Chapter One of the Crossroads Stories
"Cloud! We did it!" Barret clapped Cloud on the back, nearly sending the smaller man sprawling.
"Indeed, lets go to Cosmo Canyon to celebrate." Red XIII stated, treading toward the Highwind.
Cloud nodded, "Sounds good to me. Lets go."
He led the group onto the Highwind Tifa at his side. Yuffie was the last one to board, "Can't we just ride the Chocobos?" she muttered.
"Uh.....NO." Red answered.
Soon, they were all gathered around the eternal fire, reminding each other of the better adventures during their quest.
Suddenly, a strong wind buffeted them. The eternal flame flared brightly then seemed to disappear.
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Slowly a moon faded into view, the eight companions found themselves in a dark alley. "Where the Hell are we?!" Barret growled.
Tifa edged closer to Cloud as he answered, "Who knows, this doesn't seem like anyplace I've been before."
"Stop right there, Negaverse scum! In the name of the moon, I, Sailor Moon, will punish YOU!"
"YO! What'd the hell did we do!?!" Barret yelled.
"You are the minions of the Negaverse, and because of that, I must stop you before you carry out your evil plan!"
"And so will we!" The rest of the Sailor Scouts appeared behind Sailor Moon. Luna and Artimis fell into step. A rustle of cloth and a faint smell of roses on the air proved Tuxedo Mask was nearby.
"Listen, we're not who you think we are!" Cloud started.
"Yeah, right!" Lita grumbled, "Like we'd fall for that!"
"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!" The alley was filled with fog.
"What's going on?" Tifa asked.
"I don't know," Cloud answered as he pulled out the Ultima Weapon. Tifa could barely see its glow in the mist. "Best be ready!"
With a cry of rage, Cloud launched himself into the air, raising his sword high. Serena watched him hover above her. She dropped to the ground with a wail as he fell toward her.
Out of nowhere, Tuxedo Mask appeared deflecting Clouds sword with his cane. "Stop!" he yelled. The fighting ceased, everyone looked at him. "These people are not from the Negaverse, Sailor Moon. They are not from this world, but they are not evil."
"At least someone here understands that." Cid muttered, as soon as the words left his mouth, a familiar wind began to blow. "Ah Shit!" He cried.
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Darkness enveloped them again, slowly their eyes adjusted, the sky was cloud covered, dark and dreary. They were standing in a courtyard of a castle. "Where are we? I want to go home!" Serena whined.
Cloud looked around, Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Scouts, Tuxedo Mask, and the other cats had joined them for the trip. He shook his head, there was too much he didn't understand. Re-sheathing the Ultima Weapon, he sat on the grass. "Since we don't quite know what is going on, we need to work together. To make that easier, we should find out each others' names. I'm Cloud, and I know you are Sailor Moon." Nodding at Serena he then looked at the others, "How about you all?"
After the girls told their names, Luna and Artimis stepped forward. "I'm Luna and he is Artimis. The young man back there is Tuxedo Mask."
Cloud gawked, "I understand that Red can talk, but cats?"
"We're very special cats." Artimis replied. "what are your names?"
"Well, that's Tifa, Barret, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Cid, Yuffie, and Vincent."
"And my name is Goliath." A deep voice growled from the shadows. A huge lavender creature stepped before them, "What are you doing here?"
"We'd love to tell you, but we don't know. We're just here." Cloud shrugged.
"What are you?" Sailor Mercury asked.
"My clan and I are gargoyles."
"C-C-Clan?" Yuffie squeaked.
Goliath nodded, "Hudson, Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington, and Bronx." As Goliath mentioned their names, the gargoyles stepped from the shadows. Cloud nodded, "Now what?"
"Me thinks it'd be a good idea to find out how you got here." Hudson said.
"Fat chance!" Yuffie muttered.
"Yeah, all we felt was a wind." Sailor Venus added.
"Anything like the one heading this way?" Brooklyn asked, motioning to the wind that just hit the grass on the other side of the courtyard.
"Yeah...." Tifa answered. The wind hit harder than before, forcing them to close their eyes.
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The wind ceased and they opened their eyes, they found themselves in a bookstore. The workers stared at them strangely. To the right, there was a small coffee house built into the store. The only customers were two girls, nursing bottles of Surge. They paid the new arrivals no heed.
"Ah, #@$$%#@//$&#@!!!" Barret yelled.
The two girls blushed, one looked at the other seriously, "I always wondered what those keyboard symbols meant." She looked over at the group, an expression of surprise crossed her face then she smiled. "Jill, something very...interesting in going on."
The other girl turned around and gasped. She grabbed the other girl's shoulder and pulled her down, whispering. The other girl nodded and Jill giggled. She received a glare from her friend before they rose and walked over to the group. The first girl had long brown hair, most of it tied back in a ponytail. Some of the hair had fallen around her face. She stood about the same height as Cloud, standing straight and proud. She had a confident air and a smile on her face as well as in her hazel eyes. She wore a full black skirt with a vintage crochet skirt over it and light sandals on her feet as well as about five anklets, a silver dragon twinkled from her neck. She wore decorative shirt and a velvety long-sleeved shirt was worn over that. The other had long wavy blond hair, cascading down her back. She also wore a full skirt, but hers was purple, so dark it was almost black. She wore soft black shoes and little jewelry. A silver necklace carried an unseen charm. She was two or three inches shorter but perfectly mimicked the first girl's confidence. Her smile was more mischievous and taunting.
They walked up to Cloud, the first girl glanced at the group, then turned her attention to him. "Hello, Cloud. My name is Cindy, this is my friend Jill." She looked behind her, Jill wasn't there. A quick survey of the room showed she was standing next to Tuxedo Mask, flirting. Cindy's face turned dark, "JILLIAN!" she yelled.
"What?"
"Get over here! He's already spoken for!"
"But......" Jill started to whine.
"I don't want to want to break up a fight between you and Serena, behave yourself!"
In a very good imitation of Serena, Jill whined her way back to Cindy's side. Sailor Mars muttered to Sailor Moon, "I thought you were the only one who could sound like that."
"How do you know my name?" Cloud asked,
"Are you sure you want to know?" Cloud nodded. "All right, you and your friends are from a video game. Sailor moon and her crew, as well as the Gargoyles are from a couple of TV shows. A couple of Jill's and my favorites, I might add."
"Do you know what is going on?" Goliath asked.
