Final Fantasy VII: Beyond Apocalypse
Volume 3: Opposing Powers


PREFACE

Excerpt from "The Book of the Ancients":

...there is a power, a power so great that it cannot be destroyed by means of magic or machine, it cannot be held back, and it can attack without a single warning. In the day this power attacks Cetra, little, if anything, of you will be left. But Cetra speaks clearly on this matter, and you will not be destroyed by it, though badly wounded. There will be one who can reverse the wounds done to Cetra by this power, but only if this one is taken to where he or she can understand the power. Know that this savior is coming by three signs: The first shall be the dying of Cetra. When Cetra begins to fade from your ears, and does not provide for you anymore, so that you must leave and go to a different world, that is the first sign the one is coming. When a great and powerful plague hits your new home and all but destroys you, that will be the second sign. And the third sign will be that your culture, your very existance is lost among the people of another world. So is the fate of the Cetra, but not to eternity.
Know that you must be prepared to ensure your own fate. On the new world which you travel to, you must store your memories, your very thoughts, away in a great magical nexus that only one of your kind can understand.
[The prophet Dargan who wrote the words of Cetra as she died began to speak in giberish, and the next paragraph of the Book of the Ancients is known as "Dargan's Rave". It was studied extensively, but no sense could be made of it.]

This passage has been studied by scholars because of one mysterious line: "In the day this power attacks Cetra, little, if anything, of you will be left. But Cetra speaks clearly on this matter, and you will not be destroyed by it, though badly wounded."
This passage makes no sense. Though the entire excerpt is no doubt speaking to the Cetra, it also reffers to the Cetra as an object. No sense has been made of this mystery. The Cetra are spoken of as though they are a great life form, but also as though this life form is separate from themselves. Let us continue with yet another mysterious excerpt.


Furthur Excerpt from the "Book of the Ancients":

[Please note that the paragraph before this excerpt was about the signifigance of eagles in Cetran mythology and had nothing to do with what is presented here- the excerpt is completely out of place.]
The Consumption feeds upon an individual in a two-pronged attack. First it will consume them without being noticed. This it the easiest way for it to destroy a victim. But, when this method fails, which it easily can because in order to remain unnoticed it must remain weak, it will go into hybernation for a period of anywhere from five to ten years and then strike again, evoking horrifying and no. Oh, but the plague, the plague! Let there be no more killing, oh dark one, you who would tear apart the sanity of the world to live in sick comfort. Let the accursed tiny demons be done away with, oh saviors, oh great trinity that will become the light of the universe and flush the evil out to restore a balance between the dark and the light. And you, oh great protector, be strong! Know that your destiny is not truly one of darkness! There awaits you the comfort for your anguish in the home of your ancestors. Go there and understand that you are the most valued of us all, the one who will lead us to our rebirth.
Then, when the Consumption has completely taken over its victim, it will drive him to utter madness and destroy him. But the cure for the Consumption will always be the same, it must only be fully realised.
And the shade of the unholy one will interfere! If the cure cannot reach the victim, there will be endless darkness, for the great trinity will not be able to set order to the universe. The cursed shade will be a dark abomination that should not exist and shall be against the eternal laws, but must so is the way of the darkness. And know that in order to compensate for the lawlessness of the darkness, the protector will sacrifice everything. But know that in the end, all the sacrifice that leads to victory for the light is repayed, but sacrifice that leads to victory for the dark is made worse.

The prophet Dargan then returns to the subject of eagles. This excerpt is another of the most puzzling elements of the Book of the Ancients, especially when he says "terrifying and no" and then lapses into meaningless rambling.



THE CHOCOBO FARM

All of the members of AVALANCHE wore grim, serious expressions on their faces as they gathered in the livingroom of the chocobo farm. Barret sat and stroked his beard, staring thoughtfully into the table; Cid sat and somehow managed to look troubled as well as sleepy; Reeve stood and stared out the window; Reno and Rude sat on the couch idly twiddling their thumbs; Yuffie shifted nervously where she sat; Hanshi sat with his arms folded and an angry, but somehow calm as well, expression on his face; Elena paced back and forth nervously, and Tifa sat on the sofa close to tears.
One question ran through the minds of every person there: Had Cloud gone insane again? Cloud was one of the least likely people they knew to just run off without warning, especially in the middle of the night.
Of all of them, Tifa and Elena seemed the most nervous. Barret was the only one who completely understood why those two. Tifa had been friends with Cloud since they were children, and Elena had fallen in love with him over the course of their trip to the coast. He didn't have to wait long to realize he was partly wrong.
"Don't leave me, Cloud," Elena whispered, finally stopping to look out the window. Even though it was a whisper, it was a scream in the silence and seriousness of the room.
"Shut up," Tifa snapped at her. "You haven't known Cloud half as long as the rest of us. He's not leaving you."
That was all it took- Elena's eyes suddenly widened with a firey rage. "How the hell would you know who he's leaving?! Cloud and I are close!"
Tifa stood up quickly now. "You honestly think that you're close to Cloud after having known him for maybe a week now? Compared the rest of us, who went through the adventure of a lifetime together, who helped him in his darkest time, who helped him find who he is?! How dare you!"
"You weren't there!" Elena shouted back, stepping forward. Tifa stepped forward to meet her.
"Calm down, girls!" Barret suddenly broke in. "That ain't gonna help find Cloud!"
"Stay out of it, Barret," Elena snapped.
"Don't talk to my friend that way!" Tifa screamed in her face.
"Get out of my face!"
"Make me!"
Elena threw a good punch at Tifa, who promptly caught it, flipped Elena around twice, and left her sprawled out on her back. Elena jumped up again and trew a kick at Tifa's head, but Tifa grabbed it as well, twisted it, and spun Elena around sideways, landing her painfully on her frontside this time.
"Done now?"
"Where did you learn that?" Elena asked as she got up, stretching out her back.
"None of your business. Now back off."
Elena looked Tifa right in the face. "You don't know what Cloud and I have. It's something special."
Tifa met her gaze with an icy cool stare. "What? You think he's in love with you or something?"
"No," Elena shook her head. "But I'm in love with him."
"What?!"
"You heard me!" Elena shouted. "Should I make it an announcement?! I'M IN LOVE WITH CLOUD!!"
"Oh goddamit Elena, ya don't even know the bastard," Reno suddenly shouted, flinging his arms in the air and storming out of the room.
Tifa looked at Elena for a moment, her eyes like icicles. "You honestly think that after I spent years getting to know Cloud, spent time with him, helped him, saved his life, shared countless conversations with him, spent countless nights with him, and all the while held my feelings back because of that damn Ancient, you have a right to fall in love with Cloud, after I've tried to silently show him that I'm in love with him for more than five years?" The icicles were melting and running down her cheeks now.
Elena was a little taken aback by that. She had said "that damn Ancient". Was that the release of a bottled up anger at someone who everyone had always assumed to be her friend, that she'd been containing for all this time?
"I... I never..."
"Of course not," Tifa snapped. She turned to the window Elena had been looking out before. "But it doesn't matter. You'll get used to it. You'll get used to day after day, yearning to tell him, and not doing it because he can't get over the girl who he was in love with, the girl who was meant to be with him. Who was 'perfect' for him."
Reeve flinched a little at that line.
"You'll learn what it's like," Tifa continued, turning away, tears now flowing freely. "When he calls out the name of that damn Ancient in his sleep every now and then, while you're right in the next room over from his, and can hear him yelling, yelling her name over and over again. You'll wish he'd just forget that name. You'll wish he'd never say it again. That name-"
Just then, the door came flying open, and Cloud came running in, the look on his face wild with exuberation.
"Look, everyone!" he yelled. They had already looked. They had already been astonished. They saw who was with him.
"I found Aeris!" he finished.
Tifa and Elena's jaws dropped.

