I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters.
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Cody frowned thoughtfully as he stared past Boco to Nibelheim. One Aerith's suggestion, using the town having deep meaning for Sephiroth as an excuse, they'd headed for Nibelheim to try to find Sephiroth, deciding to leave Roche to guard the buggy so that he could keep his defection a secret as long as possible. However, when they'd arrived, instead of the charred remains of the town they were expecting, they'd found a completely intact town filled with people who all claimed to have lived there their entire lives. Aerith had been tight-lipped about it when Cody asked her in private, but he could tell something was wrong with the town even without her uncomfortable expression. After an hour and a half of asking everyone there about the fire Sephiroth caused, and getting no straight answers and a sickening amount of Shinra propaganda, Cody and Barret had had enough and left the town to the river nearby. They had decided to do something marginally more useful, namely teaching Boco to swim. In order to do that, he and Barret were holding the bird up while standing chest-deep in the water where it was deep enough for Boco to learn to swim and stand if he needed to. Boco was not happy about it, crying out any time they lowered their arms so that his body was in the water.
"Oh would you calm down, Boco," Cody said. "We're not going to drop you. And even if we did, you can stand here."
Boco let out a "Wark!" but allowed them to lower him into the water. He began to move his legs, but after a few seconds, mud began to fill the water around them, making Cody excessively happy he'd changed into swimming trunks for it.
"You know, Boco, we're not leaving the water until you at least put some effort into learning to swim," Cody said. "So the longer you just keep stomping your feet, the longer we stay here."
Boco warbled unhappily before beginning to actually kick his legs, his weight settling onto their arms more firmly, though the water helped. After a few minutes, his kicks began to grow smoother and Cody nodded to Barret. Both began to ease off the amount of his weight they were holding until he was supporting himself in the water. However, after a moment, he kicked a little harder, lifting himself up off of their arms and promptly let out a startled cry, flailing for a moment and splashing both before setting his feet down and pecking Cody in the head.
"Ow," Cody said. "You know you were swimming perfectly fine for a minute."
He pecked Cody again and Jessie giggled from shore. Cody rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Fine," he sighed. "One more try, then we can head back."
Boco warbled dejectedly before allowing them to hold him up before beginning to kick again. After a few minutes of them supporting him while he kicked, he set his feet down and Cody rolled his eyes before nodding and guiding him back to shore.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Cody asked, only for Boco's wing to snap out, knocking him over. "Drama queen."
The three of them walked out onto the shore before Cody walked over to Jessie, pulling her into a tight, soaking wet hug. Jessie squealed and tried to push him away for a moment before giving up and hugging him instead.
"We should spend the night here," Jessie decided. "They may be sickeningly pro-Shinra, but the beds look really comfy."
"Maybe," Cody said. "No promises."
Jessie sighed and nodded, tugging his mask down to kiss him before they all headed back to town. As they arrived, they found Cloud and the others running toward the front gate.
"What's up?" Cody asked.
"Those guys in the cloaks are here!" Cloud said.
"What guys in the cloaks?" Cody asked.
"Guys in tattered black cloaks who keep talking about some reunion and finding Sephiroth!" Cloud said impatiently. "And one said something about bringing something to Sephiroth!"
"Okay," Cody nodded. "So, how exactly are they a pressing issue?"
"One of them said Sephiroth is in the Shinra Mansion," Tifa said. "The one on the far side of town."
Cody's eyes widened before he nodded. "Give me a couple minutes to change."
Cloud's eyes narrowed. "Hurry up."
Cody sprinted into a bar nearby and to the bathroom, quickly drying himself with his Wind Materia before changing, brushing his wet hair into some semblance of order with his hand and he ran back outside. The others all nodded and they ran through town to the mansion. Almost as soon as they entered, a massive, crescent-shaped blade dropped from the ceiling with a humanoid creature on top of it dropped toward them. Cody slashed overhead, the blade deflecting off of his gunblade and missing them before Cloud slashed the chain. As the creature hit the ground, Jessie stabbed it in the face, killing it. Just as she did, a group of creatures with pumpkins for heads and strips of white cloths like skirts as the rest of their bodies flew out of the doors at the top of the stairs, flying down at them, only for Barret and Aerith to kill them all from a distance.
"Not surprised there are monsters here," Cody said, looking around, only to see a piece of paper lying abandoned on a table to the left.
He walked over to it, picking it up.
"That's not Sephiroth," Cloud said.
"Thanks genius," Cody said. "This is talking about a former Turk being locked up in this building, apparently the subject of forced experimentation. And a lot of it, it seems."
"Anyone you know?" Jessie asked.
