BOOK ONE: MIDGAR

NINETEEN

As Red had guessed, we were taken to the security area on the 67th floor. Tifa and I had been locked inside one of the cells, and Barret and Red had been put into the one on our right. I didn't know where Aerith was, though. I should have seen this coming, but in all the commotion, I hadn't noticed the Turks' very conspicuous absence during our entire infiltration. Now I understood why they hadn't shown themselves until our capture. They must have seen us escape from the pillar and had set this up, knowing we would come for Aerith sooner or later. And just as with the trap in Reactor 5, we had unwittingly played right into it. But even so, I knew we could still get out of here somehow.

Jess wouldn't have led us into this. There had to be something else going on here, something that even Shinra didn't know about. Another reason we had been brought here. Jessie had protected me from Hojo's monster, had led me to the star pendant that had shielded me from the thing's poison. She had gotten us inside the Shinra Building in the first place, had led me to the stairs so we could sneak in. So I knew that this was where we were supposed to be, where we were meant to be. Why, I didn't know yet. But I trusted her. There was a way out, I was sure of it. All we had to do was find it.

Tifa lay on a cot next to the wall on our right, and as I walked over to her, she whispered to me. "Can we get out?"

"Leave it to me," I assured her.

"Cloud, you're so brave!" she gushed.

I raised an eyebrow, both heartened and amused at the unexpected compliment. Tifa wasn't the type to fawn over anyone like that, but this was a difficult situation we were in. Maybe she had just needed a bit of reassurance. I didn't mind, and it was important to keep our spirits up. So I put my hands on my hips, assumed something that I figured was a pretty cool pose, and nodded, hoping Tifa would like it. "We'll bust on outta here in no time. So don't worry, okay?"

Tifa laughed. "I won't, Cloud. Not when you're with me."

Just then, we heard a tapping sound from the other side of the wall on the left. I went toward the front of the room, and Tifa got up to join me. I stood by the door and noticed an air vent near the ceiling. After a moment, I tapped the wall below it. Only a few seconds later, we heard a familiar, whispered voice.

"Cloud, are you there?" Aerith asked.

Relief washed through me. "Aerith!? Are you safe?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," she answered. "I knew you'd come for me."

I smiled even though I knew that she couldn't see it. "Hey, I'm your bodyguard, right?"

"Of course! That was the deal, remember?"

Tifa grimaced. "Oh, I get it…"

"Tifa! You're there, too!"

"Excuse me," she said, folding her arms across her chest. I blinked, wondering what had gotten into her.

"You alright, Tif?" I asked.

She sighed. "Yeah. I'm sorry. It just… surprised me, is all."

"I helped Aerith because the Turks came for her right after we met, so she asked me to take her home. And when I left to go back to Sector 7, Aerith went along with me to show me the way there. And you know the rest. That's all it is."

"I didn't mean to upset you, Tifa," Aerith added.

"It's alright," she said, starting to relax. "You know, Aerith, I have a question. Does the Promised Land really exist?"

I wondered that as well. There were so many different stories about it, but I didn't know what was really true and what wasn't. I wasn't sure if I believed in it or not, but it was obvious Shinra did. And we needed to find out all that we could about it if we were going to stop them. So I listened as Aerith answered Tifa's question.

Her voice was soft when she spoke. "I don't know. All I do know is the Cetra were born from the planet, speak with the planet, and unlock the planet. And then, the Cetra will return to the Promised Land. It's a land that promises supreme happiness."

"What does that mean?" Tifa wondered.

"More than words…" Aerith murmured. "I don't know."

I wasn't sure I understood, either. "Speak with the planet?"

"Just what does the planet say?" Tifa added.

Aerith paused for a moment before answering. "I'm not sure. It's so noisy and full of people that it's hard to tell."

"You hear it now?" I asked.

