What If?

by Master Telanis

What if some events in FF7 had turned out differently?

2. Chapter 1: The Temple of Ancients

Okay. Disclaimer time, again. Yes, it's quite likely that I screwed up the layout of the Temple. Don't sue me. You can't, anyway. Haw haw. Unless, of course, you can. In which case, don't sue me. In any case, enjoy!

Oh, right, Cloud and all other characters, and all locations depicted herein are the sole property of Square. They are being used, and, in some cases, altered, without the creator's consent or knowledge. I laugh. I also say again: Please don't sue me. I'm a nice guy. Really!

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The Temple of the Ancients

by Master Telanis and Ree-chan the Great

Cloud's first thought was that the inside of the Temple looked like one of those optical illusions you could buy on postcards in Sector Six. Stairways, platforms, and doorways sprawled as far as the eye could see. It was pretty unnerving. Vines climbed several of the greyish stone walls, lending the Temple the appearance of a ruin. To some degree, he supposed it was.

Vincent turned around, cape swirling, red eyes casting about. "No exit," he said.

"No turning back," replied Cloud. "How'd we get back outside?"

Aeris, looking around, said, "I think the Temple's entrance and its inner sanctum are in two completely different places. It helps prevent just anyone from coming and going as they please."

Tifa said, "I guess Cid could've come along, after all."

Cloud looked at her. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." She smiled.

"Right, then. Aeris, how the hell do we navigate this place, anyway?" Cloud demanded. He looked at the others. "And where did Yuffie get to?"

"Guys, I'm down here!" called Yuffie. Cloud looked down off the edge of their current walkway - completely without a railing, he noted with some discomfort - and saw the young ninja standing far below, waving up at them. She seemed unhurt, which Cloud was glad to see.

"Yuffie, what are you DOING down there?" Tifa called.

"I jumped down!" She kicked a chest that was sitting next to her, and it popped open. "I thought this was some kind of materia!" She looked at it, shaking her head. "Y'know, before I met all of you, I'd never come across a shiny treasure chest. . ." She reached into the chest, and pulled out what appeared to be some kind of boxing glove. "Such a useful thing," she muttered, and tossed it away. "I'll meet up with you all later!"

"Yuffie!" Vincent called. "You aren't going off on your own!" He jumped from the pathway, landing lightly beside her.

Cloud shook his head. "Man. . . Okay, you two, find somewhere to wait! We'll catch up!" But they were already walking away. He hoped they'd heard him, and somehow doubted it. He looked at Aeris and Tifa. He asked Aeris, "Just how quickly can you get us through this Temple?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll try to make it fast."

"Then let's go."

* * *

"So, guys, I think we're supposed to let him go on his way," Cait Sith said, obviously meaning Tseng.

Barret eyed him. "You would say that, wouldn't you?"

"Well, I don't deny my associations, but they would have taken him out right away, if Cloud wanted him dead, right?"

"'E's got ya there, Barret," mumbled Cid, butting his cigarette out on a tree-trunk. He quickly took the package from behind his ear and shook out a new one.

"Dammit, Cid, I thought y'was on our side!"

"Calm down. I'm just saying that the furball's got a point. . ."

The leader of Avalanche didn't answer. He just watched the steps leading up to the Temple's entrance, and, more specifically, the suited man descending them. He appeared to have great self-possession, right then, but Reeve, who knew Tseng a little better than most, thought he looked quite hesitant. He didn't give any real outward sign of this, however. He merely waved to the small group clustered near where the small suspension bridge gave onto the grass. Cait Sith was the only one who waved back.

"Heya, Tseng!"

". . .Cait. Barret." He regarded Cid for a moment, then smiled a little. "Captain."

"Long time, no see, #@^*!" Cid growled back.

Tseng looked honestly surprised at Cid's reaction. Reeve said, "Don't mind him. He has a hate-on for most Shinra-related subjects and people. As do the rest." Cait Sith turned to look at Cid and Barret both, and said, "It might interest you to know that the Turks are here without the President's say-so."

"Oh yeah? Whyzzat?"

Tseng answered, "To stop Sephiroth. I'd hoped to stop him before you bunch arrived, but things didn't go quite as I'd wanted. Obviously."

"Look," snarled Barret, "if you expect us to b'lieve a bunch o' crap about pr'tectin' us, y'can ferget it!"

Tseng flushed Reeve knew it was because Barret had hit the nail on the head. The Turk's face twisted in a scowl. "On the contrary," he replied in an icy voice, "our responsibility is to our employer. We got word that Rufus Shinra had been waiting for us to tell him that Sephiroth was here, so that he could come here personally. He wanted to stop Sephiroth himself. Part of our job is protecting the President, even from his own stupid mistakes. . . We'd meant to let you idiots do the job for us, but we also follow the orders of our higher-ups." He gestured to Cait, "Keeping your sorry asses safe was his idea." Reeve had no clue how to respond to this. When Tseng had suggested it, he'd been all for it, granted, but it had still been Tseng's idea. He knew it, Tseng knew it, and it was entirely possible that others knew it, as well.

Barret was looking at him with a mixture of surprise and anger, and Cid regarded Tseng with half-lidded eyes. The hand which held his home- made spear twitched, just slightly, and the weapon shuddered. Tseng stared back at Cid, not moving.

Finally, the Turk shifted his gaze to Barret, then back to Cid. He said, "Just let me pull the rest of my team out of there, then I'll be on my way." He retrieved his cell-phone from a coat pocket, and began to dial Reno up.

Nanaki remained silent throughout, and all but unnoticed, which was just fine with him. He didn't want to get into any unnecessary fights. They would just waste energy and time, both of which were commodities which they could ill-afford. Being overlooked was definitely for him, in this case.