Cody frowned, shaking his head slowly. "I don't know. It doesn't say who it is." He looked around. "It says we have to open a safe to free him. Jesus, is he locked in a safe?"
"There used to be a safe upstairs," Cloud supplied.
"Upstairs?" Cody frowned. "It says the Turk's in the basement. Maybe it's the key to his cell?"
"You don't think he's still alive, do you?" Tifa asked. "Who knows how long he was locked up."
"Depends on what experiments he was subjected to," Cody said.
"And by who," Cloud said. "We should focus on Sephiroth for now. The Turk will still be there after."
"And if Sephiroth burns the town down again?" Cody asked. "It won't take long for us to free him, I'm sure."
Cloud sighed. "Fine. Let's make it quick."
"Okay," Cody said. "There are four hints for the combination numbers. Tifa, Aerith, you'll handle the first two."
He read his hint then passed them the paper as he left to find his number. His hint was surprisingly helpful. It said, "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." Assuming up meant away from the front of the building, it was exact directions. He made his way upstairs, walking around every chair he could find until the floor squeaked. He turned toward the back of the house before following the exact number of steps, winding up in a dead-end hallway where "Right 59" was written on the ground. He walked back down to the others as Aerith and Tifa reported their numbers.
"There's no fourth one, though," Aerith said.
Cody hummed thoughtfully, trailing his thumb over the page. He stopped, repeating it as he felt the faint impression of writing below the third hint. He pressed the crown of his watch, the screen coming up. He pressed a small icon at the bottom and the screen cleared, becoming an empty square. When he held the page up behind it, however, writing in invisible ink shone on the screen. "Right 97". He set the paper down and headed upstairs, kneeling in front of the safe.
"The first dial is thirty six to the right," Tifa said.
Cody turned it carefully.
"Two is left ten," Aerith said.
Cody turned the second dial, then the third and fourth. The safe popped open, but before Cody could grab the key inside, something massive, green, and solid exploded into him, blasting him backward through the wall and into the main room, where he fell to the first floor and crashed down hard, rolling to a stop. He groaned, a gold aura shining from him before he stood, summoning his gunblade as the others all joined him. Then, a massive creature smashed through the wall, crashing down on the floor and roaring at them. Its body was a mashup of colors, green on the left hand, which had punched Cody, purple from its left elbow to the center of its body in a vertical line and down its left leg to the knee where it turned green again, then red on the other half of its body, except that its right arm was a tentacle and faded to yellow by the end of it, and its right leg was a spike bent like a dog's hind leg, also fading to yellow. Its body was shaped like a valentine's day heart with its head covered by huge red spikes reaching out to its right, then its left side was clear of spikes, allowing its mouthful of pointed teeth and its yellow eye to both be visible.
"What the ever living fuck is this?" Cody asked.
"The Turk?" Barret asked.
"No," Cody frowned. "I don't think so. He's supposed to be in the basement."
"Whatever it is, we have to kill it now," Cloud said.
Cody nodded and launched himself forward and into the air with his gunblade. Its tentacle swiped around at him, only for Cloud to leap past it, slashing it off. It roared in pain before Cody used a blast from his gunblade to buzz-saw down its front, sending it staggering backward. Its spike leg skidded across the floor, and it crashed to the ground. Instantly, Aerith blasted it with a bolt of lightning. A second later, Tifa crashed down on it in an axe kick. It roared, punching her off of itself and began to stand just in time for Jessie to slash its green calf. It fell to that knee and Yuffie hurled her shuriken, the blades carving a scratch into its side before it began to spin away.
"Oh no!" Yuffie shrieked. "I swear, this never happens!"
Nanaki charged, jumping with enough force to launch himself forward, spinning like a wheel before crashing into the creature, knocking it backward. It stopped, beginning to lean forward again, only for Cloud to leapt toward it from its right, Cody launching himself past it from the opposite side, both crossing in front of it and splitting it across the face in an "X" before Cody flipped, his feet hitting the wall beside Yuffie's shuriken, which he grabbed before dropping to the floor again. The creature roared, standing again, only for Cody to hurl the shuriken, sending it streaking across the room to sever its spike leg, dropping it the ground again. The shuriken curved into the air before tearing across its back and spinning back to Cody, who caught it as he charged. He slashed it along the top of its body, passing Yuffie her shuriken as he passed her, then spun just as the creature roared, its body beginning to shake violently. The spikes began to sink into it before its skin turned purple, a new arm and leg like its left ones bursting out of its side. It pushed itself up, then leapt over Cloud. As it landed, however, Tifa jumped up behind it, slamming an aerial roundhouse kick into its back, knocking it onto its hands and knees. Then, Cody and Jessie both passed under it, slashing it across the front just below its mouth. Then, once they were out from under it, Cloud landed on its back, stabbing it and sending a blast of Mako Energy down through it. He leapt off of it again as it roared, rearing back and rising to its feet again. It spun instantly, slamming a punch into Cloud's sword, sending him exploding into the wall, then spun, backhanding Tifa. As it finished its turn, Cody, Jessie, and Aerith all held out their hands, three massive fireballs exploding into its face and knocking it onto its back. Then, it began to convulse again, its entire body turning red with yellow at the ends of its limbs, which shrunk and flailed, transforming into four tentacles. It pushed itself up, then roared, swiping both tentacles forward. Lightning suddenly shot down from the air above them, blasting into everyone, not breaking through the Manawall Cody had cast on everyone, but flattening them all to the floor all the same.
