"Wait!" a soft alto voice called from the other side of the Inn.
Everyone's heads turned to see a tall, slender girl run into view. She had shoulder-length brown hair and was wearing a forest green shirt and dark blue jeans.
She fiddled nervously with a string of her hair as she walked up to the group.
"Well?" Tifa asked impatiently, stepping up to the young girl. By her judgement the girl looked about 19 years old.
As she came closer to the intruder she spotted a small lizard-like creature resting on the girl's shoulder. Tifa stopped suddenly, unwilling to show her fright. "What is that thing on your shoulder?" Tifa asked.
The small creature raised it's metallic sandy-white head and hissed angrily at Tifa, then unfolded it's wings and deftly lifted itself into the air, causing Tifa to step back in her fright.
"What is dat thing?!" Barret shouted, readying his gun-arm. "It looks kinda like one a dem Wind Wings or somethin'!"
The girl agilely caught the small creature gently into her hand's, it's tail and wings sticking out from between her fingers. "No no! This is a tarmatrai. He's kinda like a mini dragon." She coaxed the tarmatrai into sitting back on her shoulder.
Cid stepped up impatiently, "And who does that make you?" he challenged.
"I'm Miya Starblade. I own a chocobo farm in this town; mostly snow, ice, flying and fighting chocobos." She smiled, "I wanted to ask if I could join your group."
Yuffie spoke up. "Why would you want to join this rag tag group?" she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Miya, "…unless of course you were planning on stealing all my…er, I mean our Materia!" she grinned triumphantly.
Miya shook her head. "No, no, nothing like that. I just wanted to help you! Where you ever get the idea of me staling your Materia? I have my own." She took out a few red, green, and blue Materia to prove her point.
Yuffie blushed, turning her head away; but not before catching the types of Materia that Miya held out.
"What can you do to help us?" Tifa asked, somewhat skeptical of what the young girl could do.
Miya grinned, pulling out her short bow and 3 silver tipped arrows as her tarmatrai flew quickly into the air, his gray eyes gleaming dangerously. Miya held all 3 arrows on the bow at once and pulled the string back, all done as quick as lightning. "Demonstration?" she asked, pointing the bow at each person, who each in turn stepped back. She shrugged, and pointing the bow upward at the hanging chandeliers, knocked all three down in an instant after releasing the string. They fell to the ground with a loud crash. "And Dusty here can do a pretty good job of slicing any enemy." She motioned towards the hovering tarmatrai, who was flying above the onlookers' heads.
The five spectators stood with their mouths wide open. Cid nodded his head briskly. "She's in." he replied, gaining nods from the rest of the group.
Miya smiled appreciatively then walked over to the front desk where a clerk sat; dazed. "Sorry about the chandeliers," she said, placing a bag of gil onto the counter. "Ten-thousand gil oughta pay for it, right?" the clerk looked from Miya to the bag of gil, then nodded his head vigorously when he realized that she was serious, and then ran into the inner room.
She turned around to face the group. "So… are we gonna go?" she asked.
Cloud snorted. "Stupid PHS!" he grumbled.
Cait Sith stepped up beside him. The cat-like Cait looked down at the black device in Cloud's hands. "What happened?" he asked. "Is it dead? The speaker's blown?"
Cloud nodded, grumbling as he fumbled to return the PHS to its original location. "Well I guess we should get going. We're…almost there." His voice dropped off flatly, almost like he was trying to withhold his emotions, but they kept slipping, evident in his rich tone.
He turned from them, afraid that his voice would reveal his feelings, and shut his crystal blue eyes, pushing his worries somewhat away. He softly opened them from their tightly shut position and sighed thoughtfully, taking a step forward to signal his readiness to move on. "By the way," he began, his voice more uplifted and spirited then before, "Yuffie said that the group has found Scythaera." He glanced around as his friends cheered. "But…" he held up his hand wistfully, "…she got away. Sephiroth chased her into the ocean. I told them to take the sub and go after her."
Red XIII lightly shook his head. "Is that when the PHS went dead?" he asked.
Cloud thought for a minute. "No…Yuffie said something about her and the others seeing someone. Then it kinda blanked out. She sounded excited about it though." He scratched his head, looking at the sea-like land that surrounded the Forgotten City.