Cindy frowned, then shook her head. "I wish I did. As far as I know, we didn't have the right kind of magic in this dimension. Lets go back to my home, perhaps we can find something on my computer."
"Sounds good to me." Cloud decided. "Let's go."
Jill whispered to Cindy. "Yes, I know not all of them will fit in my car."
"My clan and I can carry the Sailor Scouts and fly there. Bronx can run, and if someone is willing to try, he can take a rider."
"That still leaves eight people, I'm sorry but a Volkswagon Cabriolet can't fit that many. Jill. what about your mom's station wagon?"
"That would help, wouldn't it?" Jill smirked.
Cindy rolled her eyes and sighed. "Goliath, could you fly Jill to her house to get that car? We'll wait for you here."
After they left, Cindy walked outside, flopped down on a bench, and sighed. "This is really weird."
"You're telling' me!" Cid answered, lighting a cigarette. "Ending up in. what'd you call it, a different dimension."
"No, my Surge hasn't kicked in. With that much caffeine, Jill and I are usually feeding off each other, causing a build-up of hyper-activity. With the characters we've had crushes on for who knows how long actually here, I should be in a Primordial hissy-fit."
Cid sat next to her, "Crushes? On who?"
Cindy smiled. "Caffeine's finally working, I feel better now.... Let's see, Jill has crushes on Goliath, Darien, Vincent and Cloud."
"Whose Darien?"
"Tuxedo Mask."
"Who do you have crushes on?" Red wondered, placing his head on Cindy's knee. She began to scratch underneath his chin with on e hand and behind his ear with the other. "The wolf-cat," she murmured. "I've only seen one other person mention your canine part. Everyone else only sees the lion."
"Mmm..." he growled, eyes half closed.
"So, who DO you have crushes on?" Yuffie asked.
Cindy blushed, then giggled faintly, "Jill says I'm boy crazy...That I like just about any guy."
"You're avoiding the question, " Yuffie interrupted bluntly.
"All right gosh! I've always liked Darien, Brooklyn, Cloud, Vincent, Red,
and........"
"And who?!" Yuffie asked.
Doubt flickered in Cindy's eyes, "Jill likes him too...."
"So who is it?" Cid pushed.
A sound very much like a whine left Cindy's throat, "...Sephiroth."
"WHAT!!!!" Cid yelled. Cindy cringed.
"I knew it, I knew!" she muttered, covering her ears.
"Are you crazy girl?!? He was a killer, power-hungry and bent on becoming a GOD!"
Cindy looked up angrily, "Do you think I didn't know that?!" She snapped. "But without that, he was just a face. And that's all I saw, his drop-dead gorgeous face, so DEAL WITH IT!" she glared at Cid a hint of a snarl in her face, her eyes daring him to lecture her further. The others stared in silence. Cindy moved Red's head and rose, looking regretful at her outburst that everyone had heard. Goliath swooped down, rubbing his ears. "I forgot to mention she was afraid of heights, didn't I?" Cindy smiled, the complete opposite of the attitude she showed a moment before.
"Yes." Goliath growled.
"Talk about a mood swing." Sailor Mars muttered.
Cindy looked at her with a grin, "Get used to it."
With a squeal of tires, a station wagon pulled up in front of the bookstore. Cindy opened the door and looked inside, smirking. "He tried....to kill me, he tried...to kill me...We....almost...ran into....a BUILDING!" Jill said, her face ash white and voice raspy from screaming.
Cindy laughed, some of the others had faint smiles, Serena giggled. "You're on the ground now, Jill. Come on, lets get going." She thought a moment. "Cloud, Tifa, Cid, and Vincent... Get in Baby, my car, it's the goldish convertable over there. It'll be a tight fit, but that's what Volkswagens do best. Cait, you sit in the front seat with Jill.
Barret, you get in the very back. I think we can fit Serena, Rei, Amy, and Mina in the middle, Luna and Artimis can ride on your laps. All that leaves is Darien, Lita, and Yuffie."
"We can carry them easily enough." Hudson mentioned in his Scottish brogue.
"I am NOT flying! NO WAY!" Yuffie yelled.
"Fine then, ride Bronx." Cloud decided. "He's almost as big as a chocobo."
The group piled into the cars, save the gargoyles, Lita, Red, Darien, and Yuffie.
Goliath gently lifted Lita up and climbed up the side of the building. Hudson followed suit and lifted Darien and climbed up the side of the building, the rest of the gargoyles followed then waited.
"Nice gargoyle, good boy." Yuffie whispered tentatively. Bronx whined and licked her hand, his tail wagging. She eased herself onto his back as Red chuckled. "Shut up, Red!"
"Why should he, you do look funny!" Jill cried, giggling. They started the cars and drove away.
Soon they were driving down a country road, the gargoyles flying overhead and Red and Bronx running along side. A couple miles out of town, Cindy pulled into a driveway. A large two-story home was their destination. "Good thing my parents are on a trip," Cindy murmured as they got out of the cars, "this would be VERY hard to explain."
"What about your sister?" Jill asked.
"Who knows, she's somewhere other than here. They never bother to tell me." Cindy let everyone inside, "anything I can get you, drinks? Food?"
"Just point me to the Liquor cabinet." Yuffie cried.
"Yuffie, you're younger than me! You're not old enough to drink here. Jill, bring the soda's up, I'll see what real food we actually have."
Tifa stepped forward, "I can cook, if you want to get started on finding out what's going on."
"Hey thanks. Pots are there, utensils in that drawer, plates, cups, silverware..."
Cindy gave Tifa a quick tour of the kitchen before going into the computer room.
Cloud followed her in, then Goliath, Darien, and the Sailor Scouts. "Okay, that's enough people, everyone else can convene in the living room, watch TV or something!" She cried as she sat down in front of the computer.
She opened her net-browser and her e-mail, then connected to the Internet. "I'll check my e-mail, then do a search to see what I can find." Several messages appeared in her in-box. "Hmmm, this is strange."
"What?" Cloud asked.
"A bunch of my FFVII friends are freaking out. Some guy is saying he's Sephiroth . . . CaitBoy says he has very convincing proof. Good, he forwarded it to me.....Oh my god......JILL!!!!!!!!!"
"What, sweety?" Jill flaunted in. Cindy motioned to the computer screen. "Is that.....?!?"
Cindy nodded. They stared at the screen, the GIF attachment was a scanned in photograph. A photograph of a very live, very real Sephiroth.