Supreme General Keer Ashroth smiled wickedly as he saw a swarm of giant hornets approaching him. They roared in the air, moving at very high speeds, and he knew that these would be a key ingredient in the mix of actions to take that would make Shinra controller of the world. He knew that strange things were brewing, and that they would probably affect his long-term plans in the future, but for now, he would simply go about his business as best he could without knowing everything he wanted to. It would all come in time, he was sure.
The hornets landed on a great landing field that had been set up next to Mideel- it was about the size of three airports, and it needed to be for this many airships. Ashroth wondered to himself for the millionth time that day why President Shinra and Rufus never bothered to use the Secret Fleet unless it was an absolute emergency. Pulling them out into the open and making use of them seemed much more prudent to Ashroth- on the other hand, the other two had controlled Shinra at the height of its glory, while Ashroth was several billion gil in debt- despite that he'd had over half his debtors killed.
Soon, he would use the Secret Fleet to speed along the construction of Midgar 2. With these as a resource, things would move much faster and cheaper. And once Midgar 2 was developed, Ashroth would be too powerful to worry about who he owed money to. No one would be able to stand before him- because unlike those foolish leaders before him, he was truly ambitious. He would take this Planet and milk it for all it was worth- all the pain and all the suffering he could ever wish to cause would be right at his finger tips. It would be the ultimate satisfaction.
General Argad quickly came to meet him after the fleet touched down.
"Sir," Argad reported with a quick salute, "Mission acomplished."
"Excellent work, General," Ashroth smiled. "I think I'll raise your salary a bit. Go relax for a while."
"Thank you, sir," said the General, who was even happier about being on Ashroth's good side than getting a raise and the day off.
Ashroth sat down and treated himself to a cigar. Things were going rather smoothly. AVALANCHE hadn't caused him trouble in ages- maybe the losers were finally giving up- maybe they'd even been killed by that Sephiroth look-alike- and the reconstruction of the fleet at Junon was going smoothly. The only real bummer was that things were not going smoothly in Wu Tai. Ashroth knew that at this point, it would be more prudent to pull out- he was spending more than was wise on this, in way of both money and men- but he knew that the tables would soon be turned. He had a deal, and assuming his business partner kept his end of the bargain, he ought to have Wu Tai under control very soon. He blew a few smoke rings, then got up and headed for his tent. His blade was calling to him.

Everyone was crowding around Cloud and Aeris, yelling greetings and their various amazed exclamations.
"Thought you were gone forever, girl!" said Barret.
"I can't believe it's really you!" said Yuffie.
"Whoa, it's the Ancient," said Rude.
"This is an amazing miracle," said Red XIII.
Vincent nodded at Aeris and Cloud from where he sat.
"Welcome back," said Reeve, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I'm gonna take you for a ride in the Highwind," Cid beamed.
"I dunno who the hell she is, but she sure it hot," said Hanshi.
Everyone cracked up at that one- everyone except two of them.
"What do I do?" Elena whispered quietly to Tifa.
"Just watch the master," Tifa sighed.
She was the last to approach Aeris.
"I can't believe you're back," she said with a smile. "We've got a lot of catching up to do."
The warmth of her greeting was real, there could be no mistaking it. So Tifa and Aeris were friends- but Elena knew that part of Tifa resented Aeris being here. Elena resented it wholeheartedly- she had never known Aeris personally, and thus had no qualms about leaving her for dead. The others, unfortunately, were thrilled.
Elena approached Aeris. "Hey," she said. "I guess we weren't on friendly terms last time we met, but we are now. You don't mind, do you?"
Aeris smiled. "Of course not," she said. "I'm glad we're on good terms now."
"Come on, we're gonna party!" yelled Cloud. "We can do explaining later. Tifa, wanna mix up some drinks?!"
"Sure," Tifa said cheerily, and went to the liquor cabinet.
"Paaaaartaaaaaaay!!" Hanshi yelled, and slammed some music into the stereo. Everyone knew then and there that parties would be when Hanshi was most dangerous.

The party was a thrill for everybody- even Tifa and Elena managed to forget themselves, at least when Cloud and Aeris weren't sitting in the corner talking by themselves. That was when the two of them would get somber, and Barret would go and tell them to get up and join the party because he understood- or Red XIII would do it, because he was intelligent enough to see just from Tifa's and Elena's reactions that it hurt them. Cloud was becoming too popular for his own good.
At about two in the morning, everyone finally decided to pack it in. Tifa was definately ready to do that. She'd had quite a day.
But sleep wouldn't come. Too much was on her mind. Tommarow, Aeris would probably tell the story of what had happened to her between the time she died and now- what could possibly have happened? Had she escaped from the Lifestream? Had she been sent back to complete some unfulfilled destiny? Maybe this wasn't even Aeris at all. Maybe it was an Aeris clone, sent to dupe them into some kind of trap. Tifa shook that thought from her head. It was only there out of jealousy.
Tifa walked out onto the balcony to stare at the stars. She remembered when she used to sit out here with Cloud- he'd probably sit here with Aeris now. She shook her head again, trying to chase the jealousy away. It wasn't that she wasn't happy to see her old friend again- but part of her was sad, sad because she'd felt closer to Cloud with Aeris out of the picture, and that was going to be taken away from her. She wondered if anyone would tell Cloud that she and Elena had both declared their love for him just before he came barging into the room with Aeris. She hoped not- it would only complicate things if he were sorry for her.
"So is this what it's always like?" asked a familiar voice from behind her.
"No," Tifa said quickly, and she meant it. "It's just that the shock hasn't worn off yet. I'm as glad that Aeris is back as anyone else- I just can't show it, because I have this stupid jealousy hanging onto me."
"I never would have guessed you-" Elena started, not knowing how to say it.
Tifa smiled. "I know," she said. "I hid it because I knew he loved Aeris- and even after she was gone, I still hid it, because I knew he still loved her then. But only for a while... after a while...you see it just isn't... I know... nevermind. I can't really talk about this."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"So we're just going to keep it bottled up forever then?"
Tifa smiled. "You do what you like. As for me, I'm going to keep it bottled up until some new prince charming comes along and makes me forget all about Cloud. I can't wait for that day."
"Have you ever dropped him hints?" Elena asked through curiosity.
"Heh," Tifa forced a laugh, "Have I tried dropping hints? I did it without trying to. If I'd been able to make myself not drop hints, I would have. Men are extremely dense, though. It's the sad reality of the world."
"Aren't they?" Elena agreed with a laugh. "They're always doing stupid things."
"And acting like women have no right to be mad at them for it," Tifa grinned.
"And then they get all squirmy," Elena continued, thinking back to Reno and Rude.
"And they start getting all depressed and give up on life," Tifa kept it going, thinking back to Cloud.
They both laughed their way through their conversations for a few more hours, then finally decided to go to sleep, made into the best of friends from the worst of enemies in one evening.

ONE MONTH LATER

The Highwind blazed over the small ocean that separated the Eastern and North continents, its new jet engines propelling it faster than the speed of sound through the crisp, steadily chilling air of the northern regions. While it was far from freezing up here, they were getting into a slightly cold climate. Fortunately, no one would have to freeze, as their target was just within reach.
The Highwind set itself down right at the entrance to the Forgotten Capital, but first it unloaded the many trucks of supplies and workers it was carrying right into the long-destroyed city.
The trucks headed towards the center of the town, and the members of AVALANCHE, protectors of the Planet, followed them. They were a whopping 16 now- The original members, Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, Barret, Vincent, Red, Reeve, Yuffie, and Cid were now joined by the Taian wacko Hanshi, the former Turks, Elena, Rude, and Reno, and the three "Shiniji", Devonan, Keveki, and Kicharin- very quiet allies who rarely spoke but hovered slightly above the various members of AVALANCHE and enhanced the abilities of their spells when requested. In the past month, the team had stopped a total of 7 Shinra convoys carrying supplies for the construction of Midgar 2. Unfortunately, their exploits had been stopped when a surprise fleet of airships took over the duties of carrying supplies to Midgar 2, and concequently, the city was almost done now. In fact, it wouldn't be long before they figured AVALANCHE would have to stard recruiting new members to battle against Shinra, as the company's new supply of Mako would undoubtedly make them very powerful very soon.
And that was the reason for this excursion.
"This is my dream come true," Barret said in awe as he watched the construction start, standing on a high rock with the rest of his team. "A real HQ for AVALANCHE- no more hiding."
"What, my bar wasn't good enough for you?" Tifa teased.
Barret grinned.
"Put up an arcade, Berry," Hanshi suggested.
"Hey, good idea," said Rude. Reno did not join in with him. Though not as angry as he used to be, Reno was never in a very good mood; he did what must be done and contributed to the newly formed team, but he was always so mellow now. Rude seemed to be a little hurt, too. But all in all, the team worked well together; the missions they'd gone on had brought them closer, and despite some of their inward quarrels, they were getting along very well.
"You know," Reeve mused, "I'm sort of getting a fantastic idea for what this could turn into."
"What?" asked Barret.
"An amusement park!!" shouted Hanshi.
"No," Reeve chuckled. Even Reeve's serious and mature sense of humor was sometimes tickled by Hanshi's insanity. "A city. One that could fight Midgar 2."
"Without the incredible Mako resources they have, I don't think such a thing is possible," Vincent objected.
"Don't worry, my people have been working on alternate power sources for years now. They're on the verge of a major breakthrough."
Reeve would never explain who his "people" were, so no one ever asked anymore.
"I just want it to be homy," Aeris said. "I miss living in a real house."
Tifa nodded. "I know what you mean," she agreed. "I want a place that feels like home. Maybe a bar."
"What, you want slums?" Hanshi asked. "There'll be plenty of those in Midgar 2, go move there."
"Yuck," Tifa made a face.
"So what happens after we're done building this thing?" Yuffie asked eagerly. Though she was maturing- it was only 3 months until she'd be eighteen- Yuffie still had a lot of immature characteristics to her, including her retained desire to slip things that weren't hers into her pocket, but no one minded, as this was the Yuffie they'd grown to know and love.
"We attack the Midgar 2 construction area before they have a chance to finish," Cloud declared.
"I wish we could just make peace with them instead," Aeris pouted. "I hate fighting."
"Tell me about it," Cloud smiled.

