barret had begun an assault. A second gun also began to sound, taking singular shots instead of continuous ones.
Looking out again, I saw Barret duck behind an ice pillar to dodge an ice barrage while Vincent seemed to fly up to the roof to dodge a flame attack.
Cid chose to attack then, flying down towards the ice head, spear poised to strike. Unfortunately the scales were so slick and thick on the dragon that he pretty much scraped the scales and bounced off.
Zack charged the upraised fire head that was still focused on Vincent. The Buster sword scraped at the scaled neck of this one and cut through the thinner, more flexible scales.
"Try to get it on the underside!" he shouted as he retreated from the head only for the entire dragon to swing around and bat at him with its tail. Zack barely dodged under the tail and scrambled to get out of the way of the fire head as it snapped at him.
"Easier said than done!" Cloud shouted as he swiped at the ice head, barely nicking it as well.
With a howl Red appeared from another pillar of ice and latched onto the ice dragon's long neck.
As the fire head turned to attack Red, I cast lightning at the fire head and it struck in conjunction with an ice spell and a bullet. The attacks didn't completely deter the head though and as the dragon lurched around again, the fire head managed to latch onto Red and yanked him off of the ice head then hurled him across the chamber near to where I was.
Reacting on per gut, I reached out with the power and caught Red's fall, bringing him to me behind the ice pillar right as the fire head sent a fire attack at us.
As we crouched behind the pillar, flames licking around us, I used Cure on Red who had several puncture marks due to teeth along his side.
"You ok?" I shouted as the air began to get searing hot.
"I think that monster tore a muscle in my side. It'll take a while to mend even with magic," Red shouted back then assessed the condition of our shield. "This thing won't last longer than another minute."
I could hear the sounds of attack outside of where we were squatting; guns roaring, spells splashing against tough skin, I'm pretty sure I even heard a dynamite explosion. "Why isn't it moving on?"
"The first head seemed to go limp right before I got torn off by the second one," Red replied and I groaned. Typical, a dragon that has a vendetta against the slayer of its brother.
"Do you have a summon…" I stopped when I realized this was a FIRE dragon and I had Shiva, an ICE summon. Concentrating as the temperature continued to rise and the ice pillar shrank to less than a third of its original size, I cast the summon.
The air temperature instantly dropped and the sweat I hadn't even known was forming on my face seemed to freeze. Before us stood the blue skinned nymph that was Shiva and she instantly held her hand out, casting her icy spell.
As Red and I pressed closer as the ice shrank to a quarter of what it had been, the attack swept over us towards the dragon and the flames stopped, but the ice wasn't going to last much longer.
"Let's go!" I yelled and shoved Red ahead of me as we ran to the next pillar over. We never made it.
The dragon didn't care how much damage it seemed to be taking and zeroed in on Red instantly, and the fact he couldn't move too well at the moment was probably just added incentive to continue its attack.
A call through the power caused me to hit the ground instantly, dragging Red down right along with me. Over our heads the flames burst to life.
"Keep moving!" Red yelled and I couldn't help but wonder why no one had finished this damned dragon head yet.
Chancing a glance over my shoulder I had to bite back a curse, the ice dragon head wasn't dead yet! In fact, it looked stronger than ever, weaving around its brother's head, taking the absorbing any ice spells being sent at the other and leaving the fire head to absorb any fire spells. Damn it!
The risk I took to glance back caught up to me then as the stream of fire lowered and the left side of my body seemed to light up in pain!
"AAAHH!" I screamed as I pulled myself behind the ice pillar with Red who instantly started pawing at my Restore materia.
"You need to heal yourself before you go into shock!" he yelled and I dared to glance down at what he meant. From knee to the lower end of my ribcage my clothes were scorched and the skin underneath was a vivid mix of boiled red and burnt black. Red managed to take my Restore then as my head lolled back, shock quickly setting in.
The cool touch of a Cure spell brought me somewhat back to a clear mind and I glanced over to see Red cast the spell again and again, the skin on my side slowly fading to red then pink, then the pale tone I was used to. I also noticed that the fire attacks seemed to have finally ceased.
Another glance out showed that the dragon had chosen to start snapping at attackers again rather than focus on just us. Both heads were still alive.
"Do you have a summon that isn't fire or ice based?" I asked Red, not feeling at all ready to move.
Red turned his head slightly and pulled a red materia from his bag. "I found this after we defeated the ice monster in the cave where you and Zack found us. Would it do?"
I touched the materia and the name "Alexander" sounded through my head. "It's Alexander, Holy-magic. This should do just fine." Focusing hard on the materia, I cast the summon.
The effect was felt instantly by everyone as a gigantic suit of armor appeared next to the pillar Red and I had taken cover behind, causing the ground to shake alarmingly. It cast no spell that I could see, instead what looked to be a laser erupted from the eye slot of the helm and splashed down upon the dragon before it seemed to dance in a manner that reminded me of electricity.