Cody narrowed his eyes. "This thing is annoying." He pushed himself up, picking up his gunblade as Jessie stepped up beside him.
"Shall we?" Jessie asked.
Cody nodded, and both charged. The creature fired off another Thunder spell, but this time, Cody fired a blast sideways from his gunblade, tackling Jessie out of the way before wrapping his arms around her as they stood, then fired a blast backward. Jessie shrieked in surprise and fear, but when they reached the creature, both slammed their feet into it to stop themselves, slashing it across the face, then slashing downward as they fell. When they landed, he released her and they both slashed outward, removing the creature's legs. Then, as it landed, Cloud slashed, a wave of Mako Energy ripping down through the center of its body, splitting it in half. The creature fell still, blood rapidly pooling from its severed pieces and Cody sighed.
"Alright," Cody said. "Let's get back up there and grab the key. Then we'll get the Turk on the way to Sephiroth."
Everyone nodded, heading for the stairs as Cody launched himself back up to the hole he'd made before, reaching the safe before the others. As he did, he found a small red materia beside the key. He picked it up and instantly felt a presence inside his mind, bringing with it the image of a six-legged horse mounted by a warrior in white and gold armor armed with a large cleaver and a massive lance strapped to his back. Odin. One of the strongest summon creatures in existence.
"What is it?" Jessie asked.
"It's Odin," Cody said. "He'll be insanely useful."
Jessie nodded. "Come on. Cloud found the way to the basement."
Cody nodded and they ran to the path to the basement, a hidden door in a cobblestone pillar built into the mansion's wall, taking a spiraling wooden pathway down to the basement. A short ways into the cave-like path at the bottom, they found a door to the left. Cody unlocking it with the key. Except, all that was inside were coffins. Five of them, four open and holding a corpse, and one closed.
"I don't..." Cody trailed off. "Please tell me they didn't make a vampire."
"You who wakes me from my nightmare," a voice said from inside, just before the lid of the coffin exploded off. "Who are you!?" The man inside sat up, taking them in. "I don't know you. You must leave."
He had on a tattered red cloak with a high collar, what looked like a black SOLDIER uniform, brown leather boots with pointed, copper toe plating, a cuffed, fingerless leather glove on his right hand, a red sweatband, and a clawed copper gauntlet on his leg arm that reached up to his bicep. He had long, messy black hair, and a blank expression as he stared at them.
"You were having a nightmare?" Cloud asked.
"I'd assume being trapped in a coffin for a minimum of years would be a nightmare," Cody said.
"We woke ya up," Barret said. "Ya aughta be thankin' us."
"The nightmare was not being locked in a coffin," the man said. "My long sleep has given me time to atone."
"What are you talking about?" Cloud asked.
"I have nothing to say to strangers," the man said. "Get out."
"You were a Turk, right?" Cody asked. "So was I. We could use your help. We have to stop Sephiroth."
"You should leave," the man said. "This mansion is the beginning of your nightmare."
"You have no idea," Cloud muttered darkly.
"Do you know something I don't?" the man asked.
"Like you said, this mansion was the beginning of a nightmare," Cloud said. "No, not a nightmare. Nightmares are just dreams, but this was real. Sephiroth lost his mind. He's found the secrets hidden in this mansion."
"Sephiroth!?" the man asked, eyes narrowing.
"That's right," Aerith nodded, stepping forward. "Won't you please help us stop him? We could really use you. And what better way to atone than saving the Planet?"
The man nodded and hurled himself into the air, flipping backward and landing on the edge of the coffin. Just as he landed, Aerith took his hand and his eyes widened.
"Please help us, Vincent," Aerith said. "We need you."
Vincent watched her for a long moment before pulling his hand away. "You seem...familiar, somehow." He turned his gaze to Cody. "You said you were a former Turk? Have you ever met Lucrecia?"