That night, they'd all set up their tents and moved in. Cloud and Aeris stayed outside for a while though and talked.
"Do you remember anything yet?" he asked.
"No," Aeris shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid not. It's all just a big green blurr- and the next thing I knew, I was lying in that room with you in front of me. It was a nice way to wake up, though." She grinned at him. He smiled back.
"I'm so glad you're back," he said, looking deep into her eyes.
"I'm just glad I can be with you again," she replied, looking back.
"Yo, get yerselves a tent!" Hanshi shouted from behind them. They looked back to see his head sticking out from under the bottom of his tent. It was pretty funny looking, since what they saw looked sort of like a decapitated head sitting on the ground outside a tent yelling sarcastic remarks at them. "Did you know that for some reason Aeris can wear pink with red and it doesn't clash?" he continued.
The two of them laughed. "Oh, get outa here Hanshi," Cloud scolded between bursts, and lightly tossed a rock in the head's general direction.
"Well, fine, if you don't want the pleasure of my company, I'll rudely interupt someone else," Hanshi said, feigning deep hurt.
Aeris and Cloud looked back to eachother.
"So what's going to happen with us?" Aeris asked quietly.
"We'll figure it out when this is all over," he assured her. "Better get some sleep."
She nodded, and they retired to their respective tents.
Cloud fell asleep quickly. That night was to mark the first of a very, very long string of ill-spent nights dreaming terrifying and completely aimless nightmares.
It was Aeris. She was floating in front of him... he was in the Lifestream. He couldn't breath. He struggled to swim upward, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not move from the spot where he floated.
"I'm not holding you," Aeris told him. "I'm not holding you."
"Of course you're not!" he said.
"I'm not holding you," she told him again.
"I know that!"
"I'm not the one who'se holding you," she repeated.
"I know you're not! Who is?!"
"I'm not holding you," she repeated.
Cloud felt his lungs fill. He tried to speak again, but couldn't. He still couln't move.
"Sepheros is holding you," said Aeris. "I'm not holding you. I'm not holding you. I'm not holding you. I'm not-"
Aeris's sentence was cut off as she vanished, and so did the Lifestream. Cloud still floated, he still couldn't move, he still couldn't breath, but this time, it felt like something was grasping him, choking the life out of him. He was in utter blackness. But most horrifying of all was that Sephiroth's face, giant and terrifying, was hovering in front of him, an angry look on his eyes.
Cloud woke up in a cold sweat. It was only a dream, but if felt more real than any dream he'd ever had.

"And the latest in Wu Tai is somewhat of a shocker- the nation has all but obliterated the Shinra presence on their continent, but it appears that a new force had risen up in the west all of a sudden."
Cloud stirred groggily, unpleasantly awakened from his fitful sleep.
"Last night a strange group of Tain warriors attacked the city, causing severe damage and quite a few casualties. It is suspected that this attack was made by the long rumored to exist "Meteo Cult", a Tain group of fanatic renegades whose long term goals remain a mystery. No one is sure how the Meteo Cult was started or by whom, but Wu Tai is certainly looking into the matter. There are also rumors that the Meteo Cult has some form of association with Shinra."
Cloud walked grumpily out of his tent. The others were crowded around a portable radio, listening to it with worried expressions on their faces. Yuffie, especially, looked rather upset.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Hey, look who finally decided to show up," Elena smirked at him.
"That's got to be the latest you've ever slept in," Aeris remarked. "What took you so long?"
"Nothing," said Cloud. "What's the deal with the radio? Trouble in Wu Tai? I didn't catch all of it."
"Damn cult," Yuffie grumbled. "They were rumored to exist for ages. Apparently, they're trying to get Meteo, a legendary magic that's supposedly at least as powerful as Ultima."
"That doesn't sound good," Tifa murmered. "Where does this information come from?"
"Taian rumors are the most untracable things in the world," Hanshi said nonchalantly before Yuffie had a chance to respond.
"Are you going to go to Wu Tai to try and help?" asked Cloud, knowing Yuffie too well.
"No," Yuffie shook her head. "First Shinra. Then I'll go."
Cloud nodded.
"Who the hell is that dude?" Hanshi suddenly broke in, pointing at a distant figure running towards them. Everybody looked.
"Who knows?" said Cloud.
"I'll go meet him," Red offered, and ran forward. Red was far swifter than any of the others, so it made sense for him to go.
They watched as Red met the figure over the debris of rotting vegetation that littered the area of the Forgotten Capital, and soon, the two of them had turned toward the companions.
When he was close enough, they saw that the man wore a jet black samurai helmet, carried a large blade across his back, and wore light but strong armor over a blue Taian robe. He was definately Taian.
"Allow me to introduce Sir Kura Tiretsu," Red announced when they had reached the camp site. "He came here all the way from Wu Tai- apparently with some interesting information for us."
"So spit it out, man," Barret grumbled. Barret was not a morning person.
Kura walked right past him to Cloud. "You are Cloud Strife, I assume? I was told he was the one with the hair like a frightened chocobo."
Someday I ought to bleach my hair, Cloud thought to himself. "Yeah," he said, "That's me. Who sent you?"
"She did," Kura said, pointing at Aeris.
"What?!"
"I've never seen him before," Aeris shrugged. "Are you sure it was me?"
"Unmistakably so, mistress," Kura nodded to her. "You were even wearing the same outfit you are now. You spoke to me in a vision, and instructed me to follow a scent you would provide- then I should speak to Cloud Strife, the one with the hair like a frightened chocobo. That is all."
"I see," Cloud murmured. That was very strange- he wasn't the only one having wierd visions of Aeris saying odd stuff. It was almost like there were two Aerises, one still in the LifeStream saying gibberish to people, and one who had come back to physical life. "She didn't tell you what to do when you found us?"
"No," Kura shook his head. "But she did leave me this." He pulled the blade from off his back. It was long and sleek, and the hilt had a strange, small indentation in it. The design around the indentation caught Cloud's eye.
"Huh?" he said in surprise. "What's this indentation?"
"I do not know," said Kura.
"It looks like a Materia slot, but it's in the wrong place. But there's something just like that on the Ultima Weapon, with the same design."
Cloud unsheathed his blade, looked at the odd little indentation. "Does this blade of yours have a name?" he asked.
"She said it was called the Meteo Weapon," Kura said.
"Interesting," Cloud mused. He removed his Ultima Materia from the normal Materia slot on his blade and placed it in the strange one. Green sparks flew as it entered, and when Cloud tried to pull it out again, it was stuck- fuzed with the Ultima Weapon.
"Now that's just wierd," Cid commented. "Whatarwe gonna do with this guy?"
"I think he better come along with us," Cloud muttered. "Better introduce him to the team. Then I need to have a word with him."
He turned to Kura again. "Alright," he began, "You've already met Red-"
"He introduced himself as Nanaki."
"Oh?" Cloud looked questioningly at Red.
"He seems to be too serious for the strange nickname Hojo gave me," Red shrugged.
"Allright," said Cloud, "Most of us called him Red XIII, or Red for short, but yes, his real name is Nanaki. That's Tifa Lockhart- she's been with AVALANCHE from the beginning."
"Hey," said Tifa.
"Where?" asked Kura.
"What?"
"I don't understand. Why do you speak of hay?"
"Boy," muttered Reno, "This guy must have been living under a rock for the past, what, maybe 200 years?"
"It's a greeting," Tifa laughed.
"Strange," murmered Kura. "Nice to meet you, Miss Lockhart. It is Miss, yes?"
Tifa nodded. "Call me Tifa, though," she shrugged.
"This is Aeris Gainsborough," Cloud continued.
"Hello," Aeris smiled.
"That's Barret-"
"Stay outa my way," Barret grumbled.
"Yes, stay out of his way. He's incredibly scary. That's Yuffie Kisaragi-"
Kura fell to his feet immediately. "Princess!" he exclaimed. "Excuse me for now bowing sooner!"
"Get up before I kick you up," Yuffie laughed. "Believe me, Cloud is more of a princess than I am."
"Hey," said Cloud.
"What is your obsession with hay, you strange people?" Kura asked in bafflement. Everyone cracked up.
"Nevermind," said Cloud. "Okay, this is the other Taian of our group, Hanshi."
"Wazzup mah homie," said Hanshi.
"He does not speak our language?" Kura asked in surprise. More laughter.
"No, he's just using stupid slang," Cloud informed the confused warrior. "This is Vincent Valentine, an ex-Turk. He's not very talkative, as you can see."
Vincnet was sitting high on a mound of dirt, his back turned to everything.
"He is insulting me!" Kura exclaimed. "He refuses to greet me! It is a challenge!"
Kura unsheathed the huge sword that had been strapped across his back.
"Uh, be careful with that-" Cloud cautioned.
But Vincent had already turned around. "I mean no dishonor," he said quietly. "I'm just not good with formalities."
Kura reluctantly sheathed his sword again.
"Anyway," said Cloud, clearing his throat nervously, "To continue... this is Cid Highwind, the best pilot in the world."
"Yer too kind, Cloud," Cid grinned. "Nice ta meet ya, what was it, Curl?"
"Kura," said Kura.
"Oh, right. Nice ta meet ya, Kura."
"This is Elena, Reno, and Rude, also former Turks, although they quit more recently."
"Hi," said Rude.
"Yo," said Reno.
"Hello," said Elena.
Kura nodded to them.
"And, last but not least, this is Reeve, a good friend of ours. He has an alias named Cait Sith who you might come into contact with."
"Hi," Reeve greeted Kura warmly, extending his hand for a shake. Kura looked at the hand, then immitated the gesture, putting his hand out in front of Reeve. Reeve shrugged and took Kura's hand in his, then shook vigorously. "It's called a hanshake," he said. "We use it to greet eachother."
"You mean AVALANCHE?" Kura asked, not really understanding.
"No... a lot of people," said Reeve.
"And I guess you already know me," Cloud changed the subject. "So I guess you'll be with us for a while now, huh?"
"Yes," Kura nodded. "But I must warn you. I come from a cult called the Meteo Cult, and-"
Yuffie and Hanshi had both leapt to their feet as soon as they heard the word "cult". Hanshi had aimed his gatling gun at the fellow, and Yuffie was ready to hurl the Conformer. Kura, likewise, had immediately drawn the Meteo Weapon.
"Whoa, calm down!" Cloud intervened, jumping between them. "He's obviously on our side, you guys!"
They reluctantly lowered their weapons.
"What about this cult?" Cloud asked.
"I ran from them, because I did not believe the principle they are founded on. I wanted to find Meteo, but when I realized the means they meant to use, I hated them, and I escaped to the mountains south of Wu Tai. It was in those mountains that Aeris instructed me to come here."
"I don't understand," Aeris mused. "I never did that."
"Maybe you were still in the Lifestream?" Tifa suggested.
"That's possible, I suppose," she said thoughtfully. "But I don't know why I would have had that sword, or told him to join you guys. I wonder if we'll ever know?"
"I think we will," said Cloud, who knew that Aeris was not still in the Lifestream when she started appearing in dreams- Cloud had seen her in a dream last night.
"What makes ya so sure?" Barret asked suspiciously.
Cloud sighed. He might as well tell them now.
"I saw Aeris in a dream last night, too," he said. "I was floating in the Lifestream- drowning, really- and I saw her floating in front of me. She kept telling me, over and over again, that she wasn't the one holding me down."
Silence for a while. It was scary. "I don't understand," Aeris said, beginning to cry.
"Something could be taking the form of Aeris, and entering people's minds," Kura suggested. "Daemons can do such things."
Cloud didn't really believe in daemons, but he decided to keep his mouth shut- Kura was obviously somewhat provocable.
"Cloud, do these dreams feel very real?" asked Devonan. The Shiniji rarely spoke, and were generally forgotten until they did. Actually, they hadn't been in view at all recently; it was almost as if they'd become invisible. Could they do that? Who knew what they could do?
"Daemons!" Kura suddenly shouted, drawing his sword yet again. Cloud quickly blocked him.
"No, these are friends!" he protested. Kura stopped, but still held his sword at the ready.
"They helped us get back together after being separated," Cloud explained.
Kura backed off a little. Cloud turned back the Shiniji. "Yes," he told Devonan. "Very real."
Devonan nodded. "It was from the Lifestream," he confirmed. "The Planet can send very, very strange messages to people that way."
"But Aeris is right here," Cloud objected.
"That's not Aeris," said Devonan.
"What?!" Aeris cried. "How can you say that?!"
"Devonan, I think you're mistaken-" Cloud started.
"I'm never mistaken in these matters. That's not Aeris."
"Yes she is!" Cloud yelled. He stormed off, and Aeris followed after him. The others sat in startled silence.