"Sephiroth!" Cloud spat. "What is he doing here?"
"Just a sec.. CaitBoy says he put everything on his page. Even reply e-mails from when people wrote this Seph-person asking questions." She quickly clicked on her Internet friends link.
"Sephiroth is here!" The heading yelled. There was the picture of Sephiroth and several text blocks of different E-mails.
"He doesn't know why he's alive. He remembers you defeating him, Cloud. Right as his mind went dark it was like he woke up here. He says he wants revenge against all your group, that's why he brought you here." Cindy read further, "Here's his e-mail address! I'll invite write him and see if he'll tell me where he is." She quickly typed the message and sent it out.
"Food's ready!" Tifa called.
Cindy sniffed, "Mmm, that smells like something that'll revel my mom's cooking. It certainly must be better than what I've been eating this week."
Jill helped Tifa serve the food, then everyone gathered in the living room. Cindy and Jill sat on the hearth, everyone else crammed in where they could. The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo mask had de-transformed. Cindy elbowed Jill when she began to stare at Darien with a calculating look on her face.
After everyone finished eating, Cindy cleared her throat. "Here's what we found out, and what we've figured out from that. Sephiroth is here and somehow he found a way to bring AVALANCHE here too. But something went wrong and instead of coming straight here, AVALANCHE jumped through Sailor Moon's and the Gargoyles' dimensions. Somehow everyone else got dragged along for the ride."
"Do you know where he is?" Barret asked.
"No, I e-mailed him to see if he'll reveal himself, now all we can do is wait."
"Hey, Cindy, do you mind calling off this Fuzz-Ball?" Yuffie cried. She was sitting on the floor getting her face washed by Buffy the cocker spaniel.
"Sure, no prob... Buffy, want to go out?" The cocker bounded to the front door, her stub of a tail wagging ferociously. Cindy hooked the chain to Buffy's collar and let her out. The dog bounded off the porch with the beginnings of a growl.
Cindy laughed at her old dog's habit but a started yelp drew her attention. Buffy dashed on to the porch favoring a paw and trembling. "Jill! Come here . . . Somebody hurt Buffy."
"What? Why would anyone do that?" Jill followed Cindy onto the porch.
Cindy knelt next to her dog examining her leg. She gently messaged it, searching for an injury. Buffy stopped trembling and wagged her tail slightly. Cindy released her and let her inside.
"How do you do that?" Jill asked.
"Do what?" Cindy walked off the porch, peering into the darkness.
"Heal your dogs . . . They always get better."
"I don't know, I just do." Cindy silently cursing her neighbor's lights. Her eyes would be able to adjust to the dark if it weren't for them. She knew this much, someone was there. She could sense them, just out of sight. "Come out!" she yelled. "I know you are there!"
"But you can't see me." A man's voice purred.
Cindy barred her teeth. "Doesn't matter, a werewolf doesn't depend on it's eyes alone. Why are you lurking outside my home?"
The man chuckled. "I heard you picked up some friends at the bookstore."
"Sephiroth....." Cindy gasped.
The man materialized behind her bring his musame blade up to her throat. He wrapped his other arm around her, pinning her arms to her sides. "In the flesh."
"Sephiroth!" Cloud barked, leading the group into the yard.
"Stop right there, Cloud. I'll deal with you after I'm done chatting with your friend." He brought the blade closer to Cindy's throat, drawing a faint trickle of blood.
"Don't hurt her!" Jill cried. She turned to the group.
Tifa was holding Cloud back. "Cloud don't! You're not fast enough, none of us are."
"Then what can we do?" He asked, "I can't just stand here, I can't just not try!"
"Wait... I have and idea." Jill turned to Sailor Moon. "Do you think you can heal him?"
"I- I don't know, I can try." Sailor Moon pulled out the moon scepter. "MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!" Serena yelled. A great light hit Sephiroth, knocking Cindy away.
Jill rushed to her, "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, thanks."
Sephiroth let out a straggled cry. "What have I done?" He croaked faintly. HE was on his knees supporting himself on the musame blade. Cindy looked at him. "It worked, Jill, you're idea worked. He's different now, I can feel it."
"Argh!" Cloud broke free from Tifa and raced on Sephiroth.
Cindy and Jill flung themselves in the way. "Cloud, no!"
Cindy was facing him as he brought up his sword. She closed her eyes, praying he could stop in time. She felt a wind brush her face then opened her eyes. Cloud stood in front of her, breathing hard. The Ultima Weapon was less than and inch from her head. She thanked Sirius and breathed a sigh of relief.
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He lowered his sword, "Why did you stop me? Sephiroth deserves to die for all he's done."
"No, he is different now. He is not the same man that he was." She looked behind her. Jill was sitting in front of Sephiroth whispering to him. Cindy patted Jill's shoulder then touched Sephiroth's head.
He looked up. "I'm sorry, Miss Cindy. Your friend has made me realize how wrong I was . . ." He stood up. "I understand a simple apology will not ease the pain I've caused many of you, but it is all I have . . . I am sorry."
"I know at least one person forgives you, Sephiroth." Cindy added, touching his shoulder. A look of confusion came to her when she looked past him. Startled she looked around, rising to her toes. "Uh, where are we? This isn't my front yard."
They could see each other perfectly but everything else was a silent black. "It looks like the lifestream . . ." Tifa murmured.
"No, it's too quite. The lifestream is filled with voices." Sephiroth raised his blade. Cloud watched him like a hawk, but everyone else was looking around uneasily.
"It'd be nice to have some light." Jill commented, edging to Sephiroth's side.
"Or some sound." Cindy added.
"What would be the fun in that?" A huge voice echoed around them.
A wave of power hit them, knocking Cindy off her feet. Serena shrieked and threw herself into Darien's arms.
"Cindy, what's wrong?" Jill called. Cindy was on her hands and knees, gasping half growls. She shuddered and great blacks wings burst from her back, ripping her shirt.
With a howl, she reared up, turning into a black winged wolf. She shook violently, looking confused.
"Ha ha! I was right!" the voice cried with glee. "But what of the other?"
"Cindy?" Jill asked tentatively, approaching the wolf.
"What happened? I feel weird." the wolf looked at Jill.
"You're a wolf, dear."
Cindy yelped, "How can this be? Hey, Jill, I can feel you!"
Jill thought a moment, "Me to.... how strange."
