Dragon Shadow was laying out in front of the cave. She'd been doing that for the last hour, after numerous failed attempts to fly. Sephiroth wasn't sure why, and Zack was glad she'd stopped. The dirt floor had noticeably increased over the past few hours. Dragon Shadow gave a lazy look to Sephiroth and Zack, who were attempting to figure out how to break whatever spell, or block that was attempting to hold her back. Suddenly, Sephiroth had a new idea. And a few minutes latter, Zack was running towards Dragon Shadow, sword drawn.

"I can't take this anymore! Die!!!!!!!"

Zack was rapidly closing the gap, when he suddenly found himself flying backwards, and crashed into the cave wall. Dragon Shadow, on the other hand, was enraged. She stood up quickly, and turned to face her attacker.

Suddenly, Sephiroth started to laugh. "I guess it worked."

Zack was trying to stand up. But he kept seeing Chocobos fly by. "Next time, I'll let you do the flying."

Dragon Shadow looked at the two like they were insane. "I fail to see the humor in the situation. Your so called friend tried to take a chunk out of me…"

But Sephiroth shook his head. "No, that was my fault. I would have done it myself, but I wasn't sure how the link would react. I was trying to get you to feel like your life was in danger. It was the only way I could think of, to try and break the block. It seems to have worked."

Suddenly, she realized what he meant. "I'm actually able to move without thinking! I'm free! Yes!"

With that, she launched herself into the sky, as if she'd been doing it all her life. Sephiroth watched, happy that he had helped someone. Zack watched too, but he wasn't as impressed. "That's nice. But could someone get me some Aspirin? My head is killing me."

Dragon Shadow turned, and landed. "Thank you. I'm sorry about your head. I wish there was something I could do…?"

Suddenly, her scales began to glow a green color, nearly the same as the green Materia. And then, there was a great flash, and Zack stood up. "Thanks. But what did you just do?"

She shook her head in confusion. "I don't know. I was just wishing there were some way that I could help you, then suddenly…"

The both looked at Sephiroth. "I believe that you may be able to use the Materia, without much effort on your part. If that is so, you must be very careful. Very careful indeed."

The sound of his voice told the others that he wasn't kidding. Dragon Shadow didn't like the implications of that at all…

CENTER* * * * */CENTER



IMeanwhile, back at the castle…/I

Chrono returned, followed by Tifa, Barret, Cid, and Cait Sith. Barret, as usual, wasn't happy about the whole situation. "Damn it Cloud! What took ya so long."

Cloud was still trying to figure out what had just happened. Which just further enraged Barret. Before he could start again, Red intervened. "We've been having some trouble."

Tifa walked over to Cloud. "What kind of trouble."

Red shook his head. "You probably aren't gonna believe this, but double trouble. There are now two Sephiroths."

Barret, as usually, had something to say, "What the hell you been doing? There's no way there's more than one of these fools. Heck, the one loose has nearly killed us several times, and has…"

Red cut him off. "I did not say the second one has tried to kill us. As far as I can tell, he's on our side. He's saved Cloud's life twice already."

It was clear that the four didn't believe him. But before a new argument could break out, another problem arose. A guard came running into the room. "My lord! The beasts are on the move."

The king looked up. "Again? No matter, I'm sure…"

But the guard cut him off. "Pardon my lord, but I don't think you understand. It's not just a small movement. Every monster is on it's way here. And there seem to be two figures leading them."

Cloud looked up. "It's her, and one of him…"

Every one looked at Cloud. Tifa looked worried. "What do you mean?"

Cloud shook his head. "It's Sephiroth. Or one of them. He's on his way here. He's after me. There's something else heading this way. It's like her, but it's not…"

Red though about it for a moment. "The spell…"

Cloud nodded. "I think so. What ever it is, it's coming this way. Fast."

Red shook his head. "This doesn't make scene. What dose she hope to gain? This world has nothing. The Materia doesn't seem to work as well here."

Cloud shook his head too. "I don't know. But I'm gonna stop it. Here, and now…"

Chrono was watching the whole incident. "Dose that mean you intend to fight the beasts on their way here?"

Cloud looked over at him. "If Sephiroth is leading them, yes. He and I have unfinished business. And I intend to see if completed. One way, or another."

The others who had come with Cloud, agreed. Except Cait Sith. "Umm, maybe I should sit this one out."

Barret didn't need another opening. "Why? Ya becoming a scardy cat?"

Cait Sith was reluctant to answer. "No, not really… It's just that…Well…"

Suddenly Cloud and Red started to laugh. "Revenge is his on this one. That's good."

Cait Sith turned, and ran from the room. Cloud and Red had fallen over laughing. The others were looking at them like they were crazy. The two finally got control of themselves, and stopped laughing. Red looked at Cloud. "You know, it's funny, except in Cait Sith's place."

Cloud nodded. "I guess we should apologize. Still, I can't believe he'd do something like that."

Tifa when over, and hit Cloud on the shoulder. "Perhaps you'd care to explain that?"

Cloud was amazed. "You haven't figured it out? Umm, maybe we should let Cat tell you."

Red, and Cloud left the room. The others were left wondering what was going on.

CENTER* * * * */CENTER

And Sephiroth advanced…
HR

Author's notes: Ok, so the last joke isn't well explained. If you figured it out, I'm impressed. If not, I'll explain it soon enough. Next chapter, I'm hoping to bring Dragon Shadow face to face with Cloud, and Vincent. That will be interesting.