The dragon screamed before one of the heads finally went limp and as Alexander began to fade, Cid jumped up and jammed his spear into the side of its neck and twisted hard. As the dragon snapped at him, he threw what looked to be a stick of dynamite into the mouth of the best then let go of his spear and dashed away.
A moment later a suppressed blast could be heard and the head which I now recognized as belonging to the ice dragon, began to smoke before dropping.
A minute passed where no one moved, then Cloud gently stepped out and nudged one of the heads. When it gave no response he reached down and ripped out Cid's spear.
"Everyone alright?" Tifa called as she stepped out.
"We're fine," Yuffie jumped out, Kunsel close behind her.
Forcing myself up while using the pillar for support, I handed Red his summon back then helped him limp out. "A little crispy but we should be ok."
Aeris rushed over when she saw Red limping and checked him over then gasped at my burnt clothes. "Were you guys hurt when that dragon went on a rampage?"
"No, we were hurt either before or when trying to escape our pillars," I stated matter-of-factly. "I'm fine, Red healed me."
"Rachas healed me as much as she could in turn," Red confirmed for her.
Cid had some burns and cuts that were easily dealt with as did Zack. Cloud had a small gash on one side also. In total it seemed like Red and I had been hurt the worst and we would be just fine given a little time.
"Everyone ready?" Zack asked and he didn't need to ask again.
We all moved through the cave carefully and quickly after that and soon were facing yet another snowy cliff. Unlike the previous climbs, the wind was torturous this time since a good portion of my pants and coat on my left side were missing.
The cold was almost forgotten though when we crested the cliff and saw the amazing sight of the crater and the mako that danced in the center of the windstorm, the wound the Planet was still trying to heal even after 2000 years. Overhead, the aurora borealis shined brightly, the wavering lines a perfect contrast to the harsh and geyser like rushes of mako. It was truly an awe inspiring sight.
"Sugoi…" Yuffie murmured drawing a laugh from me.
"What did she say?" Cait Sith asked from next to me.
"Amazing," I replied with a smile. "Is Reeve going to see this also?"
"I'll be sending video footage of it."
"I'll need of copy of that," Kunsel called out and a number of people also called out their own wish for a copy of this sight.
"Maybe once we're finished with this trip we should have a slide show courtesy of Cait Sith of all our adventures!" Zack's comment was met with a few cheers as we began the long trek downhill into the crater.
"That must be the energy that Sephiroth intends to use to summon Meteor." Red's statement put an instant dampener on everyone's mood.
"If it is, then next time the wound on the Planet won't be so small…" No one was walking after that, everyone was running down the slope then. Zack, Cloud, Kunsel, and Red took an instant lead followed by Vincent, Tifa, Yuffie, and me with Aeris, Cait Sith, Barret, and Cid bringing up the rear.
It was just getting to be mid-afternoon when we reached the edge of the wind wall. We were all exhausted but no one was willing to stop. Instead everyone took a potion and we continued on the path up until the point when we met one of the black caped people.
"Wait!" Tifa yelled as the figure wandered straight up to the edge of the walkway and seemed to throw himself off.
Tifa and Cloud rushed forward and attempted to grab the person's arms but both missed. Spying something glimmering just off to the side, I stepped over and called the materia to my hand and was surprised that it came so easily.
"Neo Bahamut" was whispered in my head and I quickly moved to tuck it into my pack. More whispering from the Planet reached me then and I turned to see Aeris had her eyes closed, apparently she was hearing something as well. After hearing the message, I grinned and turned to the others though I had already known what I was about to say. "Sephiroth hasn't summoned Meteor yet! We could still stop him!"
"How do you know?" Zack demanded as Aeris opened her eyes, a smile on her face as well.
"The Planet is telling us, he hasn't done it yet!"
"Alright! We need to get this finished!" Cloud shouted and everyone looked ready to finally end this fight.
Before we could take even a step further though, a noise filled the air. It was one the Cid and I knew all too well.
"An airship!" Cid exclaimed as we scanned the sky and sure enough there was a large one, the Highwind, circling the area. "They're in my ship!" Cid looked like he was about to be very ill.
Midgar
Reeve had had a very relaxing day thus far. Rufus had declared he was going on an important business trip and had left, taking Scarlet, Heidegger, and Hojo with him. All three of those "people" had been away for increasing periods of time so he had not thought anything of it.
He had been about to log in and check on Rachas and the rest of the group when an emergency alert came from Cait Sith. Not bothering to even check the files for recent occurrences, he had logged in immediately and found himself in a rather disturbing place. The wind was practically visible and raw mako was erupting everywhere!
"You think that's Shinra?" Barret asked over a roar of what he quickly realized was an airship.