"I… I only heard it at the church in the slums. My mother said that Midgar wasn't safe anymore. I mean, my real mother. Someday, I'll get out of Midgar. I'll speak with the planet… and find my Promised Land. That's what Mom told me. I thought I would stop hearing her voice as I grew up, but…"

Aerith grew quiet then, and I could tell she was lost in thought. So I decided to let her be for now. Tifa laid down on the cot again, and on impulse, I checked the other wall. As I'd thought, there was an air vent near the ceiling on that side as well. I listened closely and heard Barret talking to Red in the cell next to us.

"Aerith is an Ancient, or Cetra, or whatever the hell they are. They know where the Promised Land is, an' Shinra's searchin' for it. I've only heard stories 'bout the Promised Land. I ain't sure if it really exists. The Shinra believe it's full of mako energy. An' if they get there, they'll suck it all up. An' the land'll jus' wither away. The planet's gonna get weaker. I can't jus' leave 'em be. I'm recruitin' new members! Me, Tifa, Cloud… an' Aerith, too. How 'bout you?"

Barret paused a moment, waiting for Red to answer, but there was nothing. Finally, he snorted. "You're so damn boring."

I wasn't surprised. A new AVALANCHE? Well, I supposed he had a point, but I hadn't expected Red to be very interested. He hadn't been with us very long, after all. I was just about to walk away when Red did speak, but it was more to himself than to Barret, and I couldn't help the slight grin that crept across my face when he did.

"Grandpa…" he murmured.

"Grandpa!?" Barret chuckled to himself. "Grandpa, hmm…"

Red's voice was confused. "What's so funny?"

"Nothin'…"

Shaking my head in amusement, I went and sat down opposite the cot with my back against the wall. My body ached with weariness, and Tifa was already asleep. I stretched my legs out across the floor and slid my eyes closed, deciding that it couldn't hurt to try and get some sleep myself before trying to find a way to get us out of here.

Within moments, I was out.

"Wake up, sleepyhead…"

"Hmm?" I stirred at the hauntingly familiar voice whispering to me. "Who are you?"

It spoke again. "Someone who loves you…"

Now my eyes did open, seemingly on their own, although I didn't feel like I was awake. And when I saw who was there, crouched down next to me, her hand upon my shoulder like it had been in the basement just the other morning, I stared in disbelief.

"Jessica…?"

It was her. Whole and unharmed, the way I had seen her in the alley and again on the 63rd floor when she had led me to the star pendant. But here, Jess wasn't transparent. She was solid, as real I was. I could feel her hand beneath mine when I placed my fingers over it, my heart pounding furiously inside my chest.

She smiled. "You still like to sleep in, don't you?"

"Is this… a dream?"

"Maybe," Jessie shrugged. "Maybe not. Does it matter?"

Smiling back at her, I knew it didn't. Not one bit. "No, Jess. Whatever this is, I don't care, as long as you're here."

I realized then that I was alone in the cell apart from her, and I also knew that the cells on either side were empty as well. The whole building, in fact. It was just me and Jessica in this place, wherever and whatever it was. Knowing this, I reached up and pulled her to me, pressing my lips to hers. How long we kissed, I don't know. It didn't matter. Time didn't seem to have any meaning here. I knew it wouldn't last and that I would wake up sooner or later, really wake up, but… I didn't care. I savored this time, because it would never come again.

Jess pulled away and gazed at me. "On your feet, SOLDIER…"

I let her pull me up until we were both standing, then her arms were around me as mine wrapped around her. For a while I just held her close and didn't say anything, brushing my fingers along the soft strands of her hair as it fell down her back. I noticed that neither of us was wearing our gloves even though I knew I'd had mine on when I had fallen asleep. But now they were gone, and I found I didn't mind.

As Jessie and I kissed again, my fingers slid into hers, and a horde of feathers tumbled within my stomach like a whirlwind at the touch of her skin against mine. It was every bit as wonderful as I had hoped it would be, and I didn't want it to end. I just wanted to be here with her, together in this place that was a dream and yet also something else.

A moment later, I realized I couldn't feel her anymore, and I opened my eyes to see that she had moved. Before, Jess had been in my arms, her hands wrapping themselves around my neck and shoulders while her lips had eagerly explored mine. But now she stood just outside the door of the cell, which was open now, and she beckoned to me.

"Come on, Cloud. Follow me."