After Kura had sat around and spoken with the companions for a time, Cloud came back out of his tent and approached them.
"Sorry I yelled, everyone," he apolagized. "What did you mean by that, Devonan?"
"Nothing," said Devonan. "You obviously don't want to hear it."
"Devonan," said Aeris. "I understand you're just trying to help, but... here I am. I'm me. How could I not be Aeris?"
It was a good question. She was there, and she was herself. How could she not be Aeris?
"Fine," Devonan shrugged.
"Kura," Cloud changed the subject.
"Yes?"
"Would you mind having a word with me in private?"
"Not at all." Kura and Cloud walked off a ways.
"So you got this sword... the Meteo Weapon, it's called?" Cloud began.
Kura nodded. "That is what I was told."
"Have you found any use for that little indentation in it?"
"Well," Kura mused, "I suppose it is probably used for the same thing as the slot on your sword."
"Right," Cloud nodded. "That's what I supposed, too. My sword is called the Ultima Weapon. And the Materia I put in is an Ultima Materia. Sort of implies something, doesn't it?"
"It does," Kura agreed. "This is quite interesting. I must locate a Meteo Materia."
"But the only way to gain one is if the Planet is plunged into war and feels it must release it," Cloud argued. "I don't want that to happen. If the Planet feels it must release Meteo, that's great. But I don't want it to happen because anyone made it."
"Kul'Rann Jinn is already doing it," Kura shrugged. "Meteo will soon be released."
"Who's Kul'Rann Jinn?" Cloud asked.
"The leader of the MeteoCult," Kura explained. "He is already working on starting wars all over the globe. He was colaberating with Shinra last I heard."
"I should have known Ashroth would take advantage of this," Cloud muttered. "This is serious. Kura, I know you feel you should have Meteo. But we have to stop this from happening. We can't let them start wars to unlock Meteo. It's only supposed to be used for when the Planet really needs it. Forcing the Planet to release it is wrong, and will get a lot of people killed. Understand?"
"I suppose I must agree," Kura nodded. "For now, I will not attempt to bring forth Meteo."
"Thanks," Cloud said dubiously. The two of them returned to the rest of AVALANCHE, both of them pondering the meaning behind these Materia-based Weapons. One question burned in both of their minds: Could there be more of these Weapons?

SHINRA HQ

Ashroth stood atop the tall rock he had been using to oversee the production of Midgar 2 for a month or so now. They were beginning to set down the foundations of the important buildings, and soon, people would start to flock to the city. Ashroth was already sending word of it out to people, and giving false speeches about how they had revolutionized Mako production so that they could do it without harming the Planet.
But the most appealing thing about Midgar 2 would be that unlike the original Midgar, it would hold prosperity for all. There would be no plate, there would be no slums- everyone would see the sky, everyone would have both day and night, and everyone would have the life they'd dreamed of. It would be a paradise- that is, until Ashroth gained enough support to engulf the world. Then, everyone would be in the slums. There would be a plate, a plate over the whole Planet, and everyone would suffer. None of them would see the sky, they would all be poor, and none of them would have anything they had ever dreamed of. Pain, misery, and despair would be all they would ever know. It was such a beautiful vision of the future. Nothing could stop him from pulling it off. Nothing.

