Chapter 16

TRAPPED UNDER THE RUINS : REVEALED TRUTH

"Hey , isn't it the route to Ancient Capital ?", Cloud asks Cid, out of blue. Puffing his cigar expressively, the pilot replies, "Sure as hell, and we'll be there in a minute !". Cloud raises his eyebrow and turns to his friends. "Guys, I don't know how to tell this, but I got a weird feeling around here". Surely, his words catch the others' attention as they now gather around him.

"What happened ?", Tifa asks curiously. Cloud looks at her for a moment, and then turns to Aeris. "If we're close enough, aren't we supposed to see the city from above, even in the night ? Now, I don't see a thing…do you sense the same thing too ?", Cloud asks Aeris, demanding her answer.

"I guess you're right, Cloud…I agree with you, I also feel something's wrong here…", Aeris replies, her face turns to a concerned one.

"Cid ! Get your Highwind flies in low altitude ! We need to check around here !", Cloud orders Cid with loud voice. Cid shows his thumb and responds, "Sure thing, boss !".

Short time afterwards, Highwind is moving closer to the ground and now is flying around in low altitude. With guidance from Highwind light, everyone can take a clearer look on the ground below. Although they have prepared for bad thing, The Avalanche cannot stand on what their eyes tell them.

"What the…", Cloud cannot continue his words to see pile of boulders, much more like remnants of destroyed buildings. His eyes go wide to their fullest form, his heart thuds loudly. As far as his brain serves well, he never saw what he sees right now. The others let out a 'huh' sound, a sign of disbelief and confusion.

"Merciful Heaven…", Vincent whispers. Tifa, Barret, and Cait Sith stand still on their spot with their mouth opened. Aeris suddenly gasps to recognize something familiar among the ruins. She knows she cannot be wrong, she must be right, still, she cannot believe it.

"No ! It can't be !! Ancient City !!", she cries out, a very shocked tone paints her voice. The others now look at her at once. "WHATT ???!!!", they spit the confusion word in unison. Seems the worst thing has happened.

"Ancient City….?", Vincent speaks with a bit nervous tone. Even the coldest one of the party cannot hide his worried feeling. "So, the monster finally did it", Red XIII comments out his thought. "Cid ! Land Highwind somewhere nears this ruin. We've got to check this out !", Cloud orders Cid, concluding their next action. They know they have to move fast before losing their turn again.

After Highwind landed, Cloud and his comrades approach the ruins by foot. Using traveling-lights as guidance, they can now see stacks of piles everywhere, also remnants of used-to-be buildings. The Avalanches make their step carefully through the ruins, while scanning their surrounding with guard.

"These crumbled things are still fresh…", Cloud mutters to himself upon examining one of the stacked piles, "it means, that monster destroyed it short time ago". With his gruff voice, Barret adds, "It could also mean dat thing is still somewhere around here !". Cloud nods as agreement.

"That monster's here ?", Yuffie suddenly joins in with a bit frightened tone, "where could it be now ?". She holds her shuriken tighter as if she would face the enemy from one of those piles.

"If it's still here, we can't let it do more damage !", suddenly Vic exclaims. "Right, Vic !", Aeris agrees with him. "Everyone ! Let's move…to the altar…I sense something there…".

Cloud looks at Aeris for a while, and nods his head. "Let's go !".

When they finally reach the altar, they become quite relieved to see that it is still in piece. Although other part of the place is already messed up, this one does not show the sign of recent destruction. The party members look at each other with puzzled look, but they feel quite relieved to find the place is still all right.

"So you all made it here", suddenly a voice pops up from their back. Quickly, The Avalanches spin their bodies in unison and find a male figure in priest robe, smirking sarcastically to them. Both Aeris and Vic have no doubt on recognizing the figure.

"SERRAS !!"

Serras, the figure, nods his head and responds, "We meet again, pathetic Cetra…and her friends…". Cloud makes a step ahead and shouts at the figure with top of his voice. "Who the hell are you ?".

Raising his eyebrow, Serras then chuckles. His voice is so irritating. "Ask your Cetra girl…", he replies. "I'm Serras, the high priest of Dark Ancient, and I'm their leader. You ever met me before when I, in Dark High form, hit your strange flying thing…".