Cody frowned. "No, I haven't. But I also never heard of you, so I think you were asleep a lot longer than you think."
Vincent frowned before nodding. "Perhaps I was. I don't know of anyone who wears a mask."
"I'm allergic to oxygen," Cody said. "This mask keeps me alive."
Vincent nodded. "Very well. I'll join you."
"Who is Lucrecia?" Cloud asked.
"The woman who gave birth to Sephiroth," Vincent said.
"I thought Jenova was Sephiroth's mother," Cloud frowned.
"That isn't completely wrong," Vincent said. "But it's more complicated than that. Sephiroth was birthed by a beautiful woman, Lucrecia. She was the assistant of Professor Gast on the Jenova project. Beautiful...Lucrecia."
"A human experiment?" Cloud asked.
"There was no way to cancel the experiment," Vincent said. "I couldn't stop her. That was my sin. I let the one I loved, the one I respected most, face the worst."
"So you started-"
"Barret, shut up," Cody interrupted. "Vincent, I know somewhat how you feel. The woman I loved was in love with someone else, and I couldn't save him. Because he died, she lost the will to live and committed suicide. I understand your sin, because I bear one similar to it. If Lucrecia is still alive, I will help you find her and save her."
Vincent nodded as Aerith glanced at Cody, eyes sinking slightly.
"There is one other thing I want," Vincent said.
"And that is?" Cody asked.
"Hojo," Vincent said.
"Then Hojo it shall be," Cody nodded. "Even if we can't find Lucrecia, or it's too late to save her, we can definitely get you to Hojo."
Vincent nodded. "Then let's go."
They all nodded and headed out of the room, Vincent following them. Cloud led them all through the cave to a library, then walked to a small path through the bookshelves, stopping as they saw Sephiroth himself standing at the back. He looked up at them, smiling in amusement as he snapped the book he was reading shut.
"Hello, Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Barret, Nanaki, Yuffie, and Vincent," Sephiroth greeted them in a smooth, confident, unsettling voice. "And who are these two?"
"My name's Cody," Cody said. "This is Jessie."
"I see," Sephiroth nodded. "Interesting." He looked around. "Being here brings back so many memories." His eyes locked with Aerith for a moment before he turned his gaze to Cloud. "Are you going to participate in the Reunion?"
"I don't even know what the Reunion is!" Cloud snapped.
"Indeed," Sephiroth nodded. "I wonder what shall happen this time. What was it I said? Jenova will be at the Reunion. Jenova will join the Reunion, becoming a calamity from the skies."
"Jenova, a calamity from the skies!?" Cloud demanded. "You mean she wasn't an ancient!?"
"No," Aerith said. "She was from another world. She came to devour the Life Force."
"It seems you still don't have the right to participate," Sephiroth said. "Shame. But that doesn't mean things will go as one of you hopes. Perhaps this time, I'll let you figure it out on your own. And I do so wonder how much you can do with seven seconds."
With that, he hurled a materia at Cloud, who caught it as Jessie summoned her sword and Barret raised his Gatling Gun, only for Cody to wrap and arm around Jessie, then hold his gunblade in front of Barret's gun.
"The hallway's cramped, but he'll just cut right through the bookshelves," Cody said. "In the end, it'll only restrict us. We can't fight him here."
Barret growled and lowered his gun just as Sephiroth leapt toward them, then curved in the air, flying back through the cave.
"Let's go!" Aerith shouted, running after him, Cody just behind her, then Jessie, then Cloud and the others. They got outside within minutes, getting outside the wall around the mansion's yard just as Roche reached them with Boco.
"I take it the guy with silver hair was Sephiroth?" Roche asked.
"Which way'd he go!?" Cloud demanded.
"North," Roche said. "Flew up over the mountain."
They all nodded and Cody climbed up onto Boco with Jessie.
"Too good to walk?" Cloud asked.
"Not exactly," Cody said, patting Boco on the side of the neck.
Boco shrieked, rearing back and flapping his wings, and after a few seconds, a flock of chocobo charged into town, stopping around them, one chocobo for everyone except Nanaki, who turned down the offer to ride with Aerith, claiming to be able to keep up on his own. As the chocobos all took off, Cloud in the lead, Nanaki began to run along beside them, keeping pace with the chocobos.
"Wow," Cody nodded. "Let me know if you need me to cast Haste on you."
Nanaki nodded. "I'll be fine. You two-legged creatures are slow."
Boco let out a challenging "Wark!" and nanaki chuckled.
"Alright, you're the exception," Nanaki said.
"We're going to need to focus," Cloud said. "There are a lot of monsters on Mt. Nibel."
Cody nodded, readying his gunblade in his left hand, Jessie holding her sword on her right.
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