* * *

Yuffie and Vincent watched the boulders roll to the end of the corridor, where they apparently slipped out of existence. This part of the Temple was quite strange. There were no visible walls, but something lay along the sides, and it kept anything from passing beyond the edges.

This eccentricity allowed them to see the whole passage, and that the boulders at the other end seemed to come out of nowhere. Vincent noted with only minor interest that there was a small offshoot halfway along the passageway which contained what looked like a pool. In front of it was a small, yellow marble, easily recognizable as a command materia, of some sort.

"I am really beginning to dislike this place," commented Vincent.

Yuffie sighed theatrically. "Ditto." Then, she stepped forward, and began to examine the boulders as they rolled by. Vincent saw that each boulder was not completely round. At a point on each was a U-shaped indent. He wondered just where it was the boulders disappeared to when they reached the end, and an idea began to take form in his mind. Without another word, he sprinted forward.

At the same time, Yuffie did the same thing. Surprised, and aware that there only appeared to be room for one person in each indent, Vincent slowed to a stop, watching her.

The ninja ran into the path of the next boulder, and ducked down, allowing the indent to pass directly over her head. Then, as soon as the rock was past, she ran forward, rolling into the next indent. She barely made it through, before it was closed off by the other side of the boulder. She continued this way until she made it to the other end of the corridor. There was a loud click, and she looked down in surprise. Vincent just watched from his end, wondering why in the world he'd opted to keep an eye on Yuffie, of all people. Tifa would have been much better suited to this job. He shook his head.

The boulders, luckily for Yuffie, stopped coming. The last few made their way to the end, and the hallway was still. Vincent looked at the young ninja. She waved him down, grinning cheerily. "It was a raised plate!" she called, in answer to the question on his face. "Come on!" She ran to the offshoot. He strode over, and watched as she bent to scoop up the materia. He watched carefully as it emitted a yellow glow.

He knew well-enough what was happening. Their ability to use magic came from the Lifestream, and some of the power they drew from the Lifestream would flow into any materia they came into contact with, giving it its power. However, the power, once capacity was reached, would begin to flow back through the person. The Lifestream, being a sentient force, would know everything there was to know about a given materia, and that information would become known to the wielder. All of this happened instantaneously.

The glow dimmed slightly, and he asked, "What kind is it?"

"Morph!" She grinned excitedly and placed it in a small pouch on her belt.

Vincent just looked at the pouch. We'll never see that one again. . . "Ready to go?"

"Just a minute." She walked over to the pool, leaning over it, slightly. She shook her head, and muttered, "What's with the water?"

"I have no idea. These ancients were very different from us. It could have been a communication device or else just someone's swimming pool."

"Right-o, then." She turned and looked about to sprint away, but then she stopped and just stared. He turned to look at what had caught his attention, and saw, at the other end of the hallway, a bearded little man with a pointed hat and purple robe. He couldn't see the face.

Keeping one arm poised over his pistol, Vincent began to slowly walk out to where the little man was. He sensed, more than heard, Yuffie following cautiously behind him. He raised his claw in a clumsy hail. The little man said nothing. He walked forward a ways, and then stopped, maybe three or four feet in front of the strange little fellow. "Little" was indeed the right word, as the robed figure stood only as far as his waist at best. He spoke to the man. "Hello, Sir. We are a pair of travelers who are looking for someone. Have you seen a man with a very long sword, and grey hair?" He was aware that he sounded like a simpleton, but he was unsure just who or what this little figure was, or even if they spoke the same language.

It made some unintelligible mumbling noises, and opened one side of the cloak - Vincent noticed with some disquiet that there was nothing but blackness to be seen within. He reached inside, and pulled out a healing potion in a small vial. He tossed it, and, with impeccable reflexes and almost no thought, Vincent caught it, still watching the little figure. It turned and began to waddle off.

"Hey!" Yuffie yelled from beside him, but the creature ignored her and kept walking.

Looking down at the healing potion, Vincent said, "At least it seems to be friendly." He placed the vial in one of the hidden pockets in his cape, and stalked after, with Yuffie trailing after.

* * *

Within moments of Vincent and Yuffie's departure, Aeris had seen a small, purple-robed man at the other end of the walkway they were on. Cloud knew; he'd seen him, too. The flower girl had taken off like a shot, following him. Cloud and Tifa had glanced at each other, and followed at full-speed. She knew as well as he did that telling Aeris to slow down would be useless. She was completely hyped by whatever force she could sense here that the rest of them could not.

Aeris, following the man, turned and mounted a very short set of steps, and ran to the end of the adjoining platform. Cloud followed, with Tifa close behind. They pursued Aeris past another flight of steps, and then around a corner, leading to a stairway, this time hooking downward to another platform. This place is a maze, thought Cloud, disgruntled.

At the foot of the steps, Aeris disappeared through a doorway, and Cloud, puffing madly, wishing he'd left the extremely heavy Buster Sword behind, sprinted hard, fearful of losing her. He could hear Tifa's boots thudding hard on the stone, but paid her no mind. If they lost Aeris now, there was no guarantee that they'd find her again. The passage which lay behind through the doorway was extremely short, and made a turn directly into a drop-off. Cloud failed to notice it in time, and flew off, hitting the stone surface below - thankfully not far below - in a face-plant. He groaned in pain, lifting himself up, trying to get to his feet.

There was a rustle of Tifa climbing down from the passageway. As he had toppled forward, he'd glimpsed the vines which crawled up from the ground to the opening, and hearing Tifa climb down them was only a rude reminder of his own mistake. He was trying hard to keep his knees long enough to reach his feet, and Tifa stuck her hand out. He grunted, grasping it, and allowed her to help him to his feet. He wiped a trickle blood from his nose on the back of his left glove, and looked about him frantically. There was no sign of Aeris or the man.

