They got off at the last stop on the Amtrack line, a small station town called Kalm. Bewildered and weary, they found themselves at a biker bar seeking familiarity and space to think.

Barret and Cloud gripped mugs of lager, staring at the countertop in thought.

"Well shieeeeeet. AVALANCHE gone. SOLDIER gone. Why they kill them all though?"

"Code: Zero Dark," Cloud replied to nowhere. "Someone is following old directives. That's the last op code that was given after Nibelheim."

"How do you know?" asked Tifa.

"Because Sephiroth is following it."

"What's it mean?"

"Well, no one really knew. But when it was issued, everyone died."

"If he killin' SOLDIER's he bound to come afta you then. Maybe got something to do wit that tattoo you got there."

"The Fal'Cie," came Aerith's haunting monotone as she sat illusive with a glass of water. "He is tied to the Lifestream, as they are. What they sense, he will sense, and he will come."

"How? How does he know?"

"He is no longer of this plane. Neither living nor dead, his consciousness is tied to the realm."

"But why is he even following old orders to kill you, Cloud? What's he got against you?"

"I think I know why…JENOVA…" A shiver ran up the collective spines of every one of his party members. "…I saw her in the data archive. She's a creature Shinra was using to try to clone Cetra—Ancient Ones."

"Uhhhh…"

Aerith chimed in.

"The hierophant race existed before humans, as the caretakers of the world. But for many generations, we were hunted to the brink of annihilation. Now, only one remains…"

Everyone gazed at Aerith, who studied the reflections of the water in her glass, while Cloud drew imaginary lines in the counter with a toothpick.

"Shinra wants Cetra to extract Mako for them with their magic, and Sephiroth is killing them before they can. I don't know exactly what Jenova has to do with this, but it had his name all over it…and mine."

"Well, what now? We're sittin here in this bar talkin. But what we gonna do?"

"I know what I'm going to do, kill Jenova…"

This time the shiver was a forced aura that wreathed a veil of dread over the companions. Cloud asked for a pen and began to draw lines on a napkin.

"…I read in the data room that her body is scattered in different locations, powering the reactors there. If I destroy her, there'll be no more reason to follow me."

"If you destroy the reactors, what about the people that depend on them?"

"I'm not going to die for their TV and videogames. Anyone who wants out, stay here, he might let you live."

Cloud stood up and strode from the bar.

The day faded into dusk as the party meandered off by themselves. Everyone took their own time to think, to digest what had happened. Tifa climbed a small rise to stare out over the wilderness before them. Cloud found her like that, startling her.

"Do you want to be alone?" he asked. She shook her head.

He stood beside her with hands in his pockets, a solemn rouse emanating from his dark being.

"Nibelheim is coming back to haunt us. I didn't mean to press you back in the church, but I would like to know. If you can find it in your heart to tell me on your own time, I'd really appreciate it."

She shifted, catching him sidelong. A war waged in his tired eyes that he fought to hold at bay. The storm was his own, but solace was hers to give. He saw her bite her lip, wanting to say something. Her voiceless stammer turned him to face her, but her eyes flew to his in a desperate plea.

"It's just…so much has gone down. The Don and then Wedge…"

"It was him or you, I chose you." He took her by the shoulders with soft hands. "This is probably why we've been fighting. SeeD's do this. They plant themselves like weeds and sabotage. I should have known, and…I'm sorry."

Her eyes met his, and the war was theirs.

Aerith caught a glimpse of them from around the backside of the bar, where she'd ducked out to have a smoke. Barret found her as well, and shook his head when he saw what she'd been staring at.

"Ain't no thing, girl. They been goin' back and forth like this for a long time now."

"They care for each other. Why are they not together?"

"Ehh…mah man's got problems. Cloud showed up about a year ago, in a bum camp callin' her name. We went to get him, and he didn't know who he was. Didn't know who she was, but she says she knows him. He's been hangin around ever since."

"There is more to this story that may reveal itself in due course."

Barret studied the white mage with a hard, wary expression.

"…He ain't a nice boy, Miss. Ain't even nice to be friends wit. You seem like a real class act. I was you, I'd keep him at the length of that sword'a his."

"That sword…indeed."

She flicked the ash from her thin clove, while Barret shook his head and strode off.

"Can't say I didn't warn ya."

The sun settled on the lip of land over the trees, casting fulminating shadows like smoke on the dry-packed ground. When the golden peak descended beyond view is when Yulan burst through the treeline atop her red dog mount.

"SOLDIER! The chaos!" she yelled at Cloud, who shot his gaze out beyond the forest. A pallor of black mist, surreal and unnatural, pooled in a gaseous wave that swept toward the town. His blood shot ice needles to his eyes.

"We need to run."

He grabbed Tifa by the hand and ran back toward the bar. Aerith and Barret didn't need to ask when they saw them running like their lives were at stake. They flew out front and hopped on motorcycles that were parked in a long line, Aerith behind Cloud and Tifa behind Barret. Biker's always left their keys in the ignition incase one of their own was in trouble and needed to flee in a scramble. But the army of mad leather-brawlers who stormed out after them made Cloud think he would have to outrun some drag-racers.

The bikers would no sooner get their chance to run as Cloud and his party sped away down the lone road out of town. As the black mist descended upon Kalm, shadow monsters leapt from the darkness to feed. They rode far and fast from screams falling into the distance.

.

[Received Desert Rose]