Red XIII watched as Cloud once again started forward, lost in his thoughts and emotions. Cloud, Red thought to himself, why won't you just show your emotions? Hadn't he, Red XIII, been there when they went into the Temple of the Ancients with Aeris? Cloud had been afraid of bringing Aeris along lest she get hurt. And wasn't he there when they had defeated the Demon Wall and Cait Sith came in, when Aeris asked for Cait Sith to predict how 'compatible' her and Cloud were? Of course that fortune resulted as Cloud and Aeris being perfectly compatible, leading for a great future, and Cloud's eyes were so clear and happy then, unlike now when their blueness is shadowed in a dreary mist.
And when Sephiroth had taken control of Cloud's body and caused Cloud to hit Aeris, he was there too, seeing how immensely stressed out Cloud had been about his involuntary action when he awoke from his dream. And one major time when he, Red XIII, had been by Cloud's side: the night of Aeris's sudden horrifying death. Cloud had woken up in the dead silence of the night, telling them that he knew that Aeris was there, he could feel her calming presence in his soul; and Sephiroth's fearful presence also. Cloud woke them up, worried deeply for Aeris's life.
Red XIII, Cloud, and Cait Sith ran along the crystal-lined path through the growing darkness, reaching a calm shining lake by a conch shell building. Cloud led them into the building, guiding them upward in the spiral building to where he felt-where he knew-where Aeris was.
The large orange, white, and black striped clown fish that once lay in the center of the shell-like building was gone, and an opening lay there that led to shimmering crystal stairs. Cloud had nodded grimly towards the opalescent stairway, heading down the stairs quickly, fueled by the dreaded fear in his heart.
They reached the bottom of the stairs, panting to keep up with a frenzied Cloud. They looked before them at the pedestal-like stones that led up to a circular marble alter; where Aeris was, praying earnestly for the whole Planet.
Without hesitation, Cloud leaped onto the first stone column, his boots causing echoes to beat hollowly through the open room. Cat Sith proceeded to follow, but Cloud turned around and motioned for him not to come. Cait Sith looked inquiringly over at Red XIII, who nodded in agreement to Cloud's response.
They watched silently as cloud jumped from step to step, column to column, finally reaching the large pedestal, slowly approaching the kneeling Aeris.
To their utmost surprise and horror, Cloud, his hands shaking and body trembling, lifted his sword above the Cetra's bowed body.
Red XIII had thought that Cloud had gone crazy, attempting to kill the one he so cared about. Then something clicked in his mind as him and Cait Sith shouted urgently for Cloud to stop. Sephiroth…! Sephiroth was controlling Cloud!
Cloud, still trembling violently, had moved his arm, almost throwing his weapon in rage and confusion, when it happened. They all watched in horror, frozen in place, as a ghostly figure began to descend above the now alarmed Aeris. His long silvery hair flowed in his descending gale, whipping about his hard-set face. His sword alighted quickly with him, pointing menacingly at the innocent woman that lay kneeling at the altar; and they all knew and feared what happened next.
The long sword plunged slowly into her back, continuing until it drove right through her pure heart.
"Aeris…!" Red XIII heard Cloud say, the words barely audibly, much less a whisper in the wind; as Aeris gasped, closing her eyes and falling, lifeless, to the earth.
Cloud caught Aeris in his outstretched arms, looking at her still form with pleading eyes, wishing that it all had been a nightmare like it seemed. What they all had wished.
After the sullen battle with one of Sephiroth's Jenova monsters, cloud held Aeris tightly in his arms, unwilling to depart with her when he had to lay her to rest in the calm lake where all of it had happened.
No one knew exactly the reason why cloud had been so vengeful of Sephiroth, except for him, Red XIII. He saw the tremendous pain in cloud's usually tranquil blue eyes; he had seen it all. If only Cloud would himself and the others see more of it…
"…Red?" Cait Sith called, bringing Red XIII back from his past memoirs.
Red XIII looked up at his moggle friend, nodding quick reassurance to him. He sprang forward, the muscles in his body propelling him forward like a red rocket. He reached his friends after one lightning fast bound, the feathers upon his head waving restlessly in the breeze. He nodded silently as Cloud's determined gaze fell upon him.