He looked at Tifa, and said, "Where the hell did they go?" He spoke a little louder than he'd meant to, and Tifa recoiled. He was a little sorry, but too worried for apologies. She looked at him for a moment, opened her mouth as though to say something, then shut it again. Looking away from him, she pointed at a stairway almost directly ahead, leading downward, alongside a wall that was almost entirely covered with those strange vines which seemed to spring directly from the rock, and he took off without another thought. He was pretty sure, right then, that she followed, but he was almost panicky, and didn't look back.

"Did she go up the vines, Teef?" he asked, looking back at her. Almost distantly, she nodded, and he immediately began making his way up the wall, with a speed that some might have called superhuman. Adrenaline was coursing through him, enhanced by the small amounts of Mako energy within him. He made the top fairly quickly, and wiped a little more blood from his nose. He tried the doorway directly in front of him, but hit something with plenty of give, but as implacable as any wall. He turned and ran along the ledge, taking the corner at a speed which almost sent him toppling over the edge, to an area where he likely wouldn't have gotten up again. He neither realized this, nor would he have cared, if he had understood.

Tifa watched him go, tears coursing down her face. He'd looked so frantic. She had stopped existing for him, the moment he'd lost sight of Aeris. Even so, she could have done nothing but help him along. It'd become obvious to her early on that Cloud loved Aeris, but, even so. . . Knowing that she'd lost him made it no easier to walk away. When her vision had cleared sufficiently, she began to make her way up the wall.

Reaching the top, she stopped to look down. It was quite a drop. If Cloud had fallen, he would more than likely have broken his neck. And she would have been free. But she didn't want to be free. She loved him more than life itself, even if he didn't love her back. She had ever since they'd been kids, growing up in the mountain community of Nibelheim. She began to walk.

She rounded the corner, and saw a stairway leading over a rather long drop, up to another area. She wasn't very comfortable with heights. She really hadn't been since the Nibelheim expedition seven years prior, when the suspension bridge had collapsed in the mountains. Even so, she would cross it. Sephiroth had to be stopped, and Cloud couldn't do it alone. Despite what he might think, he needed her. If not as more than a friend, then so be it. She walked across the grey stone chasm, upward, ever upward, until she reached the other side. Then, she stopped, and looked at the only two exits from the level she was on.

There was a doorway to her left, which, from what she'd seen in their mad dash, led to a stairway, down to where Yuffie had jumped. Directly in front of her, there was another vine-covered wall. She knew this was the way Cloud and Aeris had gone. She hadn't seen it, but, just the same, she knew. She had a connection to that boy that was stronger than the other five senses. She knew that was the way he'd gone, and he knew that he'd be back. She took off through the doorway. She was still crying a little, and she knew she couldn't face him that way. She needed time.

* * *

The stairwell which led out of the boulder room ended on a small platform. Beyond it was a large, circular pit. Directly in the center was a bluish platform, suspended in the air by some unseen force. From it extended three arms, one of which was moving.

Vincent looked up from this and saw that, all the way around this room, were doors. Each had a combination of letters above it. There was one which said "I". The one they were standing in said "X". There was another with a "V" on it. The others all had combinations of these letters on them. "XII," said one. "IV," proclaimed another. Yuffie came around him to see what he was looking at, and whistled appreciatively. "This is a really nifty place the ancients built, isn't it, Vince?"

"Yes. It's very impressive," he replied absently. He was still considering the doorways. Something about the letters was grabbing at him, although just what it was he couldn't say. Looking at them in order, they were just a mishmash of I's, V's, and X's. If he looked at them in order, but seperately, he was seeing XII, I, II, III, IIII, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX (He really had to lean outward to see that one, right beside their own, risking a fall into, as far as he knew, a bottomless pit.), X, XI. Something about it. . .

"What's with all the letters?" inquired Yuffie, squinting, as though this might help her to comprehend this room.

"A number system." He replied. He wasn't quite sure just what kind it was, but, with a little time, he might be able to figure it out.

That was when the moving arm crossed the XII, and one of the other arms moved. If Vincent were a man to grin, he would have, right then. "It's a clock."

"Clock?"

"Yes. That's exactly what it is. Or, rather, what it's designed to look like."

"Okay, I see, now. So, what are we supposed to do?" she sounded as puzzled as he was. He had no idea.

"We don't have time to solve their little puzzle. We just try each door until we come across something that looks like black materia."

Nodding, Yuffie jumped from their platform to the next one along the wall. This was an extremely short jump, and, under normal circumstances, she would have made it easily. This place was far from normal. Vincent saw her flatten against something, and realized it was another invisible wall, like the kind which ran all the way around the boulder room. She bounced off, and fell between the platforms. Reacting instantly, he dove to catch her, but he missed. She plummeted into the darkness below, and he dove after. It was a long fall, and he was certain she would not survive it.

When he reached bottom, he shifted his weight into a forward roll in order to keep from injuring himself. An ordinary human still wouldn't have walked away from it, but he was far from ordinary. Professor Hojo had made sure of that.

Getting to his feet, he looked around quickly. To his surprise, Yuffie was nowhere in sight. He took stock of his surroundings, and immediately fell silent. On a small raised area, against one of the walls, was a chest, with a lit torch on either side. How those torches could be lit was unknown to him, unless someone had expected them to be there. But the only one who could have was Sephiroth, and he certainly wouldn't want to help. The chest and the torches weren't what drew the majority of his attention, however. Above it all was a mural which appeared to depict a large reptile of some kind, but even that was secondary, compared to what dominated the room.