Meanwhile, inside the laboratory of the makeshift Shinra HQ that overlooked the construction of Midgar 2, another was plotting far more important things.
"You're not going to believe this," Hojo told Dr. Zephyn as he entered the lab, "But the Master has informed me that the importance of Ashroth is that he is one of the Three."
Zephyn looked up in surprise and alarm. "You have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "Why would he choose Ashroth?!"
"I honestly haven't the slightest idea," Hojo muttered. "But now I wish I hadn't gone to all the trouble to get ready to have him killed. Now I have to undo all the arrangements."
"A shame," Zephyn muttered. "He sure is a big asswhipe."
"You can say that again," Hojo agreed. He went and looked through the one-way mirror at X, who was practicing his swordfighting. He went back and forth in seemingly endless kata, going through tense, muscle-stretching motions with a rage and determination no ordinary soul could produce.
"He's magnificent, isn't he?" Hojo muttered.
"He is," Zephyn agreed as she stood beside Hojo. "Do you plan to duplicate this experiment?"
"I don't think anyone besides Zack could handle it," Hojo shook his head.
"I bet you Ashroth could," Zephyn suggested. "It might be funny, to see him turned into a raving maniac."
Hojo smiled. "Ashroth doesn't even need it," he commented. "He could probably defeat Zack anyway. And that's excluding his odd... abilities."
"Have you any leads on what the hell he actually does, by the way?" Zephyn asked.
"No," Hojo shook his head. "It's the wierdest thing I've ever seen. He just looks at a person, and they burst into this blazing, supernatural flame. The fire is always either green, yellow, or blue- not natural at all. Even Mako can't have that kind of instantaneous effect."
"Maybe the Master will reveal it to us," Zephyn suggested.
"Or perhaps him when the Master's pawn reveals itself to him," Hojo nodded.
"Do you think that the Enemy has revealed itself to the other Three yet?"
"No. The Master said that his pawn and its rival would reveal at aproximately the same time, and he says it will be a while yet before his pawn reveals the plan to Ashroth and whoever the other two may be."
"I hope we don't have to wait too much longer," Zephyn sighed. "I'm getting impatient. I've waited so long to see the fruits of our labor."
"Patience," Hojo smiled. "The time will come soon enough."
"What of your secret partner?" asked Zephyn.
"His plan is already in motion from what I can tell," Hojo nodded. "I don't know if he's hoping to get rid of Cloud altogether, or lead him to something. He doesn't say much. But hey, for the amount of power he can provide me with, it's worth putting up with his oddities."
"Has he mentioned the Event yet?"
"No," Hojo shook his head. "I'm so sure he's involved somehow, but he just doesn't have a practical place in it. It's like he's a blemish. But I know he must be the final addition- I just can't figure out what the hell he's for."
"I can't wait until it all falls together," Zephyn smiled cooly.

TWO MONTHS LATER

Cloud looked on at the large, tall, silver base that had been constructed for AVALANCHE. To the side was an expansive pad where the Highwind and the buggy rested, and inside was a large room for each member, a large living room, a large war room, and anything else they could have imagined they wanted other than a video arcade, which Hanshi was very mad they refused to include.
"Time to move in," he smiled. Aeris, who was standing next to him, put her arm around his shoulder and smiled contentedly.
"It's great," she said, though her mind seemed to be on something else.
"Well..." Cloud began. "Shinra hasn't been very active lately. It'll probably be a while before we have to fight them again. Now that we're at sort of an impass, would you like to... well..."
"Go on another date?" Aeris smiled at him. He grinned back at her and nodded.
"But Cloud," she joked, "I already paid you."
Cloud laughed. "Was it really so many years ago?" he recalled. His mind wandered through past times, reliving all the old moments with Aeris; running from the Shinra soldiers inside the church, leaping across giant heaps of trash. But now, when he remembered past times with Aeris, it was happy, because there was one memory that didn't haunt him anymore: Aeris's death. For some reason, his mind suddenly blurred a bit, like his conciousness was vibrating, and when it was done, he felt just a tad light-headed. His thoughts soon moved away from the quick, odd occurance and back to his blissful memories of times with Aeris.
But Cloud's happiness never carried over to his long, restless nights. Every night now, he would dream that he was in a horrifying situation; he would be in the grip of a giant monster, drowning in Lifestream, held to the point of suffocation by giant, live vines; and every time, Aeris would be there, insisting over and over and over again that she was not the one doing this to him. But that was obvious. Of course she wasn't doing it to him; giant monsters, Lifestream, and live vines were. What could it possibly mean? But during the day, Cloud tried to forget his troubled nights, and his happiness over having Aeris back consumed him.
"Cloud?" Aeris was staring him in the face.
"Sorry," Cloud said, shaking his head. "I was just reminiscing."
"About what?" she inquired.
"You," he shrugged. "I missed you."
"I'm glad to hear that," she whispered, and kissed him gently on the lips. Then she smiled at him and brightly turned to the brand new AVALANCHE HQ. "Let's go check it out!" she exclaimed happily, and ran toward the building.
Cloud sighed happily. It didn't matter if she freaked him out in his nightmares. Aeris was back, and the world was perfect.

All around the world, the news spread. The once-mighty Shinra Corporation had finally found a new way to produce Mako, one that would forever recycle it and refrain from destroying the Planet. Not only that, but they were sending airships to every major town in the world for free rides to the city- no one would have to spend ages journeying there, and they'd get to ride in comfort and style for no change. It was simply too good of an idea to pass up.
But there was one thing that discouraged some from going to the new Midgar 2: AVALANCHE was protesting, making claims that Shinra had not found a way to recycle Mako, and was lying. Many believed them and refrained from going to Midgar 2- AVALANCHE was world-renowned as the saviors of the Planet, and many trusted them.
But it was no time at all before Midgar 2 was thriving. And rumors began to fly that Supreme General Ashroth's next move was to plan an attack on AVALANCHE HQ itself.