"What do you want ?", Vic asks Serras with cold tone. Slowly he draws Final Glitter from its sheath. Serras notices Vic's action and with his annoying chuckle, he replies, "I will make The Incarnation Day comes sooner. I already found the last Cetra, and I should…purify her….". When Serras reaches this part, Vic feels his spine frozen. The word 'purify' reminds him about his vision while he meditated short days ago. "So it's you…", he whispers, but does not continue his words.

"But before I purify your last Cetra, I need to destroy Cetra's source first, and it's here", Serras continues. "After that, I can easily swipe the last remaining Cetra, and we, Dark Ancients, will rise again in glory, claiming our rights after so long stayed beneath The Barrier !".

When Serras finishes his words, Cloud and his friends already drew their weapons. Aeris speaks up, "But you didn't make it. Cetra's source is still here, I can feel it. Also, I'm not the last Cetra, I got other Cetra here". Serras does not respond her at all. His face now turns into serious expression, he is clearly infuriated. Finally, he says, "You're right, Cetra. I can also feel it, but with your presence here, I should change my plan, I'll finish you first. Besides, you're the last Cetra indeed…this young man…he's…it's strange. He has a Cetra aura too…and it's perfectly match with yours…but…I sense something more about him…".

"Enough of this bullshit !!", Vic cuts him off harshly. "As long as I stand here, you won't touch Aeris !". Vic is going to leap forward, but surprisingly enough, with very quick motion, Serras moves his hand and an energy ball is thrown from his palm toward his foes.

"Watch out !!", Vic shouts at the others, warning the danger. Reflexively, the others jump to another safer spot. Grabbing his masamune tighter, Vic slashes the energy ball for counter attack. A loud bang is heard, and Vic is thrown away from his feet, ramming the ground with loud noise. Serras laughs madly to see he succeeded on beating his enemies. "Fool !! You can't match the supreme power of Dark Ancient !!".

"Fire 3 !!!"

"Ice 3 !!!"

"Braver !!!"

Suddenly, huge fire and ice balls are thrown to Serras. It was Cid and Tifa who casted the magic. Realizing this danger, Serras mumbles something and forms a protection sphere that wraps his body. His body is shaken when Fire 3 and Ice 3 magic hit the sphere, forcing him to step backward. Before he regains his composure, a loud yell from above already distracts him. Above Serras, Cloud is jumping down toward him, performing his limit break. Before Serras can react, Cloud is already slashing his Ultima sword downward, hitting Serras' protection sphere and breaking it. Serras gasps to know his sphere is screwed up. He then quickly jumps backward to avoid another attack.

After Cloud lands again on the ground, he gives Serras a sharp look. Not moving from his location, Serras looks at him back with sharper look. From his eyes, Cloud can tell that the priest is not even a bit afraid.

"Yay !! It'll be a piece of cake !", Yuffie jumps up cheerfully, "C'mon, Cloud ! Go get him !". However, Cloud does not move at all. Suddenly, he falls down on his knees, his face shows a painful expression.

"CLOUD !!??". The others are very surprised to see the spiky head on such pose. Aeris and Tifa quickly approach him. Tifa grows very concerned when Cloud's breath is running out quickly.

"You're dangerous, human…You destroyed my barrier and hurt me, so I gave you counter attack", Serras says. "Now, I'll finish you all !". With a mad laughter, Serras' body is starting to glow strangely.

"Ya are f&!($ ass ! I'll blast yer ass !!". Barret points his gunarm and bursts out some bullets to Serras, but his attack is futile. Serras' body is now swallowed by the strange glow, and the glow grows bigger and bigger. Vic senses something bad is coming to their way. He recalls his vision again, and he feels lightning strikes into his mind when he finally recognizes this is the same glowing light as he saw in his vision. Finally, the glowing stops growing at its peak size, the size of the monster they saw before. Gradually, the light forms a huge creature called Dark High, a very nasty monster for The Avalanche.