"Has to be!" Cloud yelled, eyes at the sky.
"They gave no indication they were coming here," Reeve announced to them, drawing everyone's attention. "Rufus simply announced a business trip."
"He'll need time to find a landing spot," Kunsel said. "We can still deal with this before he can interfere."
"We'll need to," Rachas called. "Sephiroth could start the summon any moment now!"
Normal
We had reached the cliff where the wind was at its strongest, gales visible in the cold air.
"We need to wait for a calm moment to jump across." Tifa could just barely be heard over the scream of the wind.
"Gotcha!" Zack yelled right back and we all waited for a moment. I felt consoled with the fact there was no way that the airship could possibly try to land in this. The wind calmed momentarily a moment later and everyone jumped to the next cliff.
That's when we came upon a particularly disturbing sight: a long line of the black robed people were stumbling along the path, some falling down, some falling off the path altogether and into the mako below.
Cloud was the first to run up to one of them. "Are you ok?" he asked as Tifa ran to another of them.
The person Cloud had approached just groaned and fell still, too still. Cloud pulled back the hood revealing a pale and hairless head and felt for a pulse before shaking his head and gently setting the person down.
"It must have taken everything they had to get this far," he murmured as he slid a hand over the person's eyes and closed them.
Tifa also had set the person she was checking down and shook her head. All of them were just too worn out, had gone through too much. More lives ruined for a pointless experiment. We checked the other bodies as we passed them but each and every one of them was dead.
We finally reached the next wall of wind and stared at the jump.
"We can do this easy!" Yuffie declared as she began to run at the gap only for Kunsel to grab her right before a green ripple of air passed in front of us. The scent instantly reminded me of the natural raw mako in Banora, a pleasant, lively scent.
"Mako," I realized and Kunsel nodded.
"Yeah, raw stuff. We need to wait to make sure we cross between the ripples."
It was easy enough for all of us to get across; we jumped across three at a time and then continued further into the crater.
Venturing still farther into the crater, we finally saw Sephiroth, the two surviving black cloaked people were kneeling before him, groaning slightly in their raspy voices.
"This is the end… For all of you!" Sephiroth announced and I instantly heard the screams again, buried deep within the surrounding voices. Those screams became more desperate as the imposter raised its sword and struck the two kneeling figures. I felt my jaw drop slightly; appalled by the brutal act despite knowing it would happen.
"Sephiroth!" Cloud jumped forward, anger evident in his face and voice. "This is the end!"
"You're right. This is the end of this body's usefulness." The voice sounded like Sephiroth's but I could sense Jenova's control now. This avatar was worn out from her use and couldn't continue. The body then seemed to turn black and disappeared.
"Stay alert, he's still around," Vincent ordered.
"Then this may not be the right time to say this, but that wasn't Sephiroth," I finally admitted.
"What do you mean?" Kunsel demanded as we found ourselves shifting into a back-to-back position.
"Jenova has completely crushed his mind except for a small portion that resists her still," I explained. "She's created a false personality to control that body and form, wearing him like a mask."
"So, it's really not Sephiroth?" Zack asked. When I shook my head he actually pumped a fist in the air. "YES! I knew that wasn't the Sephiroth I knew!"
"Maybe not, but he's got his memories and skills," I countered.
"There's a part of him still left? The real Sephiroth?" Vincent demanded.
I nodded. "I hear his screams through the Planet, trapped within his own body."
"So, killing this Sephiroth will free the real one from his nightmare?"
Before I could respond a new voice spoke.
"Our purpose is to deliver the Black Materia to our master." Everyone redoubled their search efforts when we heard the voice.
"Our?" Cloud demanded into the air.
"Those who carry Jenova's cells…"
"Master?" Again Cloud was the one to speak as Tifa grabbed his hand.
"Of course… Sephiroth. Heh heh heh…"
"Above!" Vincent called and everyone threw themselves forward and to the side as Sephiroth slammed his sword into the ground where a number of us had stood mere moments ago.
I was on the ground, shaking, as I looked up to see Sephiroth walking to a point slightly ahead of our group, Cloud and Zack already back on their feet with Vincent right behind them. Sephiroth gave the three men a smug look but when his eyes turned to me, they burned with utter loathing.
"What?" Tifa was on her feet now and helping Yuffie up as Sephiroth turned back towards our group, his skin already turning into patches of red, purple, and grey as he began to grow into a much taller figure.
"How many times do we have to kill this thing?" Yuffie demanded loudly as she regained her feet.
"At least once more!" Cid responded.
"Three times in one trip!" Barret sounded positively giddy.
Red charged forward first this time, latching onto the monster's shoulder while Kunsel hacked at her base. Vincent and Barret both opened fire while Yuffie threw her shuriken.