A burst of light blinded them. When their eyes adjusted, they could see a tall shadow-man approaching Cindy. "Your magic will be mine, ShapeShifter!" The shadow cried in the echoing voice.
"Not while I'm around!" Jill shouted angrily. A great barrage of lightning struck the shadow.
It laughed. "You think a little lightning can stop me? I am stronger than you, Sorceress, and I'm definitely stronger than the ShapeShifter. Just let me touch you and you'll feel my power!"
Cindy began to snarl, with a defiant howl, she launched herself at the shadow.
Hitting it high, she sank her fangs into its Black head. The shadow grabbed her and she yelped in pain before falling limp. "You're next, Sorceress!" He cried, flinging Cindy back at the group.
"CINDY!" Jill cried.
Sephiroth knelt beside her. He felt beneath Cindy's fur. "She's alive, but her heartbeat is weak."
"Don't . . . let him . . . touch you, Jill!" Cindy whined weakly. "Combine power . . . be stronger than him . . ." Cindy's eyes closed, her breath coming in weak gasps.
"What did she mean?" Sephiroth asked.
"It's hard to explain, I'm not sure if I'm right. Could you carry her?" Jill screamed as the shadow man leapt at her, then dodged out of the way.
Sephiroth gathered Cindy in one arm and slashed at the shadow. They raced back to the group. "Everyone hold hands, we need to combine our power to beat him!" Jill cried. "If we don't, he'll probably kill all of us!"
"That's right! I'll take all your magic, no matter how insignificant they are!"
Jill concentrated, drawing magic from everyone around her. She could feel the power building. "What are you doing!" That shadow-man cried. "Stop that!"
She worked the power into a spell intent on destroying the evil shadow and taking Cindy's magic back. She flung the spell at him, "NOOOO!" He screamed as he faded from sight.
Sephiroth laid Cindy down. "She's still alive, her breathing is stronger."
Jill stroked her friend's fur, scratching behind her ears. Suddenly, Cindy sprang to life, knocking Jill flat. She began to lick the other girls face while her tail fanned the air.
"Eww, Wolf drool!" Yuffie groaned as the rest of the group laughed.
"Get off me, Cindy! I can't breathe, your paw is on my stomach!" Jill cried, shoving Cindy away.
"Jill! You understood! You saved me, you saved EVERYONE!"
"How did you find out?" Ami asked.
"I'll explain in a minute, we need a place to relax first." Cindy answered, she found the picture in her head and concentrated.
Through their newfound mental connection Jill could see what Cindy was imagining in her own mind. She also knew how to use her magic to it's fullest. With a wave of her hands, color rushed into the blackness. A mountain range ended in a high cliff. At the base of the cliff there was an entrance to a cave. Next to it an ancient tree stood, it's trunk was at least nine feet wide.
The group stood on the edge of a large meadow. At the other side a huge forest began. A small creek ran past them, feeding a wide lazy river barely insight.
"The Wereden." Cindy breathed, her tail beginning to beat against Sephiroth's legs.
"Cindy, stop that please." Sephiroth asked.
Cindy growled, then gave Sephiroth a wolfish grin. He began to back away, "Cindy . . ."
Cindy gathered herself and launches herself at Sephiroth. She knocked him to the ground and gave his face a couple of swipes from her tongue. "Sorry, Seph . . . had to be done." She dashed into the cave.
They found her standing at the base of stairs carved into the stone. "You guys are slow!" She bayed, tail whirling in a circle. "Hurry up!" She bounded up the stairs and disappeared.
Jill led everyone up the stairs and into a huge room. There was a shelf with videos, a TV and VCR, a couple beanbags and a doorway hung open and they could see a room with shelves covering all four walls and were stuffed with books. There was a gap in the shelves where a roaring fire blazed in a fireplace.
There was a table with several chairs, a small couch, and two recliners. Cindy was standing on the table. "Have a seat, as many as who can."
Barret remained standing, Bronx and Red lay on the floor next to him. The rest of AVALANCHE sat at the table along with the Sailor Scouts, Darien, Sephiroth, and Jill.
Cindy, portraying the classic begging dog, crawled on her belly to Darien, whining.
"What?" he asked, leaning back. He suddenly found Cindy in his lap, panting a smile. He looked very confused then began to scratch the top of her head. She sighed happily, totally ignoring the glares from Jill and Serena.
"Why can you do that and I'm not allowed to flirt?" Jill asked.
"Simple, I'm not flirting, I am doing what a canine does best . . . get attention."
"So what are you going to tell us?" Rei asked impatiently.
"Everything. I understand so much. That shadow-man, his name was Secudan, and he was very smart. I saw all his knowledge and felt his power when he took mine. He had nothing to hide, since he thought I was going to die."
She took a deep breath, "He's the one who brought Sephiroth to Jill's and My dimension and gave Seph the idea to bring you there. It was to distract us. For some reason, magicals are sub-consciously alert to his kind of threat. Jill and I are magicals, people or animals born with magic."
"So why'd he want you two?" Lexington asked.
"Yeah, and where are we now?" Barret added.
"Secudan wanted Jill and Me 'cause we were powerful magicals. Stealing our magic would make him even stronger. We never seemed magical before because our dimension didn't have enough magic for us to express our potential."
"This place does?" Red eyed her curiously.
"Yes, the Crossroads has much magic, the MOST magic. And to answer your question, Barret, we are at the Crossroads. A gap between several dimensions."
"So how do we get home?" Serena asked.
"I open a doorway to your dimension." Jill answered. "We can all go home with my help."
"Not all, Seph must stay here, at least. And I'm not sure I want to go back to that magicless world." Cindy stated.
"Why can't I go back?" Sephiroth asked.
"Because you don't exist there anymore, you were meant to die. Secudan broke fate to get at us. If you went back, you would be destroyed," Cindy explained her ears hanging low.
"There is a place to stay here. There's another floor with many bedrooms, PLEASE Seph, stay with us...." Jill begged.
Seph nodded, "It's not like I have much of a choice. It'd be a pleasure to stay in the Wereden with you two ladies."
"I guess it's time to go back, dawn's sure to be coming in our world." Hudson looked around the room. "It was an interesting adventure."
Jill nodded, "Everyone agree?" Nodding heads filled the room.
"It was nice to meet you, Cindy." Darien said as he got up. He patted her head. "Even if we were just along for the ride."
Jill opened the dimensional doorway and one by one, their new found friends left their lives. Soon, only three stood in the library. "Well, what now?" Cindy asked.