"Lets go." Red XIII called, bounding in front of them. "We're just about there!" he turned his head to catch Cloud's sharp nod, then ran forward, his friends, especially Cloud, quickly gaining on him.
Scythaera folded her glimmering wings tightly to her back, diving straight down into the gleaming icy water below. `Hang on tight Aeris!` she spoke silently to her friend.
Aeris opened her eyes to the sight of water around her, yet she was floating in an airtight bubble. "Wha…! Scythaera?" she called softly, focusing her blue-jade eyes to the wavering colors of the sea. The azure water rushed around the bubble that encased her, small silver and blue fish scattering into nearby holes and shadows.
`I am right here.` Scythaera replied, her telepathic-like voice spoke softly and calmly in Aeris' mind. Aeris carefully turned her head to see the silver dragon swimming swiftly beside the bubble, guiding it along. She instinctively utilized her wings like massive fins, narrowing them to create a sleek "V" shape. She turned her narrow, metallic head to look at Aeris, smiling a draconic smile. `I placed you in the bubble so you could breathe. Human's can't breathe underwater, I am correct?`
Aeris nodded, grinning at her friend. "Yes." She replied. Scythaera nodded, turning her head to face forward again in one graceful sweep of her head.
As Aeris watched the Ancient Beast swim, it calmed her nerves. Scythaera's head was long and thin, falcon-like in appearance, excluding the tearing hooked beak. She looked surprisingly similar to Bahamut, with a much smaller appearance. Scythaera's eyes were a bright bluish green, and the ridges above her eyes were like a small wave of shallow spikes. Starting a little above her eyes, on the top of her head lay a long, thin scythe-like blade that curved, almost parallel, down to about her jaw level, ending in a sharp point. Protruding from the back of her jaw line, the area where her jaw and neck met, was two small blade-like fins, one on each side of her jaw.
Scythaera's slender body swayed gently with the current of the water and Aeris giggled lightly, watching her silver tail wave in the strong current. The blade on the end of her tail kind of reminded Aeris of a butterfly, for it was shaped so. Like a butterfly with razor sharp wings, Aeris thought, giggling some more.
Scythaera suddenly stopped, spreading her wings to slow her movement. The bubble swirled around slowly, stopping also. `We must go.` Scythaera calmly stated. `I've been summoned…`
Cid jumped into the pilot seat of the old Shinra sub, leaning forward in the black leather chair to press and flip the necessary buttons and switches.
"What makes you think that you're gonna drive the sub?" Yuffie called angrily as she climbed down the ladder into the sub.
Cid swiveled the chair around, facing Yuffie. "For one: I have experience, and for two: you, Barret, Tifa, or Vincent would probably drown us all!" he turned the chair back around and flipped one last switch, igniting the engine. "Besides, you'd probably get water sickness!" Yuffie snorted and huffily sat down.
After everyone was inside the sub, Cid submerged them into the dark depths of the massive ocean. They had flown on the Highwind from Icicle Inn, bringing along their new ally Miya and her small tarmatrai named Dusty. She also brought along one of her flying chocobos, a special breed of chocobos with larger, stronger wings that enables them to fly with up to two people on each.
After leaving Junon Harbor where the sub was kept, they boarded the old sub, leaving the violet flying chocobo on the sub.
"We're searching for Scythaera?" Miya asked. "That name sounds so familiar…" she sat down in one of the seats. "Oh yeah… when I was little, my mom taught me all about the Ancient Beasts. But that was before my parents died and I was left alone…" she sadly stroked Dusty, who rubbed his sand colored head against her cheek.
Cid pointed out the sub's front window, "Guys, its Scythaera!"
Everyone dashed to the front, looking out window. "…And Aeris!" Yuffie exclaimed.
Cid directed the sub closer when the dragon stopped, and then…disappeared.
"What…happened?" Barret shouted.
Miya quietly stepped away from the window. "Scythaera transported. That means she must've been summoned." She sat back down in her seat.
"Summoned?" Tifa cried, "That means that Cloud found the Materia!…"
"…Or Sephiroth…" Vincent warned tentatively.