The Jenova monster didn't seem to notice the attacks at first then swiped at Red, knocking him aside easily and out of her "eyes" came what seemed to be a bright red light. The light seemed to thicken about Zack and he gave a sudden yell as several rather angry looking burns appeared on his body.
Aeris was already ready to go and was casting Cure even as I dug through my bag for my newest summon. Pulling out Neo-Bahamut I concentrated and pushed my magic into the materia and felt a very noticeable drain. While the summoned dragon formed, I began to poke through my bag for an ether.
"Hah!" Cid yelled as he leaped high then sank his spear deeply into the monster's soft flesh before noticing the shadow that was beginning to form around them. "Wha?" Glancing up he found himself transfixed by an even bigger dragon than what he commanded flying above them… And was that an energy attack forming?
"Get clear!" Tifa shouted as everyone jumped back from the monster as the summon powered up to fire. Cid was barely able to pull his spear free and jump for it before the attack was unleashed, the explosion rocking their rocky perch alarmingly.
"Who the hell summoned that thing?" Barret demanded as the dragon began to fade.
"We'll find out later!" Zack ordered as he stood and pointed at a well-baked looking Jenova. "That attack did some serious damage!"
Jenova retaliated by breathing out what looked to be a stream of red bubbles then, vivid enough that everyone's attention was immediately caught.
"Get cover!" Red managed to shout as he pushed himself behind a rock formation. A moment later when the bubbles popped, it was like seeing lava burst in front of you. The rock formation I had ducked behind began to melt at the spots where it had been hit with some of the stuff. A scream turned my head to Aeris then who was clutching an arm that seemed to be smoking slightly.
Rushing over, I took one of my canteens and poured the contents over her arm to wash away the fluid then cast Cure on the area. The flesh mended nicely but Aeris was still gritting her teeth slightly.
"Still burns?"
"A little," she replied. "Like some of it seeped into my skin."
Thinking quickly of what compounds I knew of that could have the effect I was seeing, I yelled my theory. "That was acid!" I yelled at everyone. "Don't let it touch you!"
"Gotcha!" Barret shouted as he powered up his gun with a large amount of energy and took aim at Jenova before firing.
Cait Sith bounced into view then, a set of dice in the fist of his mog. Uncertain of what he could be planning, I stared as the mog threw them at Jenova and they promptly exploded upon contact.
Jenova was blown back by the force of the blast and Zack appeared then, sword in hand as he cut a large gash across the torso of the monster.
Jenova swung around, attempting to sweep her attacker away with her tail only for a shuriken to make a long cut along her side. The cry that heard was as unearthly as it could be.
Kunsel arrived then and slammed his sword hilt deep into this Jenova's head, ending the fight quickly.
The body once again began to wither but before I could set it ablaze as I had done the previous limbs, it slid off the side of the walkway, leaving behind the Black Materia.
"Jenova's cells..." Cloud contemplated. "So that's what this was all about... the Jenova Reunion." Tifa looked confused while Kunsel looked thoughtful.
"Not Sephiroth? You mean all this time it wasn't Sephiroth we've been after?"
Cloud shook his head. "I'll explain later. Right now the only thing I'm thinking about is beating Sephiroth."
"But Sephiroth is…"
"Jenova," Zack finished for her. "If Rachas is right, it's not really Sephiroth."
Cloud shook his head also. "No, the real Sephiroth is here, just beyond here actually. It's both cruel and wicked. But it's releasing a powerfully strong will from deep within the Planet's wound."
"It's not the real Sephiroth!" I insisted. "He's trapped in his own mind while Jenova uses him as a puppet! You're sensing Jenova!"
Cloud stared at me for a moment then shook his head. Zack walked straight up to the Black Materia and picked it up before turning back to the group.
"We've got the Black Materia back, now we just have to finish this with whatever is beyond here and that'll be the end of this. Then we can go on the Costa Del Sol vacation Rachas promised!" He got a small bit of laughter but everyone was too tense otherwise.
"We better not take it any further," Tifa declared as she stared at the thing. "Why not give it to someone else to hold onto?"
Before I could object, Kunsel spoke up. "It would be best to do that, split us into two groups, one going in and the other to stay here and guard the materia."
Two groups… I had thought that it would just be whoever was standing out here with the materia would be doing it alone or maybe with one or two people, but with five others there was a possibility to actually keep this materia out of there! I could rip down Jenova's illusions and keep everyone from going straight into the trap!
"Alright, Kunsel, who do you suggest goes in with Cloud and me?" Zack asked.
Kunsel looked over everyone and evaluated what he knew of our fighting abilities and materia. I already was certain I'd be chosen to stay out here since I was no fighter and had proven that in just about every battle.
"If you and Cloud are both going in then I'd suggest Vincent, Yuffie, Tifa… and Rachas."
…WHAT?