"I've been prepared for this !", Cid pulls out a Materia from his pocket. "Mega…", before he finishes, Dark High already strikes them with its huge claw, knocking Cid and the others away from their feet instantly. It roars so loud that it makes everyone almost deaf. Not giving any chance for The Avalanche, the monster now sends another strike. Again, everyone is hit by the claw and is severely injured. Shouts of pain are heard from everyone's mouth. Now everyone starts to cast cure and defensive spell to protect them. Chance for winning is getting slim over time since they do not see a "hole" on Dark High's tight defense. All they can do now is jumping everywhere to avoid Dark High attack.

Knowing that its enemy is getting weaker, Dark High now concentrates next attack on its main target. Turning its body to Aeris, Dark High now strikes her with its claw. With her might, Aeris blocks its attack, but it was too strong for her, thus slumping her on a pile of rocks. The attack was actually just a cover for next one as Dark High gathers an energy ball on tip of his mouth and throws it toward Aeris.

Aeris lets out an 'unhh' sound when she tries to stand up but then she gasps to see a rolling energy ball comes to her with high speed.

"AERIS !!!". Cloud and Vic shouts at her in unison, panicked. Knowing that there is no chance for Aeris to evade the attack, Cloud and Vic jumps toward her at the same time to protect her. At a moment, it seems that Cloud and Vic will reach the spot in front of Aeris at the same time, but Cloud is faster than Vic. When he finally reaches in front of Aeris, he spins his body and grabs her to remove her from harmful way. He thinks he will make it, but when he feels a hot energy hits his back, he changes his mind. Dark High's attack hits Cloud directly on his back instead of Aeris.

"CLOUD !!!". The others scream, calling his name upon seeing the attack hit him unequivocally. Cloud screams very loudly while hugging Aeris, making sure she is out of danger. Cloud feels the energy ball does not only hit his back, but also crawls into his every nerve and sends signal of heavy pain he never experienced before. Cloud and Aeris are thrown away, spinning on the air until they finally hit a stack of ruins' boulders. The boulders collapse, befalling the couple below, making a rumble noise. Seeing this as another chance, Dark High roars again and with its tail, it hits the stacks near Aeris and Cloud. More boulders fall into Cloud and Aeris who are already trapped inside.

"Noooo !!! Somersault !!!". Tifa dashes forward to Dark High, performing her limit break with full of rage. Driven by her worried feeling, she unleashes more energy and moves faster. This time, her attacks successfully hit Dark High. The monsters screams several times when Tifa's blows land on it mercilessly. With a roar of pain, the monster tries to break up Tifa's attack by flying toward the sky. The remaining party members can only see Dark High is fleeing away from the battle, yet they know they are not on the winning side.

"Guys ! Let's help Cloud and Aeris !!". Without waiting longer, Red XIII reminds his comrades on other important thing to do.

……………..

"I'm sorry…I…can't go further….I need to take a break…", Yuffie says while catching her breath. Eventually she wipes sweat dripping from her forehead. They have been scrapping the boulders that bury Cloud and Aeris for hours. Tifa glares at the Wutai ninja with vicious look. Yuffie steps back at once, she never sees Tifa looks at her like this before.

"I…I mean no harm…", she says nervously, "but…look…we all need rest…we were injured…you know what I mean ?". Tifa does not respond at all, she just keeps on scrapping the boulders and rocks with her hands. Dust and soils stick on her worried face, but she does not care. All she cares about is getting Cloud out. She cannot stand to imagine worst thing.

"Tifa, Yuffie is right…It's getting dawn now, we could use some rest for an hour, then we'll be fresh and we can dig faster", Red XIII advises Tifa. He then glances at Barret who looks worn out. "Yeah, Tifa, it doesn't mean we don't care about you and Cloud…", Cait Sith adds. Tifa stops for a moment, she then takes a deep breath to fill her lungs. Turning her face to her friends, she then speaks with low voice, "You all may take rest…I don't wanna make you tired…Go take some rest, but please come back here as soon as possible".

"And how about you ?", Vincent suddenly pops up another question. Tifa removes her hair backward and replies, "I'm still here". She can only hear Vincent lets out a faint sigh, but then she is back, removing those rocks one by one. "I'll be back later. Be strong, Tifa", Vincent says with cold voice, and then leaves Tifa.

