Seto and I followed Lance as fast as we could, but he had a big head start on us and reached the town's entrance before us. I was slightly winded after the half-mile sprint and Lance seemed pretty worn out, but Seto appeared to be no more tired than when we began. "Here it is," proclaimed Lance with some of his excitement showing on his face, "Costa del Sol, the tropical resort of your dreams!" As we entered the town a blast of humid tropical air immediately hit us, practically knocking us off our feet. Seto huffed and puffed like he had just ran 10 times the distance he had.
"Dis air is drying out my nose," he said, "id hard to breath!" Lance and I tried to keep our smiles down to a minimum at the sight of Seto in such discomfort.
"Id not funny," he said, staring at us with a look that could kill, "led's jusd find someplace to sleep."
It was getting pretty late so we decided we should concentrate on finding someplace to stay for the night. We turned and walked up a set of stairs so that we were standing in front of what looked like a house.
"Lets try this one out," said Lance, "maybe the people here will let us in. This house used to belong to Shinra but I heard they were trying to sell it." He knocked on the door but nothing happened. "Hmmmm...," he said, "no one must be home." I looked closer at the nameplate next to the door, but in the failing light it was difficult to read...it looked like Villa Cloud, or something like that. I didn't know why but the name somehow reminded me of something, some memory that was still locked in the depths of my mind. We walked back down to the main road when I noticed a small information stand hidden underneath the stairs. A woman was standing there and she looked like she was bored out of her mind, but I decided to ask directions anyway.
"Um, excuse me," I started.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I...um, I mean, we need directions to the nearest inn."
"Ahhh," she said, her face immediately brightening, "so you're tourists huh?"
I looked at Lance and Seto and then turned my attention back to the Information Guide. "That's right," I said, "we've come from...Cosmo Canyon on vacation."
"Well that's wonderful sirs, I'm sure that your journey was long, but let me assure you that it was worth it. Costa del Sol is a paradise that will soak up your troubles and send your worries sailing away on a warm breeze." She looked a little apprehensive around Seto so he backed off a little.
"Yah, I'm sure this place is great...but it seems kinda, well, dead right now, not a lot of people anywhere."
She nodded her head, "with Meteor and Sephiroth and all no one wants to travel, everyone just stays put waiting for the world to end."
"Sephiroth!" I practically shouted, "what about Sephiroth?"
"You haven't heard?" asked the woman with a puzzled look on her face. "Sephiroth somehow summoned Meteor and now the Shinra are fighting him, trying to stop him before its too late. There's been lots of fighting and several explosions from the far north. A thing called WEAPON's been released, stopping nearly all travel from Junon Harbor, and everyone else would rather waste their money at Gold Saucer than relax at the beach. Buisness is really slow and so every potential customer is welcomed with open arms."
I figured that all this must have been happening while we were down in the Cetra Temple. I wondered if we had been down there longer than I thought.
"Thanks," I said, "but we were talking about an inn."
"Oh yes," she replied, "how careless of me! There's an inn just down the road, the man who owns it has been in a slump lately due to Meteor but he still recognizes Gil when he sees it."
"Thank you again," I said, "how much do I owe you?"
"No, no," she said waving her hands, "the information is free."
I placed 10 Gil down on the small counter in front of her. "That was excellent information," I said, "I'm sure it would have been difficult to find anywhere else." I don't know why but I was just in a beneficial mood then.
"Thank you so much," she said, "if you want to visit the bar my sister works there as a waitress, just tell her I sent you and she'll give you a discount...but be careful...she still has trouble speaking the language."
We thanked her again and walked off down the street in search of the inn. We passed the bar on our way and soon found ourselves standing in front of a wooden building set in front of a beautiful pristine beach caught in the grip of a tropical sunset. The three of us walked in and took our bearings. A man stood on a lowered section of flooring off to our right. He was playing pool and didn't look like he was interested in much of anything.
"Excuse me," Lance approached the man.
"Whadda ya want?" he asked.
"We were just wondering if you knew where the owner of this inn is?" asked Lance.
"I'm the owner...the owner of nothing really." This answer confused us but Lance continued.
"So...could we rent out a room?" Lance asked.
"Only got one room," the man said. "You got money and its yours...I don't really care."