I did, not knowing where Jessie was taking me but not caring, either. I was just passing through the doorway when everything washed away in a blur of light. After a moment, it receded, and when I could see again, I realized I wasn't in the same place I had been, and Jess was gone. I didn't feel alone, though. I knew she was waiting for me up ahead somewhere. I don't know how I knew, I just felt like she was nearby. I know it's strange, this whole thing probably sounds that way to you. But it was real, and it happened, but I've never told anyone until now.

Anyway, I found myself in the Shinra Building's main elevator, and it was going down. I looked at the panel and saw that the button for the 3rd floor was lit. What was in there that Jessica wanted to show me? I wasn't sure, but I knew I would find out soon enough, that she would show me. And that whatever it was, it would be important.

A moment later, the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. It was one of the only sounds I had heard in this place. But the quiet was oddly comforting in a way. I stepped onto the 3rd floor and looked around, and I found Jessie almost at once. When I did, my breath caught in my throat and my heart nearly stopped as memories of our time alone in the Sector 4 plate nearly overwhelmed me.

Her auburn hair spilling down her shoulders, Jessica leaned casually against the side of a Hardy Daytona motorcycle on display to the right of the elevators, her arms stretched out to either side of her and resting atop the bike. It was the exact same model as the one we had ridden the other day during our mission together.

"How 'bout a ride, mister?" Jessica smiled.

A grin spread across my face. "Yeah…"

I went over to her and kissed her again, and then we got on the bike, Jess sliding her arms around my waist as she sat comfortably behind me. I wasn't at all surprised to find the keys already in the ignition. But when I reached for them, light washed everything out again as it had before. It wasn't very long before it receded, though, and I found myself elsewhere. I heard the Hardy's engine before I saw anything. We were still sitting on the bike, riding somewhere, the wind whipping past us, and when I could see again, I realized we were on one of Midgar's main highways, speeding far away from the Shinra Building.

It was utterly empty. No other cars or trucks or bikes shared the road with us. It was as though we were the only two people in the entire city. I found that I liked that. It was our place, our time, and while I wasn't sure where we were going, I found I didn't care. As Jessica leaned closer to me, her hair flying freely behind her and her eyes peering over my shoulder, I hit the gas and we sped faster, racing down the empty road in the dead of night, a thousand stars glittering above us in a sky clear of the seemingly endless gloom that shrouded it in the waking world.

The only sounds were our own breathing, the breeze blowing past us, and the purring of the Hardy's engine. The highway lay open before us, a wide strip of gray concrete with its white dashed lines, and it curved first one way and then another as it wound through the city. I drove for what seemed like an eternity, but I never grew tired, and a part of me wished I could have stayed here with Jessica in this place forever.

Eventually, we came to a dead end at the edge of town. The road just stopped. It was unfinished here, and some construction equipment sat off to the left side past the guardrail. A flashing red light shone at theend of the highway as I brought the Hardy to a stop, and beyond the edge of the road, the barren hills of the badlands rolled away into the distance in the predawn gloom. There was no path to the ground yet, and the edge of the road just hung out over the side of the plate, like an exit ramp that hadn't been finished. Then I remembered that some parts of the highway in the waking world were, in fact, still being built.

I got off the bike, then turned around and sat backwards on it, facing Jessie. She and I shared a long, lingering kiss, not needing any words for a while. But then eventually I pulled away with a wry grin. "Looks like we took that ride after all."

"Yeah, we did, didn't we?" she laughed.

I looked at our surroundings. "What is this place?"

Jessie's expression grew serious as she answered. "It's where your real journey begins, Cloud."

"What do you mean? My journey?"

"Things are happening now that even Shinra can't see," she went on. "It's started moving. It'll awaken soon."

I blinked. "What has? What are you talking about, Jess?"

"I don't know what it is. It's just… a feeling I have. I can sense things now that I couldn't before. Maybe because I'm, well… you know."

"Dead…" I sighed.

Jess ran a hand gently along the side of my face, her brown eyes both sad and tender as they looked at me. "I have to go away now, Cloud. I've done all that I can for you."