After her friends left her, Tifa stops for a while. She looks at the remaining rocks left. There are still a lot of them. Slowly, tears are brimming on her eyes, flowing through her cheeks. She tried very hard to conceal her worried feeling before, but she knows she is not strong enough, and finally she gives up her toughness. Tifa knows her friends were right. It is impossible for her, alone, to remove these rocks. It needs more people to work on. She knows that she needs to take a rest, easing her wounds and bruises, but she knows she just cannot do it. She cries. She sobs. Cloud really means a lot to her. Now, he is somewhere beneath those fallen rocks, and she does not know whether he is still alive…or not.

If he's still alive, then Aeris is still alive too because he protected her…Tifa thinks. Realizing that they are together inside the ruin makes her think something else. At a moment, jealousy comes into her mind, but quickly she removes such thought. She also hopes that her best friend is still alive too. At this time, she forgets how she and Aeris competed over Cloud. All she wants right now is to see these important persons to her still stay breathing.

"It's okay if you don't rest, but this will make you feel better". Suddenly a voice pops up from behind. It is Vic. He hands Tifa a glass of water. Reluctantly, Tifa accepts his offer, but Vic's smile eases her.  Soon, fresh water flows into her throat, refreshing her.

"Thanks…", says Tifa to Vic while handing the glass back to him. Vic takes a look at those piles, fixes his sunglass position, and finally speaks up, "I worry about them too…but examining this rock structure, there'll be room and plenty of air for them both until we remove these rocks completely. They must be alive, I'm sure….You must take rest too, Tifa, we'll save them, trust me". His voice trails off at the end, making Tifa grows curious.

Tifa stares at Vic, studying his visage as if she tries to find whether he is telling the truth or just another easing words. "You…worry about Aeris, don't you ?", Tifa inquiries Vic's condition with investigating look. Curiosity is depicted obviously from her tone. Vic turns his face to Tifa and asks back calmly, "Why do you think so ?".

Tifa shrugs her shoulder and replies with uncertain tone, "Well…you were…so close to her…I mean, you both are Cetra, and you know…you're young and she's fine-looking girl, don't you agree ?". Being questioned by Tifa, Vic only keeps silent for a moment.

"You think I'm in love with her, right ?", he asks Tifa, breaking the silence he made. Before Tifa says anything, Vic already continues, "Yes, I DO love her….but there is something beneath that feeling…". Tifa's eyes go wide to hear Vic's answer. She gives Vic a puzzled look. "And this…actually…relates to you…", Vic adds with low voice. Again, Tifa's eyes go wider than before.

"What ?", she asks, totally confused now. She really does not have any idea on what Vic talked about. Vic lets out a sigh, "I'm not sure if this is the right time, but I can't hide in the bush forever…". He then removes his sunglass and pulls out something from his eyes. He puts it on his palm and shows it to Tifa. It is a pair of brown-colored contact lens. "Take a look into my eyes now", he orders Tifa. With a slight afraid feeling, Tifa lifts up her face and does what Vic told. She gasps, shocked expression is shown clearly on her face when she recognizes a familiar pair of eyes in front of her, staring into her eyes directly. Vic's eyes are so familiar to her, reminding her about someone she knows very well, yet someone very close to her.

"And there is more…", Vic pulls his hair, removing the scalp and it is revealed that his hair is a wig. Beneath it, Tifa can also see a very familiar hair she used to see. Hesitantly, she steps back while keeping her eyes stick to the figure standing in front of her, revealing his true identity he kept so long.

"Gosh…you…you are….", Tifa cannot spell her words clearly because of sudden shock. With sad look, Vic only nods his head.

"…him….", Tifa finally completes her previous words in whisper and disbelief.

AUTHOR'S POST-CHAPTER NOTE :

Well…well…finally the battle began and I blew up Vic's identity ! Yeehaa….can you guess who he is ? What ? Do I hear you right ? No ? You said no ? How couldn't you ? I thought I gave enough clue to discover Vic's identity…*sobs*…but it's okay, because I'll tell you in the next incoming chapter ! ^_^

Otherwise, if you know who Vic really is, just tell me through review button below ! ^_^. Any good or bad comments are still highly appreciated. Thanks !