That next gas station was 180 miles away, and Cloud's bike only made it 156 of those. Cloud pushed the bike like an idiot for half a mile while Baret rode to town to grab a tow from a really gracious guy with a pickup truck that he'd found on the Biker Rescue Facebook page.
Filling the G-Bike up with 91 octane, Cloud studied a map that Tifa bought him in the station.
"Well?"
"I'm thinking," he said. Midgar might as well have been half a world away now, and they were traipsing around the country running from a madman, but where to? They needed answers that weren't locked behind passcodes and security clearances.
"Where would you keep your family secrets if you had secrets to keep? Like a family curse," asked Cloud to everyone and no one in particular. Everyone was quiet for a moment.
"My grammy's house," said Barret. Everyone looked at him. "What? Who else give a dang about stuff no one care bout?"
"What if your family is dead? What if you were an important family who had stuff to hide in case members died? Stuff you didn't want anyone to know even after death?"
"…I'd bury it with them," said Tifa.
"Exactly. We're going to the Shinra Crypt."
Cloud circled a dot on the map. Everyone knew where the Shinra Crypt was. It was a museum known as Hearst Castle.
They rode there in the morning and parked the bikes in the tourist lot, then took a tram up through the grounds to the mansion. The tour-guide pointed out landmarks in lush greenery, acres upon acres of vast forest and rolling hills. A pasture apparently held zebras and elephants at one time. That's where they let Aerith's chocobo graze.
Through an ornate palace dotted with statue gardens and wading pools flecked in gold and jewels, Cloud and party followed the tour shuffling their feet anxious. They walked through the lavish main hall and the overstocked library until they came to a massive door carved in bas reliefs of the Shinra family line.
"This leads down to the catacombs, where the Shinra family spans back generations. Our tour does not extend here, but if you'll follow me to the music hall…"
Cloud walked slower, and everyone eventually fell back, losing the tour group in the hallway. They rushed back to the door and pushed it open gently. The monumental metal squeals made them wince but they slipped through.
Down marble steps lit by alchemical glow lamps they descended down into the foundations of the castle.
"How will you get in?" asked Tifa.
"I'm important. My name was all over the Shinra family files. It'll recognize me."
At the bottom, a monumental wall shaped like an infernal colossus stood before them, housing a microcell of crystal. Cloud approached, and the crystal shot spectral rays of soft light to scan him.
"Cloud Strife, SOLDIER 1st Class," the crystal spoke in a soft voice. Cloud swallowed a lump in his throat, ready for anything. The crystal scanned him for a long time.
"…You are not the chosen one."
The light retracted, the colossus locked tight, sealing them out of the crypt. Cloud choked.
"Whuh…whuh?"
"What happened, Cloud?"
"I don't know?"
He banged on the wall, but it was sealed tight. Another dead end.
"Well, at least there's a reactor here."
"Go figure the Shinra family'd have its own power source. Greedy bastards," cursed Baret.
They gathered their wits and left the mansion. They hiked up the hill to the reactor site to find pipelines scorched. Something was up. When they reached the facility, the door was completely blown off and smoke steamed from its fusion lines. Inside, they found the place trashed. Thrash lines were ripped across metal casing and panels were strewn everywhere, sword gashes decorated the interior. What happened here?
They approached the Chrysalis chamber, and entered to find it empty. The Crystal had been destroyed, and Jenova was nowhere to be found, already dispatched down into the Mako.
Cloud approached Jenova's pillar, where the pod had been shattered and suspension tubes sliced. Upon the mantle was something surprising, a bouquet of flowers. Cloud went to it.
"Look at this." A message had been scratched into the metal next to the flowers. Everyone gathered to read.
Forget me not.
Aerith saw the scrawling words, and threw her hands over her face. She ran from the reactor crying.
"What's going on here?" asked Tifa.
"Someone else is killing Crystals," replied Cloud. "Someone who knows her."
[Received Silver Necklace]