We gave the man his money and walked up to the room. The room was actually another piece of the original floor, only raised up. There were three beds there and Seto almost immediately flopped down on one of them.
"Lets leave him alone alright," I told Lance.
"You mean Seto or the inn owner?" asked Lance.
"Both," I replied with a thin smile tugging at my lips.
Lance laughed, "Yah, well if there's nothing here for me to do I think I'll take up that guide's offer and head to the bar."
He walked out, leaving me alone with an angry Seto and a depressed hotel owner. I stared out the window for some time, enjoying the twilight. However, I soon became bored and walked down to the floor with the pool table. The hotel owner was still playing with himself and I watched off the side for some time. Finally he noticed me and turned to look at me. "You wanna play?" he asked me absentmindedly.
"Sure," I replied. He tossed me a pool stick and re-racked all the balls. We played a couple games silently but sometime around the third game he started to comment on stuff, anything that came into his head really. I think that he was actually enjoying having someone around to talk to for a change. I couldn't say the same thing for me, the man was destroying me at pool and I had started to wonder about where Lance had got off to. As I set up for the shot the owner said something that caught my attention. Of course the ball went way off the wrong way and knocked the 8-ball into the right corner pocket. Now that would have been ok except for the fact that I still had 5 balls out on the table. I dropped my stick onto the floor as the owner chuckled to himself and set up the table once again.
"What was that you were saying?" I asked.
"I was just talking about Meteor," he said.
"Could you please repeat what you said?" I asked, "I didn't hear."
"Sure," he replied, "I was just saying that Shinra don't know what they're doing. I think they're probably behind all this in the first place. I've also heard some rumors about another group fighting the Shinra up north."
"Really," I said, "what are they...soldiers or something?"
"Not sure," said the owner, "some of 'em look like soldiers anyway."
"You mean you've seen them?" I looked at him with a critical eye.
"Well rumor has it that the man who bought the Shinra estate near the town gate is the leader of this team or whatever it is."
I frowned and tried to remember the name on the nameplate, "Cloud, right?"
"That's right," said the hotel owner, "Cloud something...anyway its just rumors so I wouldn't put too much weight on them."
I nodded and thanked the owner for the pool games. He laughed and replied that he hadn't felt this good in a long time. I couldn't tell whether the talking or winning made him feel better. I walked back up to the room and lay in the bed next to Seto, who was softly snoring. I lay back and thought about everything I had learned. Somewhere in my past I knew Sephiroth, of that much I was sure. Now Sephiroth had summoned a giant meteor that appeared to be heading straight for us. Shinra was trying to stop Sephiroth (I had no doubt it was for extremely selfish reasons) and knew there was another group thrown into all this. A group led by someone named Cloud...
Then I thought of Aeris again and remembered how much I wanted to save her...to somehow bring her back from the brink of death just like I had been able to do. I slowly slipped off into sleep as I listened to waves softly lapping at the shore outside. I was walking down through a sea of colors that were seemingly infinite in its borders. As I floated through the warmth and light a darkness began to taint part of current. This shadow began to expand and the light around it slipped into the black star like it was a well of pure night. A terrified presence was rushing towards me from out of the void. Whatever it was I knew it was scared and that it was coming fast. As it drew nearer a light appeared in the abyss and grew stronger and stronger as it drew closer. Then another essence made itself apparent behind the small orb of light; a great shadow that seemed to eat at the very life sucking darkness that surrounded it. There was something about both of these essences that I recognized, but I could not put my finger on it until the small light escaped from the darkness and with a swirl of mist and light, transformed itself into Aeris.
She rushed towards me, her mouth open in a silent warning. Then I saw what was truly chasing her....Sephiroth. In an explosion of dark fire he entered the sea of light like an unworldly plague bent on destruction.
"Zack!" Aeris called out, "he's here to stop me! He's here to destroy me so that he can de-summon Holy, you have to stop him Zack...I have no more strength left." She flew behind me as the darkness descended.
"So you think to defy me again?" asked Sephiroth as he drew nearer. "I though you had learned your lesson, but I suppose I was wrong...I think you need to be taught again."
"You can't do anything to me Sephiroth!" I called back. "I defeated you and your disgusting monster of a mother!"