I reached up and placed my fingers over hers. "Jessica…"

"You've got a long, hard road ahead of you. I wish I could be there to help, but I can't. Stay close to your friends, though. The ones you already have as well as the others you'll meet later. You'll need them, Cloud. But you'll also need to find yourself, too."

"I don't understand," I said. "Find myself?"

Jessie nodded. "It's just… I feel like there's more to you than even you know. But you have to find out, Cloud, sooner or later. You won't be able to save the planet if you don't."

"Jess, what's going on? Save the planet from what? Shinra?"

"I told you, it's much more than that now," she explained. "But that's all I know. I wish I could tell you more."

I wanted to understand better what Jessie meant, but I knew she had said everything she could. Whatever danger was coming, whatever it was that she was warning me about, I promised myself I would be ready for it and fight it as best I could.

I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "It's alright, Jess. Thanks."

We kissed again, our lips finding each other more fervently this time since we both knew our time together was almost over. I didn't want it to be, but I could feel myself getting heavier and my surroundings becoming less substantial, less real, and I knew it was true. But I didn't want to say goodbye. I didn't want this to end. I didn't want to wake up and find her gone. And as I realized that when this was all over I wouldn't see or hear from her again, my heart ached and I pulled away, bowing my head and holding her close. I felt like I was losing her all over again, and I hated it. I just wanted to keep her here, in this moment.

"Cloud," Jessica whispered. "I'll always be with you."

I sighed. "I know, but… it just won't be the same. There are so many places I wanted to take you."

She smiled. "You will, Cloud. In here."

Jessie put her hand over my heart, and I realized I could see through her fingers again. I put my own fingers over hers and flashed her a small, bittersweet grin in return. "I guess I can do that."

"Cloud," she murmured. "Someday, I'd like you to take this ride with someone special. You'll know who when the time comes. It doesn't matter where you are or where you go, as long as you're together. And when you do, think of me, and I'll be happy. For both of you."

"I will, Jess," I said. "I promise."

She nodded, and her voice became more urgent as she began to fade away. "You have to wake up now, Cloud. It's begun. Hurry!"

Everything began breaking up around me, swallowed in darkness as the dream began to dissipate. I looked around, my heart pounding, but I couldn't see Jessie anymore. "Jessica! Where are you?"

"I'm here with you, Cloud. Always. Now, wake up! And don't worry, we'll meet again one day. In a place with no pain or sorrow. That's where I'll be waiting. That's where you'll find me."

As I felt myself—my real self—begin to stir, Jessie said one last thing, and it lingered in my ears as I hovered there in the dark. And then… she was gone. There was nothing, only the darkness as I found myself quickly rising back to consciousness. But as I did, her last words remained, and I clung tightly to them as I woke up and the dream, our dream, faded into memory. One I've kept very close to me ever since. Along with what Jessie whispered to me at the end.

"I love you…"

The first thing I noticed was that the cell door was open.

Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I got to my feet, memories of the dream still swirling in my mind along with Jessie's last words. I swear I heard her voice in my ears when I first woke up, as if she had been here next to me just as she had been in the dream. But it was gone now, and so was she. And this time, she wasn't coming back. As much as I hated to even think it, I couldn't deny it anymore. Jessica was truly gone now. She had returned to the planet, as Aerith would have said.

Reluctantly putting my thoughts of her aside, I focused instead on the current situation. Tifa was still asleep on the cot, and from the soft breathing I heard through the air vent on the left side and Barret's loud snoring coming from the one on the right, I could tell the others hadn't woken up yet. Why was the door open? Who had opened it?

Remembering Jessie's warning, I crept slowly into the narrow hall, my eyes and ears alert. It was quiet, but not like in the dream. This was eerie, unnatural, and I didn't like it one bit. As I drew closer to the end of the corridor where it bent to the left and ran past the security office to the main hall, I spotted a crumpled body lying on the floor amidst a steadily widening pool of blood.

I hurried back to Tifa and shook her shoulder. "Tifa… wake up!"