On either side of this display, fast asleep, were two dragons. The exact type escaped him, but, then, in this place, there was a lot that escaped him. Keeping a wary eye on them, he scanned the rest of the room. On the side opposite the chest, there was a doorway. Through it, he could see the maze-like temple's outer area. He was tempted to just leave through there, and find his bearings again, but he had to find out what had happened to Yuffie, first.

He looked up, wondering if she'd grabbed the wall at some point. Such a maneuver would have been very painful, but so would have hitting the ground at the speed she would have gathered, and she would be more likely to survive losing some skin from her hands. Had she done such a thing, though, it would have been near-impossible to see her from where he was. Due to the incredible strangeness of the temple, light didn't seem to reach between down here and up there, as though there were a wall, or a black hole.

He was about to conduct a quiet search of the room when he heard someone yell, "Whoa!" and there was a loud thump. This was promptly followed by a snuffle, and then a roar. He whirled around to look at the two dragons, and one was already on its feet, shaking itself vigorously, while the other was just rousing from its sleep. Sitting atop the shaking dragon, like some kind of weird bull-rider, was Yuffie, who apparently had landed directly on it. She grabbed the two horns which protruded from either side of its head, and held on tight, yelling, "Whoa, Nellie!"

The other was just waking up, still, looking confusedly around the room. Quickly, he drew the Quicksilver, and ran up to it. He pressed the muzzle to its eye, and pulled the trigger. The gun recoiled, but he held it firmly, and backed away in a hurry. It screeched in pain, gouting blood from one eye socket, and lifted off the floor with its improbably small wings. Vincent stepped quickly, trying to keep on its now largely increased blind-side, but it somehow followed him with its one good eye, and snapped at him.

He did a backflip, and avoided its jaws, which, instead, clamped onto his cape, yanking it. It began to fly around the room, dragging him with it. He banged against the walls, sparks flying up from his claw as it scraped against stone. This, apparently, was how the dragons took care of most visitors.

He grabbed at the wall, planting the talons directly into the stone mural, next to the reptile picture's foreleg, and succeeded only in tearing a sizeable chunk out of it. Clenching his teeth, he lifted his feet up, and began running along the wall. Then, he suddenly stopped, and the speed of the dragon threw his legs backward with terrible force. He lent his own strength to this movement, and threw himself up onto its neck. His cape was still held in its mouth, and this forced his face hard against the dragon's scaly skin. Hoping against hope, he brought his claw up, still holding the rock in it, and shoved it in the general direction of the dragon's now empty eyesocket. His aim was perfect.

He planted the rock in the hole, and the dragon released his cape, screaming in pain once again. He jumped from its back, and landed not-so- gracefully on the floor. The dragon, forelegs pawing at its face, landed, and started to claw at the stone which was causing it such pain. It looked pitifully like a dog scratching at a mosquito on its face. He raised the gun, which, with one bullet spent, still had eleven more to go. He fired all eleven into the creature's head, first making sure to take out the other eye, and then firing the last ten at the temple. The sixth finally broke through the dragon's thick skull, and the last four pulverized its brain. Its head bucked back with these last.

The dragon fell sideways, and lay twitching on the ground.

"Yay! Woooo! That was awesome, Vince!"

He looked over at where Yuffie was jumping up and down excitedly, cheering. She had actually surprised him, and that was an idea that, while he was by no means a stranger to it, he was not accustomed to. He saw the other dragon behind it, exactly where it had previously slept, slumped backward and staring blankly like some twisted idol. Its throat had been neatly slashed.

"How long ago did you kill that thing?"

"Pretty quickly, actually. Did an assassin job on it!" She slid a finger across her own neck to mime this. Vincent nodded.

"So then you just stood there and watched me fight for my life?"

"Pssh! You were doin' fine, Vince!" She saw the chest, and said, "Hey! Spoils of war!" She ran over to it. Vincent watched, incredulous, and carefully schooling his face to impassivity. She opened it, and reached inside. She pulled out what looked like a baseball bat. Looking unimpressed, Yuffie hefted it, above her head, holding it to the light, and scanning it. She seemed to be looking for some kind of special markings, or maybe materia.

"Well, looks like you can keep the spoils of this war," he said, snickering inwardly. "The only thing special about that is it seems to have a nail in it."

"A bat with a nail in it. How very, very useful," Yuffie said, disgustedly. "Certainly worth fighting dragons for, I'll tell you. Look, it doesn't even have anywhere to put materia!" Finally, she tossed it aside. Looking at him, with a grumpy expression on her face, she said, "Let's just go, alright?"

He hit the release on the Quicksilver, and the clip dropped out. He reached into his coat and pulled out another, quickly slamming it home. "Okay, and I think, this time, we'll have to play by their rules."

"Yeah, yeah, just move it, Turk-boy."

* * *

As Yuffie and Vincent were recovering from slaying dragons, and trying to find their way back to the clock pit, Cloud and Aeris were in a rather comfortable room. The occupant was a tiny man whom Aeris had identified as an ancient. The man did not seem to be able to talk much at all, and what came out was garbled and babyish. This, seemingly, was because they'd been there for such a long time that spoken language had become unnecessary, and that they were among the first to come in a long while. This was all information that Aeris had intuited, which led Cloud to believe that her connection with this place was extremely strong. Unfortunately, the man did not seem to know where Sephiroth was. Cloud quickly took his leave, and Aeris went with him.

"So are we supposed to just wander around this place until we either run into Sephiroth or find the black materia?" he asked.

"So it would seem," replied Aeris, "but I think it shouldn't take too long, really. The Temple of the Ancients is a lot more linear than it appears to you and me."

"They tellin' you that, too?"

"You mean the ancients? Yes."