I could not be sure but I think he flinched at the memory.
"Fool," he replied, "I have grown much stronger since then....much stronger. My...mother...lets just say I'm in charge now. I will be one with the planet, I will rule, and then none will stand before me!"
I could sense some movement behind me. Aeris called out from my side, "no matter what you think Sephiroth, you are no more than another slave to the monster JENOVA! You will be used and discarded like all her other puppets. If you stop this madness now Holy can still stop Meteor...think of the lives you would be saving!"
Sephiroth began to shake with laughter, "haven't we already gone through this little girl?" he asked. "The Cetra knew better than anyone what happens to the dead. The lives you spoke of will come back to the planet...they will fuel me! Instead of seeing all that energy wasted I will put it to good use, and any amount of suffering is worth that!"
Aeris's eyes flashed with anger as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "You want to be a god...that all you've ever wanted, and JENOVA is just using it to manipulate you into..."
"Enough!!!" shouted Sephiroth. "Give up the girl worm and I promise I'll make your demise swift and painless."
I stared back at the black caped man and set my jaw, "No...you can't destroy her Sephiroth...not while I'm still alive."
"She is already dead! I simply want to put her meddling days to an end once and for all," he bellowed.
Aeris came close and spoke into my ear quickly but quietly. "He's too strong for you to fight now Zack," she said, "I've regained some of my power in this short interim and I should be able to elude him for a little while longer...besides, he'll soon be busy dealing with others." She didn't tell me who these others were but continued. "I need you to find my body in the Lake of the Ancients in the ruins of the Cetran city on the northern continent...the ruins are north of the Sleeping Forest. Then I need you to fly southeast, with my body, over Midgar and over the mountains south of the city. I've left another beacon there to show you the way so don't worry about that. There's a cave there with a man who can give you the final piece to the puzzle...the final piece of the Artifact. Now go! Go quickly, Meteor is ready to fall and soon Holy will no longer have the power to stop its destruction. This is our last hope. After you have the final piece I promise you'll know what to do." With that she flew from my side and was swallowed up by the color and lights. Sephiroth stared at me long and hard, as if trying to decide whether to kill me now or later. With a glare of the black fire he opened up another portal into the void and descended into it. With the passing of Aeris and the dark Sephiroth I was allowed to once more drift in peace, at least until morning came.
I awoke to sunlight streaming through the window onto my face. I got up and found Seto still snoring loudly next to me. Lance was gone but his bed had been slept in so I didn't worry about him. I got up and walked down to the main floor and could here the click of pool balls as the hotel-owner played by himself. I asked him where my friend was but all he did was point at a door. As I walked towards it I heard a toilet flush and the door unlock. Lance came out and I could see he'd taken a shower.
"Good morning Zack," he said cheerfully. "And how are you?"
"Fine," I replied, "but I don't think Seto's enjoying himself very much."
He laughed, "No...I don't think he is. So anyway Zack, just what are we gonna do? The people at the bar seemed sure Meteor was gonna fall in the next couple of days or so and I'm thinking we won't have a chance to do much of anything once that piece of rock comes tumblin' down."
"Don't worry," I replied, "Aeris visited me last night and she told me what to do."
"Really," he said, "I though you moving around in your sleep a little more than usual...so what did she say?"
"We'll wake up Seto first and then we'll talk."
Waking up Seto was harder than it sounded. When we were all finally up I decided I should tell them just what Aeris had told me. When I was done Lance let out a long whistle, "I guess we'd better get going quick if it's up to us to stop Meteor."
The two of us dashed out of the inn and down the street to the town entrance but Seto lagged behind, a concerned look on his face. As we walked towards the place where Lance had left the radar box I tried to inquire of Seto just what was bothering him. However, he was strangely silent and would not say anything more than 'nothing'. We arrived to find the Formula sitting right where Lance told us it would be, so without a second's hesitation we piled in and took off. The landscape and ocean slipped below us peacefully as we made our way north. It did not take long to reach the northern continent and in fact it was still early afternoon. The forest was not hard to spot and with Seto's help we managed to land in a deep crevasse just south of where he said we'd find the ruins. Lance had wanted to land further south and walk through the forest, saying that he'd landed in one two many canyons for his liking, but Seto insisted the forest was out of the question. After we landed it took a little while to get started, as we had to stretch our sore limbs. Finally we began the hike. It was cold but not as cold as I would have expected, in fact the chill breeze was a welcome change from the heat of Costa del Sol. We were walked down a narrow path guarded on both sides by steep white-rock walls. Seto was improving by leaps and bounds and would often run ahead by jumping from one side of the narrow gorge to the other. Soon the path began to change and the trail turned to more of a road, paved with some shell like material.