Cid stepped over to Miya. "I'll bring us to the City of the Ancients." He turned to her. "Meanwhile, Miya, tell us all you know about the Ancient Beasts…"
Everyone's heads turned to see a tall, slender girl run into view. She had shoulder-length brown hair and was wearing a forest green shirt and dark blue jeans.
She fiddled nervously with a string of her hair as she walked up to the group.
"Well?" Tifa asked impatiently, stepping up to the young girl. By her judgement the girl looked about 19 years old.
As she came closer to the intruder she spotted a small lizard-like creature resting on the girl's shoulder. Tifa stopped suddenly, unwilling to show her fright. "What is that thing on your shoulder?" Tifa asked.
The small creature raised it's metallic sandy-white head and hissed angrily at Tifa, then unfolded it's wings and deftly lifted itself into the air, causing Tifa to step back in her fright.
"What is dat thing?!" Barret shouted, readying his gun-arm. "It looks kinda like one a dem Wind Wings or somethin'!"
The girl agilely caught the small creature gently into her hand's, it's tail and wings sticking out from between her fingers. "No no! This is a tarmatrai. He's kinda like a mini dragon." She coaxed the tarmatrai into sitting back on her shoulder.
Cid stepped up impatiently, "And who does that make you?" he challenged.
"I'm Miya Starblade. I own a chocobo farm in this town; mostly snow, ice, flying and fighting chocobos." She smiled, "I wanted to ask if I could join your group."
Yuffie spoke up. "Why would you want to join this rag tag group?" she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Miya, "…unless of course you were planning on stealing all my…er, I mean our Materia!" she grinned triumphantly.
Miya shook her head. "No, no, nothing like that. I just wanted to help you! Where you ever get the idea of me staling your Materia? I have my own." She took out a few red, green, and blue Materia to prove her point.
Yuffie blushed, turning her head away; but not before catching the types of Materia that Miya held out.
"What can you do to help us?" Tifa asked, somewhat skeptical of what the young girl could do.
Miya grinned, pulling out her short bow and 3 silver tipped arrows as her tarmatrai flew quickly into the air, his gray eyes gleaming dangerously. Miya held all 3 arrows on the bow at once and pulled the string back, all done as quick as lightning. "Demonstration?" she asked, pointing the bow at each person, who each in turn stepped back. She shrugged, and pointing the bow upward at the hanging chandeliers, knocked all three down in an instant after releasing the string. They fell to the ground with a loud crash. "And Dusty here can do a pretty good job of slicing any enemy." She motioned towards the hovering tarmatrai, who was flying above the onlookers' heads.
The five spectators stood with their mouths wide open. Cid nodded his head briskly. "She's in." he replied, gaining nods from the rest of the group.
Miya smiled appreciatively then walked over to the front desk where a clerk sat; dazed. "Sorry about the chandeliers," she said, placing a bag of gil onto the counter. "Ten-thousand gil oughta pay for it, right?" the clerk looked from Miya to the bag of gil, then nodded his head vigorously when he realized that she was serious, and then ran into the inner room.
She turned around to face the group. "So… are we gonna go?" she asked.
Cloud snorted. "Stupid PHS!" he grumbled.
Cait Sith stepped up beside him. The cat-like Cait looked down at the black device in Cloud's hands. "What happened?" he asked. "Is it dead? The speaker's blown?"
Cloud nodded, grumbling as he fumbled to return the PHS to its original location. "Well I guess we should get going. We're…almost there." His voice dropped off flatly, almost like he was trying to withhold his emotions, but they kept slipping, evident in his rich tone.
He turned from them, afraid that his voice would reveal his feelings, and shut his crystal blue eyes, pushing his worries somewhat away. He softly opened them from their tightly shut position and sighed thoughtfully, taking a step forward to signal his readiness to move on. "By the way," he began, his voice more uplifted and spirited then before, "Yuffie said that the group has found Scythaera." He glanced around as his friends cheered. "But…" he held up his hand wistfully, "…she got away. Sephiroth chased her into the ocean. I told them to take the sub and go after her."
Red XIII lightly shook his head. "Is that when the PHS went dead?" he asked.
Cloud thought for a minute. "No…Yuffie said something about her and the others seeing someone. Then it kinda blanked out. She sounded excited about it though." He scratched his head, looking at the sea-like land that surrounded the Forgotten City.