They reached the foot of the stairway which lay directly outside the ancient's room. They began the climb, and Aeris, after several moments, added, "Most of this is an illusion. All the area we can see but not touch. . . it's only there because we allow it to be."

"So, then, I can just think most of this away?"

"No, not really. We allow it to be this way because we have no real choice. The consciousness of the ancients - the pureblood ancients - resides in this place, and it influences our way of thinking. It makes us see all of this because this is what it wants us to want to see. Their minds are just stronger than ours."

"Wow. That's reassuring."

"Do you understand?"

"Uh, oh, yeah, 'course I do" He hoped she couldn't read him as well as she could the temple, although he suspected she could.

They reached the top, and began the descent to the area below, where, unbeknownst to either of them, Tifa had struck out on her own, not twenty minutes before. They climbed in silence, and, when they got to the bottom, Cloud asked, "So which way do we go?"

She pointed at the doorway Tifa had taken, and said, "That way." Cloud, however, knew this even as she said it. He could see through it to the ledge beyond, and there was something very dead. He ran forward, drawing the Buster. Aeris followed, unsheathing her Guard Stick.

He stopped in front of it, and saw at a glance what had happened to it. It had been crushed mercilessly. It looked like it had once been creature that was half man and half bull, but now it was just a bloody pulp. His gaze crawled out ahead of him, and saw several unidentifiable masses just like it, sprawling down the stairway, and looping around to an area he recognized as where Yuffie had jumped to. It continued all the way back, and he moved to the stairs.

He set the Buster aside, and lay down on a step, hanging his head over the edge to see. The trail of carnage disappeared through a doorway. He got up, unconsciously grinding his teeth, and said, "Sephiroth."

Aeris nodded and the pair of them began sprinting down the stairs, following the string that would lead them to their goal, one way or another.

* * *

Vincent and Yuffie had also followed the trail of corpses, which had, in fact, stopped right outside the boulder room. No monsters, here. They'd run the length of the hallway, and stepped out onto platform X, only to find Tifa, standing on the blue platform in the middle.

Yuffie said, "Tifa! Gosh, am I glad to see you!" She looked around. "Where are Cloud and Aeris?"

Tifa didn't look at them. She just shrugged, and ran along one of the clock's arms, disappearing through a door. It was door VI.

He looked at Yuffie, who asked, "Should we follow her?" If he hadn't known better, he would have said Yuffie looked worried.

Without answering - no answer was necessary - he ran up the arm which reached from the blue platform to door X, Yuffie close behind. He then checked to see where the arm he'd come to realize was a second hand was, and then ran along the arm to VI.

The doorway opened on a rather strange room. It was a cliff, with three doors: the door they'd just emerged from, a pair of double-doors flanked by two pillars and elevated slightly, accessible by a few steps, and another door beside that, very much like the one from which they'd come. He glimpsed the little man with the purple robe, disappearing through this last. Tifa, who was standing directly in front of the door with the pillars, didn't pay any attention to him, aside from a single, unreadable glance.

Instead, she tried to open the doors. They were locked. She screamed in anger, and began punching and kicking them. Up until this moment, Vincent had assumed it had been Sephiroth who had slaughtered all those creatures so horribly. Now, he understood that Sephiroth wasn't the only person capable of wholesale slaughter. Tifa certainly looked angry enough.

Still battering the doors, she shrieked, "Damn him! Damn her! Both of them can go to hell!" Then, she shuddered slightly, the pounding slackened, and she leaned against the doors, sliding slowly to a crouching position. Both fists were bleeding. Vincent didn't know just what might have sparked this, but he knew one thing for sure. Something was driving Tifa insane.

He looked at Yuffie, who was now looking quite pale, and said, "Stay with her." He didn't look away until the young ninja nodded slightly. When she did, he took off through the doorway after the little man. He had no recollection of descending or turning, but, when he emerged, he was on another cliff, this one with four doors. He walked out to the edge, and looked down. There was nothing but darkness below. He looked up, and could see another ledge, with four more doors. Beyond that, he thought he saw the tops of the pillars, on the level after. He was completely unsurprised. He'd already seen how the laws of time and space were treated, here.

He looked at the other doors on his level, and saw the little man disappear through the one directly adjacent to his. He also saw a chest. Hoping it would be the key to the doors up above, he ran over, and opened it. It was not a key. It was just a pair of work gloves. They looked brand new, although he could find neither a brand name, nor a size tag on them. He was about to toss them away in annoyance when he remembered how Tifa's hands had been bleeding, and the gloves shredded by her pounding. He put the work gloves in a pocket, and turned to look at the doorways, again.

From what he'd already seen, he guessed that the little man would emerge from a completely random doorway. That was going to make things difficult for him. He picked the closest doorway, and went through. He emerged on the second level of this ridiculous puzzle. The little man, he saw, came out of the door that had been right next to the one he'd gone in. Vincent bristled. This was getting irritating.

Vincent watched as the man went back in the door he'd just come out of, and almost grinned, despite himself. Now he had the little goblin. He jumped down to the bottom level, and waited at the door he assumed the man would come out of. This was, technically, a safe assumption, since this was the door he thought connected to it. He was wrong. He hissed softly in annoyance as the man came out on the second level again. The man paused for a moment to see where Vincent was, and that pause cost him the game.

Vincent decided that he was done messing around. He used his incredible physical strength to throw himself up onto the second level. The creature never saw it coming, and was bowled over by the ex-Turk.

Getting up, he clutched the creature's robe in his claw, and leaned forward into his face - which, he noticed, also seemed to just not be there - and said, "Open the door, please." Although there was no way to be sure, the little creature seemed to smile, not unkindly, and he raised his hand to the double doors up above. With a rumble, they opened. Without looking up, Vincent said, "Thank-you very much." He placed the man on the ground again. He jumped again to get to the upper level. He really had no urge to play musical doors some more while trying to get up there.