"We're getting close," Seto said as he had ended his temporary frolic to walk beside us.
"Man," said Lance, "why are you so excited? First you act like we're all about to die and now you're all happy-go-lucky...this just isn't like you."
"Sorry," he replied, "I was simply...worried before and I apologize if it bothered you. But the reason I'm so excited is because this was the first place my father ever took me as a cub. He said that it was important for me to learn about the history of the planet. That is my fondest memories...barring the birth of my son."
Finally we arrived to find ourselves amidst the ruins of an ancient tide-pool. Huge, cracked, spiral shells dotted the landscape around us as the shell path wound its way among them. But it was what was before us that got our attention. A huge forest of trees had grown up in the middle of the shell field and before us I could see a narrow blue path leading through the thick growth.
"This is one strange place," I said more to myself than anyone else.
"Yes," replied Seto, "this is the ancient city of the Cetra. Those shells you see were once the homes of a gigantic race of sea snails, now extinct, but the Ancients turned them into houses for themselves. That wood you see before you, that is the sacred tree Arelinor. The place you are seeking is, I believe in the grove of the tree."
"Wait wait wait," said Lance waving his hands, "you mean to tell us that that whole forest is one huge tree?"
"Yes," replied, "now come quickly, I do not think we have time to dawdle."
We followed him down the path and through the tree, whose branches rose far above us, making a tunnel through its depths. Then we were beyond the tree and stood within a grove completely surrounded by Arelinor. A large shell house stood before us and below it sat a tranquil pond, whose surface was as blue as the sky on a clear summer's day and reflected back the world like a mirror.
"This," said Seto, "is the place I think you were looking for. If the girl gave you accurate directions then her body must lay somewhere around here."
"Not anywhere," I said, "in there." I pointed towards the pond.
"Why would anyone be buried there?" asked Lance with a puzzled look on his face.
"Besides the temple we were just in," replied Seto, "this pond was the most sacred place to the Cetra. It is fed from springs whose origin can be traced to the heart of the planet and it has many subtle powers. It could be that whoever buried her here either knew of these powers and hoped to give the girl a place to focus her spirit from...or it could be that they placed her in this place of power by coincidence..."
I did not wait for Seto to finish but walked down to the shore of the shore and made my way out to the middle of the pond without a thought to getting wet. I felt something strange brush my foot and bent down for a closer look. It appeared to be a staff of some sort, at least the top of one; the rest was buried beneath the sand. Without a second glance back I dived into the warm water and began to dig at the wet sand. It took me a while, as the sand would often shift back down into the hole I'd make but eventually I uncovered most of the staff. As I continued to dive and dig Lance and Seto set up camp by the beach. Then as I dove down I lifted up one last handful of sand and revealed a single closed eye. I was so surprised that I leapt out of the water with a shout. I splashed water around and yelled again so as to wear off the adrenaline rush. Lance shouted at me to keep quite and Seto recommended that I be more respectful in such a sacred place so I went back silently to my work. Soon I had the whole head uncovered and I instantly recognized it as Aeris's. Before long I had dragged the whole body to shore and had placed it next to me by the fire so that we could both dry off. Seto was off doing a little exploring but Lance remained behind to watch the camp. As I sat beside the fire I stared at the face laying on the ground next to me and tried to place it with the vibrant sensitive girl who had visited me in my dreams. A shadow fell across the closed eyes and I turned around to see Lance sitting beside me. We didn't talk for a long time, but instead listened to Seto's mournful howls as they carried through the tree branches.
"Its uncanny isn't it," said Lance finally.
"Hmm..." I asked, "What's uncanny?"
"The girl," he said, "Aeris, I mean. She's been dead for some time I think but it looks like she's just sleeping...like she could just wake up at any moment."