Red XIII watched as Cloud once again started forward, lost in his thoughts and emotions. Cloud, Red thought to himself, why won't you just show your emotions? Hadn't he, Red XIII, been there when they went into the Temple of the Ancients with Aeris? Cloud had been afraid of bringing Aeris along lest she get hurt. And wasn't he there when they had defeated the Demon Wall and Cait Sith came in, when Aeris asked for Cait Sith to predict how 'compatible' her and Cloud were? Of course that fortune resulted as Cloud and Aeris being perfectly compatible, leading for a great future, and Cloud's eyes were so clear and happy then, unlike now when their blueness is shadowed in a dreary mist.
And when Sephiroth had taken control of Cloud's body and caused Cloud to hit Aeris, he was there too, seeing how immensely stressed out Cloud had been about his involuntary action when he awoke from his dream. And one major time when he, Red XIII, had been by Cloud's side: the night of Aeris's sudden horrifying death. Cloud had woken up in the dead silence of the night, telling them that he knew that Aeris was there, he could feel her calming presence in his soul; and Sephiroth's fearful presence also. Cloud woke them up, worried deeply for Aeris's life.
Red XIII, Cloud, and Cait Sith ran along the crystal-lined path through the growing darkness, reaching a calm shining lake by a conch shell building. Cloud led them into the building, guiding them upward in the spiral building to where he felt-where he knew-where Aeris was.
The large orange, white, and black striped clown fish that once lay in the center of the shell-like building was gone, and an opening lay there that led to shimmering crystal stairs. Cloud had nodded grimly towards the opalescent stairway, heading down the stairs quickly, fueled by the dreaded fear in his heart.
They reached the bottom of the stairs, panting to keep up with a frenzied Cloud. They looked before them at the pedestal-like stones that led up to a circular marble alter; where Aeris was, praying earnestly for the whole Planet.
Without hesitation, Cloud leaped onto the first stone column, his boots causing echoes to beat hollowly through the open room. Cat Sith proceeded to follow, but Cloud turned around and motioned for him not to come. Cait Sith looked inquiringly over at Red XIII, who nodded in agreement to Cloud's response.
They watched silently as cloud jumped from step to step, column to column, finally reaching the large pedestal, slowly approaching the kneeling Aeris.
To their utmost surprise and horror, Cloud, his hands shaking and body trembling, lifted his sword above the Cetra's bowed body.
Red XIII had thought that Cloud had gone crazy, attempting to kill the one he so cared about. Then something clicked in his mind as him and Cait Sith shouted urgently for Cloud to stop. Sephiroth…! Sephiroth was controlling Cloud!
Cloud, still trembling violently, had moved his arm, almost throwing his weapon in rage and confusion, when it happened. They all watched in horror, frozen in place, as a ghostly figure began to descend above the now alarmed Aeris. His long silvery hair flowed in his descending gale, whipping about his hard-set face. His sword alighted quickly with him, pointing menacingly at the innocent woman that lay kneeling at the altar; and they all knew and feared what happened next.
The long sword plunged slowly into her back, continuing until it drove right through her pure heart.
"Aeris…!" Red XIII heard Cloud say, the words barely audibly, much less a whisper in the wind; as Aeris gasped, closing her eyes and falling, lifeless, to the earth.
Cloud caught Aeris in his outstretched arms, looking at her still form with pleading eyes, wishing that it all had been a nightmare like it seemed. What they all had wished.
After the sullen battle with one of Sephiroth's Jenova monsters, cloud held Aeris tightly in his arms, unwilling to depart with her when he had to lay her to rest in the calm lake where all of it had happened.
No one knew exactly the reason why cloud had been so vengeful of Sephiroth, except for him, Red XIII. He saw the tremendous pain in cloud's usually tranquil blue eyes; he had seen it all. If only Cloud would himself and the others see more of it…
"…Red?" Cait Sith called, bringing Red XIII back from his past memoirs.
Red XIII looked up at his moggle friend, nodding quick reassurance to him. He sprang forward, the muscles in his body propelling him forward like a red rocket. He reached his friends after one lightning fast bound, the feathers upon his head waving restlessly in the breeze. He nodded silently as Cloud's determined gaze fell upon him.