THREE DAYS LATER

All the members of AVALANCHE were gathered in the HQ's war room. Now was the time to strike Shinra- before they could strike AVALANCHE. They were powerful now, yes, but it could be done. They'd fought their way into Midgar before, why not Midgar 2? It made perfect sense.
"Allright," Cloud began the meeting. "We're here to discuss our final, decisive strike against Shinra. We want this to be over and done with. We want Shinra to be out of the picture."
Everyone nodded. They all felt that way.
"Then we can discuss what to do about Sepheros," Cloud added.
"He seems to have dissapeared," Reeve pointed out.
"I know," Cloud acknowledged, "But I don't think he has. He's still out there somewhere, and I know he's bent on killing us all. We have to be prepared to fight him when the time comes. I'm betting he's forming some sort of scheme right now."
"But how could he, if we have these bracelets?" Aeris asked, pointing to the anti-Mako bracelet she wore.
"He'll find a way," Cloud sighed. "He always does."
"I don't know how he could get to us," Aeris shrugged. "Maybe he gave up."
"You don't know Sephiroth- Sepheros- like I do."
"I guess not," Aeris shrugged.
Cloud started to say something, but he was promptly interupted by several booming crashes against the walls of the buildings, sending the alarms blaring.
The members of AVALANCHE leapt up from their places and ran to the room's large, wall-covering radar, and Cloud flicked a switch that brought up the security layout of the entire complex. About fifty or so humans were closing in from all sorts of sides- and apparently, there was some pretty hefty damage done to the base's armored exterior from them. They must be using magic or some form of explosives.
"Allright, everyone head to your alloted defense stations," Cloud ordered, flipping a switch that activated the built-in machine gun turrets that surrounded the base. Unfortunately, about half of them had been knocked out- the attackers must have carefully planned this.
Cloud ran to the huge deck that looked out to the west. All the AVALANCHE members' rooms were in this area, and each one had an opening onto this expansive deck, but Cloud was the one it meant the most to. Seeing the sun set was always soothing and relaxing in a time when Cloud was frustrated with the way his life had turned out.
He looked out over the deck and saw that about ten of the attackers were coming from the west. He jumped up to the railing and made a flying leap from the high point, landing securely on his feet, and charged the attackers. However, their next attack went right over his head- it was several simultaneous castings of Comet 2, and they all slammed into the deck and blew it to pieces.
"They're going to pay dearly for that," Cloud muttered.
"Let me help," said a rarely heard voice from behind Cloud. He whirled around to see Keveki, the red Shiniji. "I can help you smash them. Do you have Ifrit?"
"No," Cloud shook his head, "I'm afraid not."
"That's okay," Keveki nodded, "We'll make do with normal fire. Cast Fire 3- I can take most of them out with it."
"Allright," Cloud nodded. He'd seen demonstrations of what the Shiniji could do to the power of cast magic spells, and believed the words that Keveki spoke. The enemies were getting close now, and Cloud could see that they were dressed as samurai. They must be Taian. Why would Tains be all the way over here just to attack AVALANCHE? Were they working for Shinra?
Cloud didn't have time to think. "Fire 3!" he yelled. Normally, when he cast a spell, he'd feel it's power surging out of him- the first few times one used Materia, it was a sort of dizzying experience due to the amount of power that was released from one's body, but Cloud was used to it by now. But when it was amplified to hundreds of times its original capacity, it gave Cloud quite a headache to release such a wave of flames.
It had the desired effect, though- The flames, like a wave, swept over the attacking samurai, burning them to a crisp.
"I got all nine of them," Keveki congradulated himself. "Not bad, eh?"
"I was beginning to think you guys didn't have personalities," Cloud smiled, glad the Shiniji had made a remark that was something along the lines of humor.
"We just don't talk much, that's all," Keveki shrugged. "We like kicking ass as much as you do."
Cloud laughed in surprise at that. "Come on," he said, "We better go see how the others are doing."
Running around to the east side of the base, he saw three more miniature comets zoom out of the sky and slam into the base's wall, creating three gaping holes. "Dammit," he muttered, and ran on. He soon saw Red XIII, Vincent, and Cid confronted by a squad of the samurai. Cloud rushed into the area from behind the samurai and took them all out with a good blast of Ultima.
"Just in the nick 'o time, Cloud," Cid congradulated him.
"Cloud," Red mused, "Is it just me, or was that Ultima a little bit... bigger than usual?"
Cloud thought about it for a moment. "You know, I think it was."
He turned the Ultima Weapon on its side and held the hilt out. His Ultima Materia was still embedded in the strange design in the hilt, but this was the first time he'd ever used it when it was in there.
"Now that is quite interesting," Red mused, instantly making the connection.
"Meteo has to exist," Cloud suddenly said firmly.
"What? Huh?" Cid was totally lost.
"Remember when Kura first got here? He had this blade called the 'Meteo Weapon'. It had the same indentation as the Ultima Weapon! Do you realize what this means?"
"That Meteo exists, and the war in Wu Tai is supposed to unleash it!" Red concluded.
"We have to stop a war from breaking out in Wu Tai!" Cloud smacked his forehead as he realized the situation.
"What the FUCK are you guys talking about?!" Cid yelled, who hated being left in the dark.
The conversation was interupted by seven more meteorites slamming into the roof the HQ.
"Shit," muttered Cloud. The three of them ran up to the top of a hill to see what all the commotion was about, and saw that about fifty more of the samurai were running at the area from all sides.
"What do we do now?!" Cloud threw his arms up in exasperation. "Whoever these guys are, they must really want us gone!"
"You haven't figured out who they are yet?" Red asked in surprise.
"Wait a minute-" Cloud's face suddenly lit with realization. "But- why would they want us out of the picture?"
"No time to talk about that now," said Cid.
"Right," Cloud nodded. "Okay, there's about twelve of them heading our way. Let's split up and hit them with a three-way attack and get them in a crossfire with the strongest spells we have. Got it?"
"Right," Cid and Red nodded, being used to conceding to Cloud's now-familiar leadership of the team.
Cloud ran out to the left. He silently crept along the rotting ground of the area of the Forgotten Capital, using the many dead trees and dying bushes that lay about to cover him. But something seemed to be fooling with his head. Every few seconds, everything would just blurr, and he'd get the strangest feeling like his mind was being squeezed. It began to get worse. His vision completely fogged over. His head began to ache. He felt like he was being rubbed all over his head with warm cloths. Soon the pain began to increase. Clutching his head, he fell to the ground, groaning. Then there was darkness.

Cloud awoke. It was deep into the night. He was lying right where he'd been when he fell. What had happened? Had they left him for dead?
He stood up, and felt that it was poring. Just my luck, he thought to himself.
What had happened back there? The feeling he'd gotten before passing out had been very familiar, but he couldn't remember where he'd felt it. He looked up. Out of the fog, two figures were coming towards him. Were they looking for him? He started towards them, but stopped abruptly when he saw that the first of the two figures was Hojo.
"Cloud," Hojo nodded. "We've been looking for you. We have a surprise for you."
"I think you'll be very happy to see it," smirked the other one, a tall, blonde woman in a lab coat similar to Hojo's. Who was she? Cloud had never seen her before.
"What do you want?" he asked apprhehensively.
"We don't want anything," Hojo shrugged.
"That's right," the woman agreed. "HE does."
And then a third figure came out of the fog, right between them. He wore a SOLDIER outfit just like Cloud's. His hair was jet black and fell down to his knees. His muscles were practically bursting through his clothes. But Cloud could never forget his face. It was Zack.
"Zack-" he said in astonished disbelief.
"Go ahead, Zack," said the young woman.
Zack leapt toward Cloud like a wild animal, and when he hit, knocked him to the ground and began to tear at him. Cloud fealt his skin torn from his body and his muscles devoured by the raving Zack. Screaming and writhing, he felt his body be torn to shreds, and could still feel it even after he should have been dead.
"Cloud! Cloud! Cloud!" yelled Zack as his victory consumed him.
"No! No!" Cloud screamed in agony.
"CLOUD, PLEASE!!" screamed Aeris, very near to tears.
Cloud looked around. He was on a bed in a small room. Aeris was standing over him, looking at him with the most deeply worried expression he'd ever seen on her face.
He leapt up from the bed, not understanding how he'd been saved or where he'd been taken. He backed fearfully into the wall, shaking.
"Cloud?" Aeris asked. She still sounded like she was about to cry. "What's wrong?" She slowly approached him.
When she was near enough, he collapsed into her arms like a boy who's had a bad dream collapses into his mother's arms.
"I can't believe this," he choked out.
"What?" she asked, her voice dripping with concern.
"I... I can't stop dreaming... the nightmares get worse and worse... and every time I can feel them as though they're really happening..."
The other members of AVALANCHE had gathered in the room to see what was happening.
"We'll work it out," Aeris assured him.

"I woke up where I fell during the fight," Cloud began. "It was really foggy, but I saw two people come out of the mist. One of them was Hojo, I know that. The other was a blonde woman who wore the same kind of lab coat as Hojo, but I have no idea who she was. They talked to me a bit, and then Zack came out from behind them- he looked TOTALLY different- and he just... attacked me, like a wild animal. And then I was in the infirmary with Aeris."
The members of AVALANCHE were now sitting in the War Room, discussing what was going on with Cloud.
"Cloud," Red began uneasily. "Do you know what you were saying when I found you?"
"I thought I was out cold," Cloud protested.
"You were, but you were muttering something," said Red. "You were muttering 'I'm Cloud' over and over again. That's a little too familiar to ignore."
Tifa abruptly looked up at that. "Cloud," she said before anyone else could, "Do you remember how you joined SOLDIER?"
"Hey, that's not happening again," Cloud told her firmly. "Don't worry, I'm never going to take on Zack's memories again."
"I'm not too sure about that," Tifa told him.
"Why?"
"Because-" Tifa looked around at everyone. She couldn't say it. She would have to talk to him alone later. "Nothing." She sat down again. Everyone threw her suspicious looks. They all remembered how she hadn't said anything for a very long time when she knew something was wrong during the Meteor incident. Was she hiding something again? Why?
"Whatever," said Cloud. "That is kind of wierd, but maybe it's just left over from my Mako poisoning?"
"I suppose that's possible," Red admitted.
"How did the attack end?" Cloud asked.
"Kura whiped them out with a few good blasts of Comet 2 and a little help from Kicharin," Reeve explained. "It was quite dazzling to see so many meteorites flying all over the place. A shame you missed it."
"They were of the MeteoCult for sure," Kura said sternly. "I believe that Supreme General Ashroth of Shinra has made a deal with the leader of the MeteoCult. They will undoubtedly soon be making a full-scale attack on Wu Tai. If that happens, and Shinra in involved as well, Meteo will almost certainly rise."
"Well then we can't let that happen," Yuffie burst in. "I have to go to Wu Tai. I have to warn father!"
"You sure you want to go?" asked Cloud. "Right when we're about to start full-scale war on Shinra?"
Yuffie nodded. "I can't sit around without doing anything when I know what's happening," she sighed. "I have to do something."
"Allright," Cid stood up. "Tell ya what, I'll show ya how ta pilot the Tiny Bronco. You oughta be fine."
Hanshi stood up. "That won't be neccesary, buddy boy," he announced. "I know how to fly those planes. I'll take Yuffie."
"That okay with you?" Cid asked Yuffie.
"Fine," Yuffie shrugged.
"Let's go!" Hanshi yelled, and charged out the door.
"Wait up!" yelled Yuffie, and she ran after him. She ducked back in again to yell a final farewell to everyone and a thanks to Cid for letting them borrow the TB, and then she went out again.
"Got to admire that girl," Reeve smiled to himself.
"Yeah, till that punk kid messes her head up," Barret mumbled.
Cid grinned at him. "Yer such a worry-wart, Berry," he said maliciously. Barret ignored him.