"Yah," I replied seeing that he was correct in his assertion, it did look like she was asleep and not really dead.
Then we fell silent again, each concentrating on his own thoughts for the time being. Meanwhile, Seto's cries were caught in the breeze and carried across the starlit landscape.
"Dis air is drying out my nose," he said, "id hard to breath!" Lance and I tried to keep our smiles down to a minimum at the sight of Seto in such discomfort.
"Id not funny," he said, staring at us with a look that could kill, "led's jusd find someplace to sleep."
It was getting pretty late so we decided we should concentrate on finding someplace to stay for the night. We turned and walked up a set of stairs so that we were standing in front of what looked like a house.
"Lets try this one out," said Lance, "maybe the people here will let us in. This house used to belong to Shinra but I heard they were trying to sell it." He knocked on the door but nothing happened. "Hmmmm...," he said, "no one must be home." I looked closer at the nameplate next to the door, but in the failing light it was difficult to read...it looked like Villa Cloud, or something like that. I didn't know why but the name somehow reminded me of something, some memory that was still locked in the depths of my mind. We walked back down to the main road when I noticed a small information stand hidden underneath the stairs. A woman was standing there and she looked like she was bored out of her mind, but I decided to ask directions anyway.
"Um, excuse me," I started.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I...um, I mean, we need directions to the nearest inn."
"Ahhh," she said, her face immediately brightening, "so you're tourists huh?"
I looked at Lance and Seto and then turned my attention back to the Information Guide. "That's right," I said, "we've come from...Cosmo Canyon on vacation."
"Well that's wonderful sirs, I'm sure that your journey was long, but let me assure you that it was worth it. Costa del Sol is a paradise that will soak up your troubles and send your worries sailing away on a warm breeze." She looked a little apprehensive around Seto so he backed off a little.
"Yah, I'm sure this place is great...but it seems kinda, well, dead right now, not a lot of people anywhere."
She nodded her head, "with Meteor and Sephiroth and all no one wants to travel, everyone just stays put waiting for the world to end."
"Sephiroth!" I practically shouted, "what about Sephiroth?"
"You haven't heard?" asked the woman with a puzzled look on her face. "Sephiroth somehow summoned Meteor and now the Shinra are fighting him, trying to stop him before its too late. There's been lots of fighting and several explosions from the far north. A thing called WEAPON's been released, stopping nearly all travel from Junon Harbor, and everyone else would rather waste their money at Gold Saucer than relax at the beach. Buisness is really slow and so every potential customer is welcomed with open arms."
I figured that all this must have been happening while we were down in the Cetra Temple. I wondered if we had been down there longer than I thought.
"Thanks," I said, "but we were talking about an inn."
"Oh yes," she replied, "how careless of me! There's an inn just down the road, the man who owns it has been in a slump lately due to Meteor but he still recognizes Gil when he sees it."
"Thank you again," I said, "how much do I owe you?"
"No, no," she said waving her hands, "the information is free."
I placed 10 Gil down on the small counter in front of her. "That was excellent information," I said, "I'm sure it would have been difficult to find anywhere else." I don't know why but I was just in a beneficial mood then.
"Thank you so much," she said, "if you want to visit the bar my sister works there as a waitress, just tell her I sent you and she'll give you a discount...but be careful...she still has trouble speaking the language."
We thanked her again and walked off down the street in search of the inn. We passed the bar on our way and soon found ourselves standing in front of a wooden building set in front of a beautiful pristine beach caught in the grip of a tropical sunset. The three of us walked in and took our bearings. A man stood on a lowered section of flooring off to our right. He was playing pool and didn't look like he was interested in much of anything.
"Excuse me," Lance approached the man.
"Whadda ya want?" he asked.
"We were just wondering if you knew where the owner of this inn is?" asked Lance.
"I'm the owner...the owner of nothing really." This answer confused us but Lance continued.
"So...could we rent out a room?" Lance asked.
"Only got one room," the man said. "You got money and its yours...I don't really care."
We gave the man his money and walked up to the room. The room was actually another piece of the original floor, only raised up. There were three beds there and Seto almost immediately flopped down on one of them.
"Lets leave him alone alright," I told Lance.
"You mean Seto or the inn owner?" asked Lance.