"Cloud! We did it!" Barret clapped Cloud on the back, nearly sending the smaller man sprawling.
"Indeed, lets go to Cosmo Canyon to celebrate." Red XIII stated, treading toward the Highwind.
Cloud nodded, "Sounds good to me. Lets go."
He led the group onto the Highwind Tifa at his side. Yuffie was the last one to board, "Can't we just ride the Chocobos?" she muttered.
"Uh.....NO." Red answered.
Soon, they were all gathered around the eternal fire, reminding each other of the better adventures during their quest.
Suddenly, a strong wind buffeted them. The eternal flame flared brightly then seemed to disappear.
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Slowly a moon faded into view, the eight companions found themselves in a dark alley. "Where the Hell are we?!" Barret growled.
Tifa edged closer to Cloud as he answered, "Who knows, this doesn't seem like anyplace I've been before."
"Stop right there, Negaverse scum! In the name of the moon, I, Sailor Moon, will punish YOU!"
"YO! What'd the hell did we do!?!" Barret yelled.
"You are the minions of the Negaverse, and because of that, I must stop you before you carry out your evil plan!"
"And so will we!" The rest of the Sailor Scouts appeared behind Sailor Moon. Luna and Artimis fell into step. A rustle of cloth and a faint smell of roses on the air proved Tuxedo Mask was nearby.
"Listen, we're not who you think we are!" Cloud started.
"Yeah, right!" Lita grumbled, "Like we'd fall for that!"
"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!" The alley was filled with fog.
"What's going on?" Tifa asked.
"I don't know," Cloud answered as he pulled out the Ultima Weapon. Tifa could barely see its glow in the mist. "Best be ready!"
With a cry of rage, Cloud launched himself into the air, raising his sword high. Serena watched him hover above her. She dropped to the ground with a wail as he fell toward her.
Out of nowhere, Tuxedo Mask appeared deflecting Clouds sword with his cane. "Stop!" he yelled. The fighting ceased, everyone looked at him. "These people are not from the Negaverse, Sailor Moon. They are not from this world, but they are not evil."
"At least someone here understands that." Cid muttered, as soon as the words left his mouth, a familiar wind began to blow. "Ah Shit!" He cried.
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Darkness enveloped them again, slowly their eyes adjusted, the sky was cloud covered, dark and dreary. They were standing in a courtyard of a castle. "Where are we? I want to go home!" Serena whined.
Cloud looked around, Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Scouts, Tuxedo Mask, and the other cats had joined them for the trip. He shook his head, there was too much he didn't understand. Re-sheathing the Ultima Weapon, he sat on the grass. "Since we don't quite know what is going on, we need to work together. To make that easier, we should find out each others' names. I'm Cloud, and I know you are Sailor Moon." Nodding at Serena he then looked at the others, "How about you all?"
After the girls told their names, Luna and Artimis stepped forward. "I'm Luna and he is Artimis. The young man back there is Tuxedo Mask."
Cloud gawked, "I understand that Red can talk, but cats?"
"We're very special cats." Artimis replied. "what are your names?"
"Well, that's Tifa, Barret, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Cid, Yuffie, and Vincent."
"And my name is Goliath." A deep voice growled from the shadows. A huge lavender creature stepped before them, "What are you doing here?"
"We'd love to tell you, but we don't know. We're just here." Cloud shrugged.
"What are you?" Sailor Mercury asked.
"My clan and I are gargoyles."
"C-C-Clan?" Yuffie squeaked.
Goliath nodded, "Hudson, Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington, and Bronx." As Goliath mentioned their names, the gargoyles stepped from the shadows. Cloud nodded, "Now what?"
"Me thinks it'd be a good idea to find out how you got here." Hudson said.
"Fat chance!" Yuffie muttered.
"Yeah, all we felt was a wind." Sailor Venus added.
"Anything like the one heading this way?" Brooklyn asked, motioning to the wind that just hit the grass on the other side of the courtyard.
"Yeah...." Tifa answered. The wind hit harder than before, forcing them to close their eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wind ceased and they opened their eyes, they found themselves in a bookstore. The workers stared at them strangely. To the right, there was a small coffee house built into the store. The only customers were two girls, nursing bottles of Surge. They paid the new arrivals no heed.
"Ah, #@$$%#@//$&#@!!!" Barret yelled.
The two girls blushed, one looked at the other seriously, "I always wondered what those keyboard symbols meant." She looked over at the group, an expression of surprise crossed her face then she smiled. "Jill, something very...interesting in going on."
The other girl turned around and gasped. She grabbed the other girl's shoulder and pulled her down, whispering. The other girl nodded and Jill giggled. She received a glare from her friend before they rose and walked over to the group. The first girl had long brown hair, most of it tied back in a ponytail. Some of the hair had fallen around her face. She stood about the same height as Cloud, standing straight and proud. She had a confident air and a smile on her face as well as in her hazel eyes. She wore a full black skirt with a vintage crochet skirt over it and light sandals on her feet as well as about five anklets, a silver dragon twinkled from her neck. She wore decorative shirt and a velvety long-sleeved shirt was worn over that. The other had long wavy blond hair, cascading down her back. She also wore a full skirt, but hers was purple, so dark it was almost black. She wore soft black shoes and little jewelry. A silver necklace carried an unseen charm. She was two or three inches shorter but perfectly mimicked the first girl's confidence. Her smile was more mischievous and taunting.
They walked up to Cloud, the first girl glanced at the group, then turned her attention to him. "Hello, Cloud. My name is Cindy, this is my friend Jill." She looked behind her, Jill wasn't there. A quick survey of the room showed she was standing next to Tuxedo Mask, flirting. Cindy's face turned dark, "JILLIAN!" she yelled.
"What?"
"Get over here! He's already spoken for!"
"But......" Jill started to whine.
"I don't want to want to break up a fight between you and Serena, behave yourself!"
In a very good imitation of Serena, Jill whined her way back to Cindy's side. Sailor Mars muttered to Sailor Moon, "I thought you were the only one who could sound like that."
"How do you know my name?" Cloud asked,
"Are you sure you want to know?" Cloud nodded. "All right, you and your friends are from a video game. Sailor moon and her crew, as well as the Gargoyles are from a couple of TV shows. A couple of Jill's and my favorites, I might add."
"Do you know what is going on?" Goliath asked.