"Hmm…?" she murmured sleepily. Then, when she finally opened her eyes and saw how tense I was, she immediately sat up, noticing the open door when she did so. "What's wrong?"

"Something's going on. Take a look outside."

Tifa hurried into the hall, and I followed her at once. As we looked at the body, I saw it was one of the guards. He hadn't been shot, I could tell that much, but other than that, I had no idea what had killed him. I wondered, too, why we hadn't heard it. As close as he was, the sound of his death should have woken us all up.

Tifa shivered. "I wonder what happened…"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. I guess he was taken by surprise."

"By what? This is kinda eerie…"

"I don't know," I sighed. But a vague suspicion began to grow in my mind nonetheless. "Anyway, he should have the key on him."

I was right. Hanging from his belt by a metal clip was a handful of plastic keycards, and it didn't take me long to find the one for the cells. I took it, went back, and unlocked Aerith's cell. "Tifa, go get Aerith. I'll help Barret and Red. Hurry!"

She went to wake Aerith while I unlocked the other cell, and when Barret stirred and saw me there, he frowned in confusion. "How'd you get in? Why's the door open?"

"Something's wrong," I told him. "Come with me."

He stood up at once and bolted out the door, Red just behind him. The panther had woken up instantly as soon as he'd heard us talking. I followed them, and after the girls joined us, we returned to the guard's body. Red paused to sniff at it, his good eye scanning for clues, while I bent down in a crouch to look at it again myself.

"Anything?" I asked.

"No human could have done this," he replied. "I'm sure of it."

Looking at the guard, I had come to the same conclusion myself. It had been brutally slashed, but not by weapons. I knew how the wounds from a blade looked, and the deep cuts on the body hadn't been caused by any sword. The edges were much too ragged. It looked more like the result of a monster attack than anything else. I didn't know what kind, though. It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before. But whatever it was, it had proven itself extremely dangerous.

Barret glanced around nervously. "The hell's goin' on?"

"I'll go on ahead," Red said.

He padded down the hall, sniffing the air, but didn't go too far. The girls glanced uneasily at each other while Barret checked behind us. He turned to me. "I'll keep watch back here for now, so you guys go ahead. An' don't get caught by Shinra!"

"Right," I agreed. "Let's check out the security office first, though. That's probably where they took our gear."

As it turned out, I was right. The guards had stowed our all of our equipment in one corner of the office. But they were dead now, too. On the floor or sagging back in their chairs with expressions of pure terror frozen upon their faces, they had all been killed in the same way as the first guard we had found, and blood was everywhere.

"Damn…" Barret muttered.

I nodded as I grabbed my swords. "Yeah. You're not kidding…"

"What the hell coulda done this?" he said, taking his ammo from a shelf and filling his gun-arm with rounds.

"I don't know," I replied, sliding Buster into its harness.

But that dark suspicion lingering in the back of my mind began to grow. I didn't know for sure if I was right, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like it was the only explanation that made sense. I didn't say anything to the others, though. There was a way to confirm what I suspected, and I didn't want to draw any conclusions until I had checked it for myself. So I kept silent while we gathered up all our gear and materia and sorted everything out.

Once we were ready, we left the security office and followed Red. I was in the middle with the girls while Barret watched the rear. Walking slowly into the main hall, we made a right and headed back inside the storage bay, our path marked by a long smear of blood on the floor that stretched back down the corridor to the body of the guard by our cells. A moment later, we stopped as we came to where we had first seen Red before we had rescued Aerith.

A much larger pool of blood lay here, and in it was sprawled Hojo's assistant, as dead as everyone else we had found so far. The transparent lift that had taken Red upstairs earlier was empty now, and Red himself stood nearby, but his eye wasn't on his former prison. As I followed his gaze, I stiffened immediately, my earlier suspicions confirmed, as Tifa let out a startled gasp and her hands flew to her mouth.

Jenova's holding tank had been torn open.

Whether it was from without or within, I couldn't tell. But the door was gone, and so was Jenova. Had that thing broken free by herself? Or had someone else helped her? I didn't know, but the thought of Jenova awake and free again after all these years sent shivers of dread running down my spine. Only one person could have possibly freed her, but he was dead, at least as far as anyone knew. Even so, that old familiar rage burned within me like a firestorm.