"Both," I replied with a thin smile tugging at my lips.
Lance laughed, "Yah, well if there's nothing here for me to do I think I'll take up that guide's offer and head to the bar."
He walked out, leaving me alone with an angry Seto and a depressed hotel owner. I stared out the window for some time, enjoying the twilight. However, I soon became bored and walked down to the floor with the pool table. The hotel owner was still playing with himself and I watched off the side for some time. Finally he noticed me and turned to look at me. "You wanna play?" he asked me absentmindedly.
"Sure," I replied. He tossed me a pool stick and re-racked all the balls. We played a couple games silently but sometime around the third game he started to comment on stuff, anything that came into his head really. I think that he was actually enjoying having someone around to talk to for a change. I couldn't say the same thing for me, the man was destroying me at pool and I had started to wonder about where Lance had got off to. As I set up for the shot the owner said something that caught my attention. Of course the ball went way off the wrong way and knocked the 8-ball into the right corner pocket. Now that would have been ok except for the fact that I still had 5 balls out on the table. I dropped my stick onto the floor as the owner chuckled to himself and set up the table once again.
"What was that you were saying?" I asked.
"I was just talking about Meteor," he said.
"Could you please repeat what you said?" I asked, "I didn't hear."
"Sure," he replied, "I was just saying that Shinra don't know what they're doing. I think they're probably behind all this in the first place. I've also heard some rumors about another group fighting the Shinra up north."
"Really," I said, "what are they...soldiers or something?"
"Not sure," said the owner, "some of 'em look like soldiers anyway."
"You mean you've seen them?" I looked at him with a critical eye.
"Well rumor has it that the man who bought the Shinra estate near the town gate is the leader of this team or whatever it is."
I frowned and tried to remember the name on the nameplate, "Cloud, right?"
"That's right," said the hotel owner, "Cloud something...anyway its just rumors so I wouldn't put too much weight on them."
I nodded and thanked the owner for the pool games. He laughed and replied that he hadn't felt this good in a long time. I couldn't tell whether the talking or winning made him feel better. I walked back up to the room and lay in the bed next to Seto, who was softly snoring. I lay back and thought about everything I had learned. Somewhere in my past I knew Sephiroth, of that much I was sure. Now Sephiroth had summoned a giant meteor that appeared to be heading straight for us. Shinra was trying to stop Sephiroth (I had no doubt it was for extremely selfish reasons) and knew there was another group thrown into all this. A group led by someone named Cloud...
Then I thought of Aeris again and remembered how much I wanted to save her...to somehow bring her back from the brink of death just like I had been able to do. I slowly slipped off into sleep as I listened to waves softly lapping at the shore outside. I was walking down through a sea of colors that were seemingly infinite in its borders. As I floated through the warmth and light a darkness began to taint part of current. This shadow began to expand and the light around it slipped into the black star like it was a well of pure night. A terrified presence was rushing towards me from out of the void. Whatever it was I knew it was scared and that it was coming fast. As it drew nearer a light appeared in the abyss and grew stronger and stronger as it drew closer. Then another essence made itself apparent behind the small orb of light; a great shadow that seemed to eat at the very life sucking darkness that surrounded it. There was something about both of these essences that I recognized, but I could not put my finger on it until the small light escaped from the darkness and with a swirl of mist and light, transformed itself into Aeris.
She rushed towards me, her mouth open in a silent warning. Then I saw what was truly chasing her....Sephiroth. In an explosion of dark fire he entered the sea of light like an unworldly plague bent on destruction.
"Zack!" Aeris called out, "he's here to stop me! He's here to destroy me so that he can de-summon Holy, you have to stop him Zack...I have no more strength left." She flew behind me as the darkness descended.
"So you think to defy me again?" asked Sephiroth as he drew nearer. "I though you had learned your lesson, but I suppose I was wrong...I think you need to be taught again."
"You can't do anything to me Sephiroth!" I called back. "I defeated you and your disgusting monster of a mother!"
I could not be sure but I think he flinched at the memory.
"Fool," he replied, "I have grown much stronger since then....much stronger. My...mother...lets just say I'm in charge now. I will be one with the planet, I will rule, and then none will stand before me!"