Cindy frowned, then shook her head. "I wish I did. As far as I know, we didn't have the right kind of magic in this dimension. Lets go back to my home, perhaps we can find something on my computer."
"Sounds good to me." Cloud decided. "Let's go."
Jill whispered to Cindy. "Yes, I know not all of them will fit in my car."
"My clan and I can carry the Sailor Scouts and fly there. Bronx can run, and if someone is willing to try, he can take a rider."
"That still leaves eight people, I'm sorry but a Volkswagon Cabriolet can't fit that many. Jill. what about your mom's station wagon?"
"That would help, wouldn't it?" Jill smirked.
Cindy rolled her eyes and sighed. "Goliath, could you fly Jill to her house to get that car? We'll wait for you here."
After they left, Cindy walked outside, flopped down on a bench, and sighed. "This is really weird."
"You're telling' me!" Cid answered, lighting a cigarette. "Ending up in. what'd you call it, a different dimension."
"No, my Surge hasn't kicked in. With that much caffeine, Jill and I are usually feeding off each other, causing a build-up of hyper-activity. With the characters we've had crushes on for who knows how long actually here, I should be in a Primordial hissy-fit."
Cid sat next to her, "Crushes? On who?"
Cindy smiled. "Caffeine's finally working, I feel better now.... Let's see, Jill has crushes on Goliath, Darien, Vincent and Cloud."
"Whose Darien?"
"Tuxedo Mask."
"Who do you have crushes on?" Red wondered, placing his head on Cindy's knee. She began to scratch underneath his chin with on e hand and behind his ear with the other. "The wolf-cat," she murmured. "I've only seen one other person mention your canine part. Everyone else only sees the lion."
"Mmm..." he growled, eyes half closed.
"So, who DO you have crushes on?" Yuffie asked.
Cindy blushed, then giggled faintly, "Jill says I'm boy crazy...That I like just about any guy."
"You're avoiding the question, " Yuffie interrupted bluntly.
"All right gosh! I've always liked Darien, Brooklyn, Cloud, Vincent, Red,
and........"
"And who?!" Yuffie asked.
Doubt flickered in Cindy's eyes, "Jill likes him too...."
"So who is it?" Cid pushed.
A sound very much like a whine left Cindy's throat, "...Sephiroth."
"WHAT!!!!" Cid yelled. Cindy cringed.
"I knew it, I knew!" she muttered, covering her ears.
"Are you crazy girl?!? He was a killer, power-hungry and bent on becoming a GOD!"
Cindy looked up angrily, "Do you think I didn't know that?!" She snapped. "But without that, he was just a face. And that's all I saw, his drop-dead gorgeous face, so DEAL WITH IT!" she glared at Cid a hint of a snarl in her face, her eyes daring him to lecture her further. The others stared in silence. Cindy moved Red's head and rose, looking regretful at her outburst that everyone had heard. Goliath swooped down, rubbing his ears. "I forgot to mention she was afraid of heights, didn't I?" Cindy smiled, the complete opposite of the attitude she showed a moment before.
"Yes." Goliath growled.
"Talk about a mood swing." Sailor Mars muttered.
Cindy looked at her with a grin, "Get used to it."
With a squeal of tires, a station wagon pulled up in front of the bookstore. Cindy opened the door and looked inside, smirking. "He tried....to kill me, he tried...to kill me...We....almost...ran into....a BUILDING!" Jill said, her face ash white and voice raspy from screaming.
Cindy laughed, some of the others had faint smiles, Serena giggled. "You're on the ground now, Jill. Come on, lets get going." She thought a moment. "Cloud, Tifa, Cid, and Vincent... Get in Baby, my car, it's the goldish convertable over there. It'll be a tight fit, but that's what Volkswagens do best. Cait, you sit in the front seat with Jill.
Barret, you get in the very back. I think we can fit Serena, Rei, Amy, and Mina in the middle, Luna and Artimis can ride on your laps. All that leaves is Darien, Lita, and Yuffie."
"We can carry them easily enough." Hudson mentioned in his Scottish brogue.
"I am NOT flying! NO WAY!" Yuffie yelled.
"Fine then, ride Bronx." Cloud decided. "He's almost as big as a chocobo."
The group piled into the cars, save the gargoyles, Lita, Red, Darien, and Yuffie.
Goliath gently lifted Lita up and climbed up the side of the building. Hudson followed suit and lifted Darien and climbed up the side of the building, the rest of the gargoyles followed then waited.
"Nice gargoyle, good boy." Yuffie whispered tentatively. Bronx whined and licked her hand, his tail wagging. She eased herself onto his back as Red chuckled. "Shut up, Red!"
"Why should he, you do look funny!" Jill cried, giggling. They started the cars and drove away.
Soon they were driving down a country road, the gargoyles flying overhead and Red and Bronx running along side. A couple miles out of town, Cindy pulled into a driveway. A large two-story home was their destination. "Good thing my parents are on a trip," Cindy murmured as they got out of the cars, "this would be VERY hard to explain."
"What about your sister?" Jill asked.
"Who knows, she's somewhere other than here. They never bother to tell me." Cindy let everyone inside, "anything I can get you, drinks? Food?"
"Just point me to the Liquor cabinet." Yuffie cried.
"Yuffie, you're younger than me! You're not old enough to drink here. Jill, bring the soda's up, I'll see what real food we actually have."
Tifa stepped forward, "I can cook, if you want to get started on finding out what's going on."
"Hey thanks. Pots are there, utensils in that drawer, plates, cups, silverware..."
Cindy gave Tifa a quick tour of the kitchen before going into the computer room.
Cloud followed her in, then Goliath, Darien, and the Sailor Scouts. "Okay, that's enough people, everyone else can convene in the living room, watch TV or something!" She cried as she sat down in front of the computer.
She opened her net-browser and her e-mail, then connected to the Internet. "I'll check my e-mail, then do a search to see what I can find." Several messages appeared in her in-box. "Hmmm, this is strange."
"What?" Cloud asked.
"A bunch of my FFVII friends are freaking out. Some guy is saying he's Sephiroth . . . CaitBoy says he has very convincing proof. Good, he forwarded it to me.....Oh my god......JILL!!!!!!!!!"
"What, sweety?" Jill flaunted in. Cindy motioned to the computer screen. "Is that.....?!?"
Cindy nodded. They stared at the screen, the GIF attachment was a scanned in photograph. A photograph of a very live, very real Sephiroth.