"It's started moving. It'll awaken soon."

Jessie's words echoed within my mind again. Now I was starting to understand. Jenova had stirred, but why now? And then I remembered the vision I'd had in Reactor 5, the sight of a younger Tifa weeping over her dead father's body in the depths of the Nibel reactor. Did what was happening now have something to do with that terrible day? I couldn't dismiss the possibility, and my unease grew.

"Jenova…" Red observed. "Looks like it went upstairs."

It seemed he was right. Beyond the ruined holding tank, the blood trail went on, curving out of sight toward the elevator. Without a word, we followed it, my grip on Hardedge's hilt tightening as we did. When we reached the lift, we rode it upstairs into the main lab, the sounds of our breathing oddly loud in the stillness.

We had barely stepped inside the room when a pack of about half a dozen vicious, four-legged creatures sprang at us, their sharp teeth and claws bared and a row of hard spikes bristling along their spines. Long, barbed tails lashed out at us, and we scattered, dodging the attacks and repositioning ourselves for the fight.

"Zenenes!" Red called out, charging at one of them, his own claws unsheathed. "Watch out for their poison!"

I sliced at another one. "More of Hojo's experiments?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I fear Jenova must have set them loose when it escaped and made its way up here."

I nodded, having guessed as much myself. While Red, Tifa, and I closed in on the monsters and laid into them with claws, fists, feet, and sword, Barret and Aerith fell back and covered us, hitting the Zenenes with blasts of ice and streams of bullets. Several of the beasts fell under our combined assault, but a few still remained.

One of them dodged aside as I cut at it, then whipped its tail at me, spewing a cloud of noxious green vapor in my direction. But like in the fight with H0512, it didn't affect me. The star pendant warmed against my skin as the venomous mist swept harmlessly around me, and while I charged through it and sliced apart the creature with a swift forehand slash, I thought of Jessica and silently thanked her again.

I spun around as another of the monsters leapt past us and swiped at Aerith, but she saw it coming and was ready. Aerith smashed it with a backhand swing of her staff just as it reached her, swatting it aside as easily as she had thrashed those bandits in the slums. Then she froze it with a burst of cold as Barret finished it off, filling it with lead and then roasting it with an eruption of fire magic.

"Don't worry about me, Cloud," Aerith said. "I've got things under control back here."

"I can see that," I smirked.

While she winked at me and went back to work with her ice spells, I turned my attention to the last few enemies. Tifa laid into one with a string of savage punches and kicks that sent it flying across the room, a stream of Aerith's blizzard magic smacking it down as it tried to get up. Red and I converged on another one, claws and sword a blur as we cut it down. His talons tore out its throat while Hardedge sliced a deep line across its belly. Barret took out the third Zenene with a fiery blast from his assault gun just like the one he had used to destroy that monstrous metal scorpion way back in Reactor 1.

When it was all over, we hurried to the far end of the lab where the blood trail entered another hallway. With Red in the lead again and the others behind me, we hurried down the passageway and found another escalator room. Blood went up one of the moving staircases, which had stalled at some point and were no longer actually moving. We hurried upstairs to the 69th floor, where the blood continued out the doorway of the room we were in and went into a small hallway that encircled it. The trail turned to the right, and we followed it past another doorway to a third one that stood opposite the escalator room's back wall. It was unlocked, and we moved through it into a wider area with two curving desks, one on either side of the doorway.

At the other end of the room, a pair of wide staircases covered with purple carpet turned back towards us and rose up to the 70th floor and President Shinra's office. The blood trail led to the one on the right. We crossed the room, passing a few more tormented bodies of guards and Shinra employees, and slowly climbed the steps, our weapons ready as we continued our ascent. Although I had a fairly good idea of what we were going to see when we got there, I still wasn't prepared for it when we finally returned to the spacious office we had been brought to only a few hours earlier. I stared with the others in shock at the sight before us, hardly able to believe it.

President Shinra was dead.