I could sense some movement behind me. Aeris called out from my side, "no matter what you think Sephiroth, you are no more than another slave to the monster JENOVA! You will be used and discarded like all her other puppets. If you stop this madness now Holy can still stop Meteor...think of the lives you would be saving!"
Sephiroth began to shake with laughter, "haven't we already gone through this little girl?" he asked. "The Cetra knew better than anyone what happens to the dead. The lives you spoke of will come back to the planet...they will fuel me! Instead of seeing all that energy wasted I will put it to good use, and any amount of suffering is worth that!"
Aeris's eyes flashed with anger as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "You want to be a god...that all you've ever wanted, and JENOVA is just using it to manipulate you into..."
"Enough!!!" shouted Sephiroth. "Give up the girl worm and I promise I'll make your demise swift and painless."
I stared back at the black caped man and set my jaw, "No...you can't destroy her Sephiroth...not while I'm still alive."
"She is already dead! I simply want to put her meddling days to an end once and for all," he bellowed.
Aeris came close and spoke into my ear quickly but quietly. "He's too strong for you to fight now Zack," she said, "I've regained some of my power in this short interim and I should be able to elude him for a little while longer...besides, he'll soon be busy dealing with others." She didn't tell me who these others were but continued. "I need you to find my body in the Lake of the Ancients in the ruins of the Cetran city on the northern continent...the ruins are north of the Sleeping Forest. Then I need you to fly southeast, with my body, over Midgar and over the mountains south of the city. I've left another beacon there to show you the way so don't worry about that. There's a cave there with a man who can give you the final piece to the puzzle...the final piece of the Artifact. Now go! Go quickly, Meteor is ready to fall and soon Holy will no longer have the power to stop its destruction. This is our last hope. After you have the final piece I promise you'll know what to do." With that she flew from my side and was swallowed up by the color and lights. Sephiroth stared at me long and hard, as if trying to decide whether to kill me now or later. With a glare of the black fire he opened up another portal into the void and descended into it. With the passing of Aeris and the dark Sephiroth I was allowed to once more drift in peace, at least until morning came.
I awoke to sunlight streaming through the window onto my face. I got up and found Seto still snoring loudly next to me. Lance was gone but his bed had been slept in so I didn't worry about him. I got up and walked down to the main floor and could here the click of pool balls as the hotel-owner played by himself. I asked him where my friend was but all he did was point at a door. As I walked towards it I heard a toilet flush and the door unlock. Lance came out and I could see he'd taken a shower.
"Good morning Zack," he said cheerfully. "And how are you?"
"Fine," I replied, "but I don't think Seto's enjoying himself very much."
He laughed, "No...I don't think he is. So anyway Zack, just what are we gonna do? The people at the bar seemed sure Meteor was gonna fall in the next couple of days or so and I'm thinking we won't have a chance to do much of anything once that piece of rock comes tumblin' down."
"Don't worry," I replied, "Aeris visited me last night and she told me what to do."
"Really," he said, "I though you moving around in your sleep a little more than usual...so what did she say?"
"We'll wake up Seto first and then we'll talk."
Waking up Seto was harder than it sounded. When we were all finally up I decided I should tell them just what Aeris had told me. When I was done Lance let out a long whistle, "I guess we'd better get going quick if it's up to us to stop Meteor."
The two of us dashed out of the inn and down the street to the town entrance but Seto lagged behind, a concerned look on his face. As we walked towards the place where Lance had left the radar box I tried to inquire of Seto just what was bothering him. However, he was strangely silent and would not say anything more than 'nothing'. We arrived to find the Formula sitting right where Lance told us it would be, so without a second's hesitation we piled in and took off. The landscape and ocean slipped below us peacefully as we made our way north. It did not take long to reach the northern continent and in fact it was still early afternoon. The forest was not hard to spot and with Seto's help we managed to land in a deep crevasse just south of where he said we'd find the ruins. Lance had wanted to land further south and walk through the forest, saying that he'd landed in one two many canyons for his liking, but Seto insisted the forest was out of the question. After we landed it took a little while to get started, as we had to stretch our sore limbs. Finally we began the hike. It was cold but not as cold as I would have expected, in fact the chill breeze was a welcome change from the heat of Costa del Sol. We were walked down a narrow path guarded on both sides by steep white-rock walls. Seto was improving by leaps and bounds and would often run ahead by jumping from one side of the narrow gorge to the other. Soon the path began to change and the trail turned to more of a road, paved with some shell like material.