"Sephiroth!" Cloud spat. "What is he doing here?"
"Just a sec.. CaitBoy says he put everything on his page. Even reply e-mails from when people wrote this Seph-person asking questions." She quickly clicked on her Internet friends link.
"Sephiroth is here!" The heading yelled. There was the picture of Sephiroth and several text blocks of different E-mails.
"He doesn't know why he's alive. He remembers you defeating him, Cloud. Right as his mind went dark it was like he woke up here. He says he wants revenge against all your group, that's why he brought you here." Cindy read further, "Here's his e-mail address! I'll invite write him and see if he'll tell me where he is." She quickly typed the message and sent it out.
"Food's ready!" Tifa called.
Cindy sniffed, "Mmm, that smells like something that'll revel my mom's cooking. It certainly must be better than what I've been eating this week."
Jill helped Tifa serve the food, then everyone gathered in the living room. Cindy and Jill sat on the hearth, everyone else crammed in where they could. The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo mask had de-transformed. Cindy elbowed Jill when she began to stare at Darien with a calculating look on her face.
After everyone finished eating, Cindy cleared her throat. "Here's what we found out, and what we've figured out from that. Sephiroth is here and somehow he found a way to bring AVALANCHE here too. But something went wrong and instead of coming straight here, AVALANCHE jumped through Sailor Moon's and the Gargoyles' dimensions. Somehow everyone else got dragged along for the ride."
"Do you know where he is?" Barret asked.
"No, I e-mailed him to see if he'll reveal himself, now all we can do is wait."
"Hey, Cindy, do you mind calling off this Fuzz-Ball?" Yuffie cried. She was sitting on the floor getting her face washed by Buffy the cocker spaniel.
"Sure, no prob... Buffy, want to go out?" The cocker bounded to the front door, her stub of a tail wagging ferociously. Cindy hooked the chain to Buffy's collar and let her out. The dog bounded off the porch with the beginnings of a growl.
Cindy laughed at her old dog's habit but a started yelp drew her attention. Buffy dashed on to the porch favoring a paw and trembling. "Jill! Come here . . . Somebody hurt Buffy."
"What? Why would anyone do that?" Jill followed Cindy onto the porch.
Cindy knelt next to her dog examining her leg. She gently messaged it, searching for an injury. Buffy stopped trembling and wagged her tail slightly. Cindy released her and let her inside.
"How do you do that?" Jill asked.
"Do what?" Cindy walked off the porch, peering into the darkness.
"Heal your dogs . . . They always get better."
"I don't know, I just do." Cindy silently cursing her neighbor's lights. Her eyes would be able to adjust to the dark if it weren't for them. She knew this much, someone was there. She could sense them, just out of sight. "Come out!" she yelled. "I know you are there!"
"But you can't see me." A man's voice purred.
Cindy barred her teeth. "Doesn't matter, a werewolf doesn't depend on it's eyes alone. Why are you lurking outside my home?"
The man chuckled. "I heard you picked up some friends at the bookstore."
"Sephiroth....." Cindy gasped.
The man materialized behind her bring his musame blade up to her throat. He wrapped his other arm around her, pinning her arms to her sides. "In the flesh."
"Sephiroth!" Cloud barked, leading the group into the yard.
"Stop right there, Cloud. I'll deal with you after I'm done chatting with your friend." He brought the blade closer to Cindy's throat, drawing a faint trickle of blood.
"Don't hurt her!" Jill cried. She turned to the group.
Tifa was holding Cloud back. "Cloud don't! You're not fast enough, none of us are."
"Then what can we do?" He asked, "I can't just stand here, I can't just not try!"
"Wait... I have and idea." Jill turned to Sailor Moon. "Do you think you can heal him?"
"I- I don't know, I can try." Sailor Moon pulled out the moon scepter. "MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!" Serena yelled. A great light hit Sephiroth, knocking Cindy away.
Jill rushed to her, "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, thanks."
Sephiroth let out a straggled cry. "What have I done?" He croaked faintly. HE was on his knees supporting himself on the musame blade. Cindy looked at him. "It worked, Jill, you're idea worked. He's different now, I can feel it."
"Argh!" Cloud broke free from Tifa and raced on Sephiroth.
Cindy and Jill flung themselves in the way. "Cloud, no!"
Cindy was facing him as he brought up his sword. She closed her eyes, praying he could stop in time. She felt a wind brush her face then opened her eyes. Cloud stood in front of her, breathing hard. The Ultima Weapon was less than and inch from her head. She thanked Sirius and breathed a sigh of relief.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He lowered his sword, "Why did you stop me? Sephiroth deserves to die for all he's done."
"No, he is different now. He is not the same man that he was." She looked behind her. Jill was sitting in front of Sephiroth whispering to him. Cindy patted Jill's shoulder then touched Sephiroth's head.
He looked up. "I'm sorry, Miss Cindy. Your friend has made me realize how wrong I was . . ." He stood up. "I understand a simple apology will not ease the pain I've caused many of you, but it is all I have . . . I am sorry."
"I know at least one person forgives you, Sephiroth." Cindy added, touching his shoulder. A look of confusion came to her when she looked past him. Startled she looked around, rising to her toes. "Uh, where are we? This isn't my front yard."
They could see each other perfectly but everything else was a silent black. "It looks like the lifestream . . ." Tifa murmured.
"No, it's too quite. The lifestream is filled with voices." Sephiroth raised his blade. Cloud watched him like a hawk, but everyone else was looking around uneasily.
"It'd be nice to have some light." Jill commented, edging to Sephiroth's side.
"Or some sound." Cindy added.
"What would be the fun in that?" A huge voice echoed around them.
A wave of power hit them, knocking Cindy off her feet. Serena shrieked and threw herself into Darien's arms.
"Cindy, what's wrong?" Jill called. Cindy was on her hands and knees, gasping half growls. She shuddered and great blacks wings burst from her back, ripping her shirt.
With a howl, she reared up, turning into a black winged wolf. She shook violently, looking confused.
"Ha ha! I was right!" the voice cried with glee. "But what of the other?"
"Cindy?" Jill asked tentatively, approaching the wolf.
"What happened? I feel weird." the wolf looked at Jill.
"You're a wolf, dear."
Cindy yelped, "How can this be? Hey, Jill, I can feel you!"
Jill thought a moment, "Me to.... how strange."