Tifa and Yuffie were standing, side-by-side, looking through. What they saw was amazing. What they could see of the walls was covered from floor to ceiling with pictures, apparently showing some kind of event, though just what it was escaped him.

"Tifa. . ." he began, and then, seeing the mildly dazed expression on the young woman's face killed whatever he was going to say, and overwhelmed it with anger at Cloud. He said, "Here, you might want some new gloves. Those took quite a beating." He held out the work gloves.

Tifa looked at them for a long moment. Then, she nodded and took them. She said, "I'm sorry for how I acted. I just. . . I had a problem with Cloud, earlier." Vincent already understood. He'd noticed some time ago that Tifa had feelings for Cloud, although she would never admit it. He guessed that Cloud had made it quite clear, in his usual, untactful way, that he didn't love her back. Just how the former SOLDIER had done this, he didn't know, and didn't really want to know.

A familiar voice said, "There you guys-!" and it cut off, as Vincent, Yuffie, and Tifa all turned to look at Cloud, standing next to Aeris. "Tifa. . ." Cloud said, and something flickered across his face. Vincent hoped it wasn't what he thought it was. He didn't want to think that Cloud, their leader, had actually forgotten all about Tifa until now.

Aeris, not noticing what passed silently among the others - this temple had her pretty far gone - said, "Check out this neat staff we found!" She whirled an ornate kind of staff around her head, and this caught Vincent's attention because of something interesting that happened as she did. As she moved, it was as though the mind couldn't follow the movement. There was a shadow image following every movement, mimicking it immediately, giving Aeris the illusion of shimmering. Vincent chalked it up to weariness on his part. It had been a long day, after all, didn't show any sign of ending soon.

Cloud cheered up a little at seeing Aeris so happy, and it was obvious to Vincent. Tifa made a small noise, and he guessed that she saw it, too.

Cloud looked at the doorway they'd just recently opened, and said, "Hey! You guys found the room with the pictures! Good work! Just like in the vision. . ."

Tifa said, "Wait, what do you mean, 'vision'?"

"Aeris has some major connection happening with this place, and it caused a pool of water to react to her presence. We saw Sephiroth attacking Tseng, and this room, with the pictures. Wow, this hasn't been so bad, after all. Kinda easy, up until now. . . But you guys better keep on your toes. Sephiroth is still here. He left this big long trail of corpses, and I think he actually wants us to follow him." Cloud had assumed the stance of a man imparting some deep and insightful information. Vincent was amazed to realize that being in charge had gone to the young man's head.

He stared at Cloud, and then said, "Don't talk to me." He walked through the doorway, Yuffie and Tifa trailing behind. He knew Cloud and Aeris would follow, so he didn't check.

* * *

Reno and Rude of the Turks were being pulled out. Tseng had given the order over the phone not twenty minutes previous. When Reno, a little testy at being deprived of a chance at Sephiroth, had asked just how in the hell to get out of there, Tseng had given very detailed directions to the only manual exit there was.

He had talked them to the clock room, and then told them to go through door twelve. Reno's irate questions had gotten clarification on this point. The door marked XII. Then, the signal had suddenly just disappeared, and they were left to their own devices.

Rude had been fine with this, but Reno had done nothing but complain, and question just why they had to leave. Rude let him. It didn't matter. Tseng said go, they went. After a few moments of waiting, Rude had walked confidently out onto the blue platform, with Reno following - and whining - behind him. Then he walked through door XII, which led to a pitch-black tunnel. Reno swore and drew his electro-rod, turning it on. It crackled quietly. Rude just hoped the red-haired Turk wouldn't become punchy and accidentally stick him with it.

Then, the tunnel opened up on a reasonably large chamber, which was almost entirely dark, except for a rather ornate-looking door on the opposite side. The door was lit up for them to see, but the source of the light could not be found. It seemed to have once been truly grand, but, over the years, had gone to ruin. He could hear light gusts of wind coming in through one of the cracks.

Above it was quite possibly the ugliest gargoyle Rude had ever seen in his life. It had an elongated head, no eyes to speak of, and teeth which looked quite sharp and metallic for a creation of stone. He stopped. Reno swore again.

"Damn, Rude! Y'gotta tell me when you're going to do that! I almost knocked myself out with this bloody thing!"

Rude smiled. The idea had appeal. However, the smile didn't last long, as the smaller Turk pushed past, and began walking over to the door. The gargoyle was not lost on Reno, though, as he craned his neck to look at it as he walked. Then, he just stopped, and said, "Hey, I saw something like that in a movie, once. It was some sci-fi thing starring some chick whose first name I can't pronounce, where this nasty critter just popped outta this guy's chest, and it went 'RAAARGH!' It was so cool!. . ."

As Reno went on to recite, word-for-word, the script of this film, Rude kept his eye on the gargoyle, watching it. There was something very wrong with it, and, really, with the entire room. It was far too warm in here. And humid. Very humid. And it stank, like rotten breath. It occurred to him that he should have noticed this before, but he hadn't. He hadn't because the smell and the heat hadn't been there at first. They'd only just began. He watched more closely, already knowing what he was expecting, but powerless to admit it until he had hard evidence.

". . .So then, the android said, 'It is the perfect killing machine." And she said-"

"Shut up for a minute, would you?" Rude didn't raise his voice, and he didn't need to. One of the perks of being silent most of the time was, when you did speak up, people listened. Reno shut up.

He concentrated on the face of the gargoyle. It didn't move, but something. . . like a sound. He could hear it, now that he knew what he was listening for. It was breathing. What he'd mistaken for a draft at first was, in fact, the sound of the gargoyle's breathing. That's what the smell was. And the heat.