"We're getting close," Seto said as he had ended his temporary frolic to walk beside us.
"Man," said Lance, "why are you so excited? First you act like we're all about to die and now you're all happy-go-lucky...this just isn't like you."
"Sorry," he replied, "I was simply...worried before and I apologize if it bothered you. But the reason I'm so excited is because this was the first place my father ever took me as a cub. He said that it was important for me to learn about the history of the planet. That is my fondest memories...barring the birth of my son."
Finally we arrived to find ourselves amidst the ruins of an ancient tide-pool. Huge, cracked, spiral shells dotted the landscape around us as the shell path wound its way among them. But it was what was before us that got our attention. A huge forest of trees had grown up in the middle of the shell field and before us I could see a narrow blue path leading through the thick growth.
"This is one strange place," I said more to myself than anyone else.
"Yes," replied Seto, "this is the ancient city of the Cetra. Those shells you see were once the homes of a gigantic race of sea snails, now extinct, but the Ancients turned them into houses for themselves. That wood you see before you, that is the sacred tree Arelinor. The place you are seeking is, I believe in the grove of the tree."
"Wait wait wait," said Lance waving his hands, "you mean to tell us that that whole forest is one huge tree?"
"Yes," replied, "now come quickly, I do not think we have time to dawdle."
We followed him down the path and through the tree, whose branches rose far above us, making a tunnel through its depths. Then we were beyond the tree and stood within a grove completely surrounded by Arelinor. A large shell house stood before us and below it sat a tranquil pond, whose surface was as blue as the sky on a clear summer's day and reflected back the world like a mirror.
"This," said Seto, "is the place I think you were looking for. If the girl gave you accurate directions then her body must lay somewhere around here."
"Not anywhere," I said, "in there." I pointed towards the pond.
"Why would anyone be buried there?" asked Lance with a puzzled look on his face.
"Besides the temple we were just in," replied Seto, "this pond was the most sacred place to the Cetra. It is fed from springs whose origin can be traced to the heart of the planet and it has many subtle powers. It could be that whoever buried her here either knew of these powers and hoped to give the girl a place to focus her spirit from...or it could be that they placed her in this place of power by coincidence..."
I did not wait for Seto to finish but walked down to the shore of the shore and made my way out to the middle of the pond without a thought to getting wet. I felt something strange brush my foot and bent down for a closer look. It appeared to be a staff of some sort, at least the top of one; the rest was buried beneath the sand. Without a second glance back I dived into the warm water and began to dig at the wet sand. It took me a while, as the sand would often shift back down into the hole I'd make but eventually I uncovered most of the staff. As I continued to dive and dig Lance and Seto set up camp by the beach. Then as I dove down I lifted up one last handful of sand and revealed a single closed eye. I was so surprised that I leapt out of the water with a shout. I splashed water around and yelled again so as to wear off the adrenaline rush. Lance shouted at me to keep quite and Seto recommended that I be more respectful in such a sacred place so I went back silently to my work. Soon I had the whole head uncovered and I instantly recognized it as Aeris's. Before long I had dragged the whole body to shore and had placed it next to me by the fire so that we could both dry off. Seto was off doing a little exploring but Lance remained behind to watch the camp. As I sat beside the fire I stared at the face laying on the ground next to me and tried to place it with the vibrant sensitive girl who had visited me in my dreams. A shadow fell across the closed eyes and I turned around to see Lance sitting beside me. We didn't talk for a long time, but instead listened to Seto's mournful howls as they carried through the tree branches.
"Its uncanny isn't it," said Lance finally.
"Hmm..." I asked, "What's uncanny?"
"The girl," he said, "Aeris, I mean. She's been dead for some time I think but it looks like she's just sleeping...like she could just wake up at any moment."
"Yah," I replied seeing that he was correct in his assertion, it did look like she was asleep and not really dead.
Then we fell silent again, each concentrating on his own thoughts for the time being. Meanwhile, Seto's cries were caught in the breeze and carried across the starlit landscape.