A burst of light blinded them. When their eyes adjusted, they could see a tall shadow-man approaching Cindy. "Your magic will be mine, ShapeShifter!" The shadow cried in the echoing voice.
"Not while I'm around!" Jill shouted angrily. A great barrage of lightning struck the shadow.
It laughed. "You think a little lightning can stop me? I am stronger than you, Sorceress, and I'm definitely stronger than the ShapeShifter. Just let me touch you and you'll feel my power!"
Cindy began to snarl, with a defiant howl, she launched herself at the shadow.
Hitting it high, she sank her fangs into its Black head. The shadow grabbed her and she yelped in pain before falling limp. "You're next, Sorceress!" He cried, flinging Cindy back at the group.
"CINDY!" Jill cried.
Sephiroth knelt beside her. He felt beneath Cindy's fur. "She's alive, but her heartbeat is weak."
"Don't . . . let him . . . touch you, Jill!" Cindy whined weakly. "Combine power . . . be stronger than him . . ." Cindy's eyes closed, her breath coming in weak gasps.
"What did she mean?" Sephiroth asked.
"It's hard to explain, I'm not sure if I'm right. Could you carry her?" Jill screamed as the shadow man leapt at her, then dodged out of the way.
Sephiroth gathered Cindy in one arm and slashed at the shadow. They raced back to the group. "Everyone hold hands, we need to combine our power to beat him!" Jill cried. "If we don't, he'll probably kill all of us!"
"That's right! I'll take all your magic, no matter how insignificant they are!"
Jill concentrated, drawing magic from everyone around her. She could feel the power building. "What are you doing!" That shadow-man cried. "Stop that!"
She worked the power into a spell intent on destroying the evil shadow and taking Cindy's magic back. She flung the spell at him, "NOOOO!" He screamed as he faded from sight.
Sephiroth laid Cindy down. "She's still alive, her breathing is stronger."
Jill stroked her friend's fur, scratching behind her ears. Suddenly, Cindy sprang to life, knocking Jill flat. She began to lick the other girls face while her tail fanned the air.
"Eww, Wolf drool!" Yuffie groaned as the rest of the group laughed.
"Get off me, Cindy! I can't breathe, your paw is on my stomach!" Jill cried, shoving Cindy away.
"Jill! You understood! You saved me, you saved EVERYONE!"
"How did you find out?" Ami asked.
"I'll explain in a minute, we need a place to relax first." Cindy answered, she found the picture in her head and concentrated.
Through their newfound mental connection Jill could see what Cindy was imagining in her own mind. She also knew how to use her magic to it's fullest. With a wave of her hands, color rushed into the blackness. A mountain range ended in a high cliff. At the base of the cliff there was an entrance to a cave. Next to it an ancient tree stood, it's trunk was at least nine feet wide.
The group stood on the edge of a large meadow. At the other side a huge forest began. A small creek ran past them, feeding a wide lazy river barely insight.
"The Wereden." Cindy breathed, her tail beginning to beat against Sephiroth's legs.
"Cindy, stop that please." Sephiroth asked.
Cindy growled, then gave Sephiroth a wolfish grin. He began to back away, "Cindy . . ."
Cindy gathered herself and launches herself at Sephiroth. She knocked him to the ground and gave his face a couple of swipes from her tongue. "Sorry, Seph . . . had to be done." She dashed into the cave.
They found her standing at the base of stairs carved into the stone. "You guys are slow!" She bayed, tail whirling in a circle. "Hurry up!" She bounded up the stairs and disappeared.
Jill led everyone up the stairs and into a huge room. There was a shelf with videos, a TV and VCR, a couple beanbags and a doorway hung open and they could see a room with shelves covering all four walls and were stuffed with books. There was a gap in the shelves where a roaring fire blazed in a fireplace.
There was a table with several chairs, a small couch, and two recliners. Cindy was standing on the table. "Have a seat, as many as who can."
Barret remained standing, Bronx and Red lay on the floor next to him. The rest of AVALANCHE sat at the table along with the Sailor Scouts, Darien, Sephiroth, and Jill.
Cindy, portraying the classic begging dog, crawled on her belly to Darien, whining.
"What?" he asked, leaning back. He suddenly found Cindy in his lap, panting a smile. He looked very confused then began to scratch the top of her head. She sighed happily, totally ignoring the glares from Jill and Serena.
"Why can you do that and I'm not allowed to flirt?" Jill asked.
"Simple, I'm not flirting, I am doing what a canine does best . . . get attention."
"So what are you going to tell us?" Rei asked impatiently.
"Everything. I understand so much. That shadow-man, his name was Secudan, and he was very smart. I saw all his knowledge and felt his power when he took mine. He had nothing to hide, since he thought I was going to die."
She took a deep breath, "He's the one who brought Sephiroth to Jill's and My dimension and gave Seph the idea to bring you there. It was to distract us. For some reason, magicals are sub-consciously alert to his kind of threat. Jill and I are magicals, people or animals born with magic."
"So why'd he want you two?" Lexington asked.
"Yeah, and where are we now?" Barret added.
"Secudan wanted Jill and Me 'cause we were powerful magicals. Stealing our magic would make him even stronger. We never seemed magical before because our dimension didn't have enough magic for us to express our potential."
"This place does?" Red eyed her curiously.
"Yes, the Crossroads has much magic, the MOST magic. And to answer your question, Barret, we are at the Crossroads. A gap between several dimensions."
"So how do we get home?" Serena asked.
"I open a doorway to your dimension." Jill answered. "We can all go home with my help."
"Not all, Seph must stay here, at least. And I'm not sure I want to go back to that magicless world." Cindy stated.
"Why can't I go back?" Sephiroth asked.
"Because you don't exist there anymore, you were meant to die. Secudan broke fate to get at us. If you went back, you would be destroyed," Cindy explained her ears hanging low.
"There is a place to stay here. There's another floor with many bedrooms, PLEASE Seph, stay with us...." Jill begged.
Seph nodded, "It's not like I have much of a choice. It'd be a pleasure to stay in the Wereden with you two ladies."
"I guess it's time to go back, dawn's sure to be coming in our world." Hudson looked around the room. "It was an interesting adventure."
Jill nodded, "Everyone agree?" Nodding heads filled the room.
"It was nice to meet you, Cindy." Darien said as he got up. He patted her head. "Even if we were just along for the ride."
Jill opened the dimensional doorway and one by one, their new found friends left their lives. Soon, only three stood in the library. "Well, what now?" Cindy asked.