Reno was still looking at him, puzzled, when the lower jaw twitched. Rude ran forward, as Reno turned again to look at the hideous thing above the door. This time, he said, "What the hell?" as he watched it coming to life. The room began to shake, and Rude could hardly keep his feet, as he grabbed the back of Reno's suit, and bolted for the tunnel again. A deafening roar sounded in the enclosed space, and Rude felt his eardrums strain. The sound, when it finally faded, left a slight ringing in his ears, as the pair of them crouched, a prudent distance back, in the tunnel's darkness.

"Cool. . ." mumbled Reno, as the enormous head peered at them - there was no kidding himself about that; Rude knew it could see them, even in the dark. It tried to reach inside, but the doorway proved too narrow for it. It began to ram its head against the frame, and cracks began to form in the walls, which had become lit by the creatures eyes. Rude realized dimly that they had been the source of the door's lighting.

Wondering just what to do, the two Turks just watched as the creature slowly, inexorably, began to make room for itself in the tunnel.

* * *

The room was exactly as Cloud remembered from the vision. He could even see the place where Tseng and Elena had spoken. Tseng would have died, had it not been for Aeris. He would cheerfully left the bastard to bleed to death, but Aeris had found it in herself to help him. He was beginning to wonder if her compassion was endless. He smiled.

It wasn't a room, so much as a hallway. Along the wall, each lit by a separate torch, was a scene, painted in. . . whatever they'd been painted in. The first picture showed the ziggurat-like shape of the Temple, as seen from the outside, and a black diamond shape, which must have been a crude rendition of the black materia.

The next few were ones he just couldn't decipher, and then one which was pretty clear. Vincent said, "Something large falling from the sky?"

That was, indeed, exactly what it appeared to be. "Meteor," said Cloud. "I guess they knew what it could do. Meteor, for all its power, is just another materia. Identifiable just like any other." He also had the idea that someone had once summoned it, but he kept that to himself.

Aeris nodded.

The group continued to walk. They approached a small table, and on it was a model. Tifa said, "Isn't that. . ."

"The temple," Vincent finished for her. Cloud could only nod dumbly.

At that moment, there was a flash of light, and the sound of laughter. Distant at first, the laughter coalesced, hardened, and a familiar, silver-haired figure appeared before them all. In one hand, he held the Masamune, but seemed to have no intentions of using it.

"Sephiroth!" cried Cloud.

Sephiroth stopped laughing. Rather, he reduced his laugh to a very queer-looking grin. At least, Cloud thought he might be grinning. It was hard to tell, because Sephiroth seemed to be blurring in and out in his vision. He rubbed his eyes, but it did not improve. Then, Sephiroth cocked his head to one side, and said, "Listen. . ."

". . .What?" blurted Yuffie.

"The knowledge of the ancients. I am becoming one with the Planet."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Cloud.

"When the Planet becomes wounded, it draws Mako energy into the wound, to begin the healing process. What would happen if there was an injury that threatened the very life of the Planet?"

"Injure. . . the Planet?" Aeris moaned.

Sephiroth ignored this, and continued, "Imagine, all of that Mako energy being drawn into one place, and, at the center of it, me! I would become one with the Planet! I would become a god!"

Vincent interrupted, "So that's why you need Meteor. . . Are you mad?"

Sephiroth didn't answer. Instead, he disappeared. That was when the blurring in Cloud's vision began to spread. It first covered everything with a pale haze, and then whited it out completely.

Cloud had no idea how much time passed while he was like that, but he guessed it couldn't have been too long. He came to with Tifa and Aeris each holding an arm and lifting him to his feet. ". . .right? Cloud? Can you hear me? CLOUD!" Tifa's voice sounded almost panicky.

Yanking his arms free, he said, "I'm fine. Let me go! I'm fine!"

Aeris asked, "Does he really mean to summon Meteor?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, he does."

"We have to stop him, then! Meteor might not just injure the Planet! It might wipe it out altogether!" Aeris seemed very distraught.

Cloud leaned forward, and said-

Crash! One side of the hallway fell in, and an enormous red dragon stepped through. It roared deafeningly in the small space, and Cloud, still a little fuzzy from whatever had happened a moment ago, just watched.

* * *

Aeris jumped back slightly in surprise when the dragon came through the wall, and saw that most of the others did the same. Except for Cloud. Cloud just stood there, and, as the monster closed in, Aeris's worry increased. He wasn't moving. The dragon was going to trample him, and then it would come for the rest of them.

She had to do something. She had to protect him. She looked about for a way, and saw none. Yuffie had her Four-Point Shuriken in hand, but looked undecided on just where to throw it. Vincent had drawn his Quicksilver, and, even now, squeezed off a shot at the dragon. The dragon paused for a moment, shaking its head, but did not stop its attack. Tifa was running forward, no doubt to pull the obviously incapacitated Cloud back from the oncoming monster.

What should I do?!

Then, unexpectedly, there was an answer: Use the barrier materia.

She had no idea if this was her own voice, or someone else's, and had no time to wonder. On who? On Cloud?

On everyone, Aeris.

I don't have an All, though. . .

Don't worry. I'll help you.

Who. . .?

Your mother. The Princess Guard. Both.

By some unseen force, all eyes in the room turned to Aeris. It was as though everyone knew something was coming. Indeed it was. Aeris smiled, her eyes closing, her head dropping. A green glow built steadily around her, and, normally tingling and strange, the feeling of power flowing through her and into the materia on her weapon, the Princess Guard, was comforting. With a pure heat, it ran through every fibre of her being, causing her hair to lift away from her shoulders, and her clothes to flutter around her, as though blown by an unfelt wind.