MIDGAR 2

Ashroth had just moved into his brand new office at the top of the tall skyscraper that was the new Shinra HQ. It had been quite some time since Shinra had had a real HQ, and it was good to be in a real office, especially one with no holes in the walls.
Ashroth heard a knock on his door. Must be Argad. "Come in," he said stiffly.
The door opened and, just as he'd assumed, General Argad walked in. "Sir," he saluted. "We've already got every airship we sent full of passengers ready to move into Midgar 2. They're all going for it, sir."
"Excellent," Ashroth grinned. "Things are going quite smoothly. You are dismissed, General."
The general nodded, and left. He congradulated himself again for getting on Ashroth's good side so effectively. Yes, there were some men who screwed up at their jobs- like that Kalakran, who had recently been demoted to a Colonel- but not Argad. Do your job right, and the world gives you everything you could want. High pay, lots of vacation time, and a place on the good side of the big cheese. Doing well in your post was always beneficial, and Argad was determined to be the best general Shinra had ever had.
Back in his office, Ashroth smirked to himself. Everything was going so smoothly, it couldn't possibly fail now. But something had been troubling him as of late. For some reason, he'd started dreaming. The dreams were very strange and occured every night. He would be walking through a crowd of weak, helpless people, looking at each one of them and watching them smolder into ashes as he obliterated their souls, when he would get to the last one, a shadow standing in front of him, who would challenge him in a loud voice. He would look at this shadow, but nothing would happen. Then the shadow would draw a great blade, and Ashroth would draw his blade, and the two of them would meet. The shadow would always look him right in the eyes, and never be destroyed as everyone else was. And then Ashroth would always awake in a cold sweat. He could not understand the signifigance of this dream, but in continually came to him, and it felt far too real to be just an ordinary dream.
He felt his sword calling him. He stood up and walked over to a large painting of a great battle that rested on his wall and slowly slid it to the right, revealing a large safe. He deftly put in the combination, and the safe swung open to reveal a much smaller door. Ashroth put his hand on the surface of the door and it came open. Underneath was another door with two keyholes. Ashroth took out two small keys and turned them simultaniously in the two locks, and the door came open. Inside, a hilt stuck out at him, and he took it in his hands and pulled it out. It was a magnificent weapon. He had found it many years ago. A dream had come to him with a great, dark shadow looming over him and whispering "Ultima" to him. When he awoke, he felt a calling, a calling to go to the north. He went out and followed the calling, and he found this blade stuck in a rock. He pulled it out, and felt its power surge within him. Ever since then, he'd kept this sword, and every now and then it called to him. He'd had Hojo examine it, and was told it was a legendary blade called an "Ultima Weapon". So Ashroth had kept this sword, and it gave him a feeling of power whenever he held it.

AVALANCHE HQ

Cloud gathered everyone in the War Room the next day. Hanshi and Yuffie weren't there, and it felt a little strange not to have them around- but they had to get ready to start the battle against Shinra up again.
"Allright, guys," Cloud called the meeting to order. "We're going to do this slowly. We have to nuetralize all the places that Shinra is getting resources from. I think the place to start with is Corel. They don't get as much from Corel as they do from the Mythril Mines, but the people of Corel need help, and fast. Everyone agree?"
They all nodded. It was definately the way to go. They'd all had enough of watching Shinra destroy people's lives, and the people in Corel had had about the worst of it.
They enthuisiastically started toward the exit, but suddenly, Vincent yelled "Wait!"
Everyone stopped and turned around. He was still in his seat.
"We cannot do this," he said.
"Why not?" Cloud asked in bafflement. They had to. Why couldn't they?
"Explain, dammit," Cid rushed him on.
"Don't you realize that would be helping both Shinra and the MeteoCult?" Vincent asked. "We'd just be contributing to the Planet's state of war. The more war that rages on the surface, the more likely the Planet is to raise Meteo."
Everyone stopped. They thought about it, trying to find a way around it. There wasn't one. He was dead right, just like always.
"Damn," Cloud yelled, stamping his foot. "Shinra's got us stuck here on our asses. What can we do?"
"I think that might have been Ashroth's plan when he made a bargain with the MeteoCult," Vincent suggested. "He's a very clever man."
"Fuck Meteo, we gotta go anyway!" Barret argued. "I don't care if it'll release Meteo, people in Corel 'r dyin! I ain't gonna sit around and let that happen!"
"Barret, we have to. It'll just put everyone in danger if the MeteoCult gets Meteo. We'll just have to hope that Yuffie and Hanshi can stop the war from happening in Wu Tai."
Barret looked at the floor. "Damn," he muttered. "God... dammit. Corel's been under Shinra too long."
"We know," Tifa comforted him. "We'll liberate them as soon as we can."
"I wanna hear Spikey-ass promise that," Barret said stubbornly, looking at Cloud.
Cloud nodded. "It's a promise. First thing after the wars in Wu Tai have been suppressed."

SHINRA HQ

Ashroth had fallen asleep in his chair. Paperwork always bored him, and sometimes he'd just ignore it. He'd been up late last night, and felt sleep was neccessary. Dreams began to come to him.
He was deep in a forest somewhere. The trees were a rugged shade of black, and it was very dark. He looked around. He took a few steps. This was real. It had to be. He could feel himself fully concious. He pinched himself, and it hurt. What was this?
Then, Sepheros walked out from behind one of the trees.
"Keer," said Sepheros. No one had called him Keer in many, many years.
"What do you want, Sepheros?" Ashroth snapped. "What is this?"
"I'm not Sepheros," said Sephiroth. "He is simply a tool of mine, who I can use easily because we share the same counciousness. I am the one and only Sephiroth."
"But you're dead!" Ashroth protested.
"You have no concept of death whatsoever," Sephiroth told him. "I am far more alive than you or anyone else on the surface of the Planet."
"What do you want from me?" Ashroth asked.
"Do not ask questions, Keer," Sephiroth ordered. Ashroth tried to make a retort, but could not.
"Ultima," said Sepheros.
"What?"
"Ultima."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Ultima."
"Shut the fuck up!"
"Ultima."
"Bastard!"
"Remember that you are Ultima. You have already found Meteo. Find Satruna."
"What?! What the fuck?!"
"Ultima."
"Shut the fuck up you bastard!"
Ashroth was on his desk.
"Sir!" yelled the voice of his secretary. "Are you allright?"
"Of course I'm allright!" Ashroth raged, jumping up to face the voice.
Ashroth's secretarty screamed as she burst into bright yellow flames and was melted into a pile of human sludge.
"Oops," said Ashroth. "Shit. Now I need a new secretary."
He flopped down in his chair. What the hell had that been? It was too real to be a dream, and yet it happened while he slept. What could be going on?
Then Ashroth remembered the last thing he'd been told. "Remember that you are Ultima. You have already found Meteo. Find Satruna."
Meteo? He didn't have Meteo. How could he "be" Ultima? What the hell was Satruna?
Ashroth shook his head in bafflement. This was the most puzzling thing he had ever encountered, and for the first time in his life, Keer Ashroth felt completely and totally helpless.