"Lets go." Red XIII called, bounding in front of them. "We're just about there!" he turned his head to catch Cloud's sharp nod, then ran forward, his friends, especially Cloud, quickly gaining on him.
Scythaera folded her glimmering wings tightly to her back, diving straight down into the gleaming icy water below. `Hang on tight Aeris!` she spoke silently to her friend.
Aeris opened her eyes to the sight of water around her, yet she was floating in an airtight bubble. "Wha…! Scythaera?" she called softly, focusing her blue-jade eyes to the wavering colors of the sea. The azure water rushed around the bubble that encased her, small silver and blue fish scattering into nearby holes and shadows.
`I am right here.` Scythaera replied, her telepathic-like voice spoke softly and calmly in Aeris' mind. Aeris carefully turned her head to see the silver dragon swimming swiftly beside the bubble, guiding it along. She instinctively utilized her wings like massive fins, narrowing them to create a sleek "V" shape. She turned her narrow, metallic head to look at Aeris, smiling a draconic smile. `I placed you in the bubble so you could breathe. Human's can't breathe underwater, I am correct?`
Aeris nodded, grinning at her friend. "Yes." She replied. Scythaera nodded, turning her head to face forward again in one graceful sweep of her head.
As Aeris watched the Ancient Beast swim, it calmed her nerves. Scythaera's head was long and thin, falcon-like in appearance, excluding the tearing hooked beak. She looked surprisingly similar to Bahamut, with a much smaller appearance. Scythaera's eyes were a bright bluish green, and the ridges above her eyes were like a small wave of shallow spikes. Starting a little above her eyes, on the top of her head lay a long, thin scythe-like blade that curved, almost parallel, down to about her jaw level, ending in a sharp point. Protruding from the back of her jaw line, the area where her jaw and neck met, was two small blade-like fins, one on each side of her jaw.
Scythaera's slender body swayed gently with the current of the water and Aeris giggled lightly, watching her silver tail wave in the strong current. The blade on the end of her tail kind of reminded Aeris of a butterfly, for it was shaped so. Like a butterfly with razor sharp wings, Aeris thought, giggling some more.
Scythaera suddenly stopped, spreading her wings to slow her movement. The bubble swirled around slowly, stopping also. `We must go.` Scythaera calmly stated. `I've been summoned…`
Cid jumped into the pilot seat of the old Shinra sub, leaning forward in the black leather chair to press and flip the necessary buttons and switches.
"What makes you think that you're gonna drive the sub?" Yuffie called angrily as she climbed down the ladder into the sub.
Cid swiveled the chair around, facing Yuffie. "For one: I have experience, and for two: you, Barret, Tifa, or Vincent would probably drown us all!" he turned the chair back around and flipped one last switch, igniting the engine. "Besides, you'd probably get water sickness!" Yuffie snorted and huffily sat down.
After everyone was inside the sub, Cid submerged them into the dark depths of the massive ocean. They had flown on the Highwind from Icicle Inn, bringing along their new ally Miya and her small tarmatrai named Dusty. She also brought along one of her flying chocobos, a special breed of chocobos with larger, stronger wings that enables them to fly with up to two people on each.
After leaving Junon Harbor where the sub was kept, they boarded the old sub, leaving the violet flying chocobo on the sub.
"We're searching for Scythaera?" Miya asked. "That name sounds so familiar…" she sat down in one of the seats. "Oh yeah… when I was little, my mom taught me all about the Ancient Beasts. But that was before my parents died and I was left alone…" she sadly stroked Dusty, who rubbed his sand colored head against her cheek.
Cid pointed out the sub's front window, "Guys, its Scythaera!"
Everyone dashed to the front, looking out window. "…And Aeris!" Yuffie exclaimed.
Cid directed the sub closer when the dragon stopped, and then…disappeared.
"What…happened?" Barret shouted.
Miya quietly stepped away from the window. "Scythaera transported. That means she must've been summoned." She sat back down in her seat.
"Summoned?" Tifa cried, "That means that Cloud found the Materia!…"
"…Or Sephiroth…" Vincent warned tentatively.
Cid stepped over to Miya. "I'll bring us to the City of the Ancients." He turned to her. "Meanwhile, Miya, tell us all you know about the Ancient Beasts…"