AVALANCHE HQ, THAT EVENING

It was getting very late. Cloud could not sleep no matter how hard he tried.
He was sitting silently on his sofa, deep in thought. Suddenly, he thought he heard a very vague voice, but he could not hear what it was saying. He looked around.
"Hello?" he said quietly. No response.
Cloud shook his head. He was just hearing things. There was too much on his mind right now.
But then, he heard it again. It was still a very faint whisper, but there was no mistaking it. "Book of the Ancients" it whispered to him.
Cloud looked around, his pulse racing.
"Book of the Ancients," it repeated.
"Who's there?" he asked, a little louder.
Silence.
He shook his head, and sat down again, but remained alert. Twenty minutes passed. His thoughts returned to the vast emptiness they had been dwelling on before.
Cloud heard a light tap on his door. A vague, masculine hope that it was Aeris snuck into his head, but he quickly dismissed the thought, knowing he hadn't the time to think about that sort of thing when there was so much going on right now.
"Come in," he softly called, and the door opened to reveal Tifa bearing a worried and apprehensive expression on her face.
"What is it?" he asked. His voice was full of concern and caring. Whenever he was alone with Tifa, he always felt so close to her, almost like a part of him deep inside was trying to break out and make him feel for her as more than a friend. But it was such a buried feeling, overpowered by his love for Aeris. Times like this confused him, but also made him far more perceptive and attentive to Tifa.
"I... Cloud, last time, I kept my mouth shut, and it resulted in disaster," she began. "I'm not goign to do that this time. We have to talk."
Cloud couldn't think what she was talking about, but the seriousness of her tone made him feel that he should and that something was very wrong. "Sit down," he said. She sat down next to him on his couch.
"Cloud... think back to the Meteor Incident, okay?" she began.
"Okay," Cloud nodded.
"Remember how it went?" she continued. "We went through a lot. Remember how you had taken on Zack's memories, and because he was a Sephiroth clone, Sephiroth could use that to control you?"
"Right," Cloud nodded. "But I'm over that now... what's wrong?"
"Just keep thinking on," she urged. "We went through a lot more after that- battling the Weapons, and all- then, do you remember the evening before we flew to the North Crater to confront Sephiroth.
Cloud began to think. "No," he said. "I don't. What happened?"
Tifa looked at the floor. She began to cry.
"Tifa? What is it?" he asked. He was so frustrated with himself for upsetting her that he almost started to lose it, but kept himself from yelling.
"You sent everyone home first, to make sure they really meant to fight Sephiroth. Don't you remember that?"
Cloud desperately searched his memories. He couldn't remember it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember anything of the sort. What was she talking about? He couldn't remember anything from the evening before that. Why not? It didn't make any sense. What had clogged his mind up?
"But wait..." he protested as he realized something. "You and I wouldn't have had anywhere to go. Our home was gone, remember?"
"You're right," said Tifa. "We didn't have anywhere to go. Oh, Cloud..." Her tears began to poor on even more. "I can't believe you've forgotten. I... I want so much to tell you... How I feel... What I'm thinking... but I can't..."
But Cloud had already figured it out. He didn't really know why, but the next thing he said came into his head as though it had been planted there.
"Tifa," he said softly. "Words aren't the only thing that tell people what you're thinking." Where had he learned to talk like that? Cloud had never uttered a sentence like that before.
But for some reason, those words startled her. She looked up at him. "Cloud... you do remember," she whispered. "You remembered that. That's what I told you. You wanted to tell me... that you love me. But I already knew. I loved you too Cloud... and I still do. You knew that, didn't you?"
He nodded. "I did..." he said. He didn't know why, but he did seem to remember Tifa saying that. What was happening? Tifa was only his friend- he was in love with Aeris. Wasn't he?
"Wow..." he said. "I don't understand this. I remember you saying that. I know that I liked you back when we were kids... it was why I joined SOLDIER... to impress you..."
"Why you what?" she asked, looking up at him suddenly again. She looked like she was about to snap like a twig if he said the wrong thing.
"Wha... I joined SOLDIER, you know? How do you think I got this uniform?"
Tifa burst into tears. "How has this happened again?!" was all she could get out, and she ran from the room.

Cloud didn't know what to think. He was so confused. He sat and thought for another long while, and then heard another tap on the door. "Come in," he called quietly. Maybe it was Tifa again.
But this time, it was Aeris. "Cloud... I heard something. It sounded like crying. Are you okay?"
Cloud didn't know if he should tell her what happened or not. Would Tifa want that? Probably not.
"Yeah... it was nothing."
"Okay," said Aeris. "Well, then, I guess that's what it was. Nothing. Nothing at all."
"Right," said Cloud. Was it really nothing? Well, Tifa had been really upset- why? He couldn't remember all of a sudden.
"Cloud, I was thinking we should go for a walk," said Aeris. "Just you and me. I really want to spend some time alone with you."
Cloud couldn't resist. "Okay," he said. "Let's go."
The two of them quietly crept out of AVALANCHE HQ and into the field, talking of many things. Cloud was really happy now. Being around Aeris always made him happy. Had he just been upset before? He couldn't remember. He felt like something bad had just happed before he went on the walk with Aeris, but didn't really think about it much- he was with Aeris, and that was where he was meant to be.

Tifa whiped her tears away. That had not gone well at all. What was she doing? She had to help Cloud again! For some reason, he was taking Zack's memories on again. She had helped him rediscover himself before, she could do it again. She quickly ran from her room back to his.
But he wasn't there. He was gone. Why? What was going on? Had he gone crazy? Did he think he was a Sephiroth clone again? Was Sepheros controlling him? This was too ominous to get over. She ran to rally everyone else up.
Soon, everyone was gathered sleepily in the War Room to discuss what was going on. Everybody except Cloud. Wait- there was someone else missing, too.
"Where's Aeris?" Tifa suddenly asked. Everyone looked around.
"Shit, we're down two," Cid said glumly.
"This is just too wierd..." Elena whispered.

Cloud and Aeris walked blissfully through the fields of the Midgar Area, happily conversing over unimportant matters.
They came to a stopping place in their conversation, and stopped walking. "What do you want to do now?" Aeris asked.
"Anything you want," Cloud said. He meant it, too.
"Really?" she asked.
"Really," he grinned at her.
"Okay," she said. "I'll tell you what. I'm going to blindfold you."
"Okay," he said. He didn't really think about how stupid it would be to get sexual with Aeris in the middle of the Midgar Plains- he didn't really think about much at all. He just went along with it like an idiot.
Aeris took out a hanky and tied it around Cloud's eyes.
"Now," she said. "This may hurt just a bit."
Cloud almost drooled with anticipation. He's a man, afterall.
He was totally unprepared for what actually happened, though. He was expecting a touch from Aeris, but what he felt instead was cold and hard. It penetrated his back and came out his front side. He gasped, choking, and fell to his knees. What had happened?
He was barely concious, and his vision was blurred, but he could still tell what was happening. Aeris removed the blindfold. He turned around to see what he'd most feared: Sepheros, standing over him, holding his great Murasame through Cloud's chest, grinning wickedly.
"I've finally killed you," he said maliciously. "She said I couldn't cheat, but I did it. All it took was a little exploiting of your unfortunate situation."
Cloud tried to talk, but he couldn't. He felt that he was beginning to die. His senses were being closed off, his conciousness leaving him. He turned his head around. The last thing he saw before he died was Aeris looking down at him with a big, impish smile on her face.

Here ends Volume III- Opposing Powers of the saga Final Fantasy VII: Beyond Apocalypse. The saga is continued in Volume IV: Wars of Wu Tai.







Summary of Volume 3: Opposing Powers

Cloud takes Aeris back to the chocobo farm, and everyone is amazed to see her, and she is basically back, but says she does not remember anything after stopping Meteor. They hear in the news the next day that a huge cult has arisen in Wu Tai and is causing havoc there such as terrorism. Yuffie decides to stay with them to fight Shinra, though. So do Barret and Red, because Shinra is still threatening their homes. They build a base of operations at the sight of the Forgotten Capital with a landing pad for the Highwind and a lot of stuff. Then they prepare to attack Shinra for what they hope will be the final blow, but that night they are attacked by a strange force of warriors that they have never seen, they seem to use a lot of Comet and Comet 2. They fight them off eventually and manage to capture one of the leaders. They finally make him talk by befriending him. Find that his name is Kura, and the group he is part of calls themselves the MeteoCult because of the legend of Meteo. They are determined to plunge the world into extreme war so that the Planet will unleash Meteo to them, and they can rule Wu Tai. They had a deal with Shinra to attack the companions and try to destroy them, but after that fight he expects that they will break the deal and become enemies with Shinra. Yuffie decides that she absolutely must go back to Wu Tai and warn her father. They give her the Tiny Bronco and Hanshi goes with her, she flies off to Wu Tai. Meanwhile, Reeve decides it's time to try and rally people up for a positive organization against Shinra and the MeteoCult. He decides to take Cait Sith to the Gold Saucer and make some money off chocobo racing so he can start a counter to Midgar, which he will put in the place of the Forgotten Capital. Ashroth finishes building Midgar 2 and advertises to the world that he has found a way to recycle Mako, and that he is no longer killing the planet. He immediately has Hojo get to work on a way to control Sepheros so that he might actually be able to do this (he's lying.) People begin to flock to Midgar 2, especially since Shinra is sending airships all over the world to give people free rides to Midgar 2. Meanwhile, the companions decide to take back Corel so that they can offer Reeve its resources in constructing his new city, which he will call Cetra. They organize an attack and drive Shinra out of Corel. General Ashroth orders that the airship fleet be used to take the Sister Ray to Midgar 2 for repairs so that it can be used to destroy Cetra. Cloud and Aeris go out to spend a night alone, Aeris is leading Cloud to a surprise she has for him when Sepheros flies down and kills him. End of Volume 3: Rise of the MeteoCult