Even the dragon had frozen, watching. Tentatively, it took a step forward, and then stepped back again. It was uncertain. A paw hovered in the air, unsure whether to move forward or back.

Aeris smiled serenely, raising her head again, her eyes still closed. She raised the Princess Guard in front of her with one hand. She began to twirl it between her fingers, like a cheerleader's baton. Faster and faster it spun, the green light which had flowed around her spreading to the stick. The winged head of it absolutely blazed with a light which was not green, like that which covered the rest, but white. Soon, the Princess Guard was moving fast enough that it was just a blur. The green seeped away from Aeris, flowing into the Princess Guard entirely, and Aeris opened her eyes, which twinkled with tears. She dropped to her knees, leaving the staff whirling in the air in front of her.

The staff no longer looked like a staff. Instead, it was spinning fast enough that it just looked like a luminescent shield.

"Mother, what are you doing?"

Inverted Barrier, Magic Barrier, and Reflect.

What's Reflect? Inverted?

You'll know soon enough.

Mother. . .

There was no response, this time. Aeris was gasping for breath. She watched the staff spin faster and faster, until the light began to expand. The shield shape became larger and larger, until it filled the room, obscuring her view of the others. She was alone in a sea of pale green light.

Then, without warning, it was over. The Princess Guard dropped to the stone floor in front of her with a very undignified clank, and she could see the others again. The red dragon looked rather confused. As did Cloud, Yuffie, Vincent, and Tifa. She imagined she did, as well.

The dragon looked around at them, and then its mouth opened wide. It looked to be yawning, although why it would be yawning she couldn't begin to guess. "Well, whatever you did, Aeris, I don't think it worked. . ." said Vincent, carefully watching the dragon.

"That was pretty cool, though!" said Yuffie, grinning from ear to ear.

Aeris looked at the dragon, and said, "It's not moving. Well it is, but not in any particular direction. It's just giving us dirty looks."

It opened its mouth in another yawn-like gesture. Then, it appeared to inhale, and Cloud said, "Hit the deck!" He dove on top of the already winded Aeris, driving what little breath she had right out of her. She saw, even as he did, the dragon exhale, gouting waves of flame, which arced outward, and then suddenly curved around, creating a spherical shape. The dragon was engulfed in its own flame-breath. She knew, of course, that red dragons were fire-elementals, and the flames would not hurt it, but she also finally understood.

"Inverted. Guys, it's an inverted Barrier, Magic Barrier, and Reflect combined! We wrapped it around the dragon. He's contained in a defensive spell!"

Cloud got up, and helped her to do the same. She saw the Princess Guard, still lying on the floor, and picked it up. Cloud said, "What do you mean? There's no spell like that."

Vincent said, "According to much of Shinra's research, a person with enough spiritual strength could conceivably manipulate spells to do unusual things, within the limitations of that spell. It's all theoretical, though. No idea if it's true."

Cloud looked at him strangely.

"What? Did you think I'd forgotten everything I ever learned from my days as a Turk? They were the ones we were primarily sent to find for SOLDIER. We never came across any, however. Until now." He looked at Aeris. "That was incredible, Aeris."

She felt herself blushing. "Thank-you, Vincent, but I'll have to actually explain later. For now, don't we have a black materia to find?"

Cloud said, "She's right." He turned back to the table, examining a model which sat there. It appeared to be a scale model of the temple, as seen from the outside. "This model is the black materia?"

Then she heard it. It was a voice, but not her mother's. Instead, it was that of the ancients themselves. She said, "What's that?" They repeated themselves. The Temple. She looked at Cloud and said, "The ancients say that the model isn't the black materia. They said that the Temple itself is. We're supposed to use the model to compress the Temple."

Cloud said, "So let's take this thing outside, and. . ."

"That's the problem," Aeris continued. "The puzzle has to be solved inside the Temple."

Yuffie said, "So, then, the black materia's safe, right?"

"No," Vincent replied. "Sephiroth has many agents. To sacrifice one of them would be nothing to him. We have to take it."

"Then someone's going to have to die," said Cloud. He looked at Aeris. "There has to be another way."

She shook her head. "They say there isn't."

Just then, another voice spoke up. "Cloud, I heard everything you just said. I can solve the puzzle for you. This body's just artificial, completely expendable."

Everyone looked around. "Cait?" said Cloud.

"The PHS. You told everyone to leave it on. I've heard everything that's gone on, so far. Now, you've got to go to the door and let me in, so I can work a little magic with this place."

Aeris said, "Cloud, your belt." He looked down, and nodded as understanding dawned on him.

He lifted the walkie-talkie to his mouth, and said, "Come around to the back, we'll let you in." He clicked it off. He looked at Aeris, and then at everyone else. He said, "Let's go."

As they jogged past the now-incapacitated red dragon, Aeris saw Yuffie pick something up from the ground. It was a summon materia of some kind. The ninja placed it into the small pouch on her hip, and continued on. She decided that now wasn't the time to comment.

* * *

The gargoyle could go no further, and for that Rude was grateful. It had made it about half-way through the tunnel, but had been unable to move any further. It had pulled out to the doorway, and there it sat. Unfortunately, neither he nor Reno had the slightest idea how to move this monstrosity out of the way. If they'd had any materia, things might have been different, however. . .

"And who do we have here?" said an all-too-familiar voice. Rude turned, and, with the light spilling from the gargoyle's eyes, could easily make out the cluster of people at the other end. Cloud Strife, Aeris Gainsborough, Vincent Valentine (the red eyes seemed to glow, causing Rude to suppress a shudder), Yuffie Kisaragi, and Tifa Lockheart, stood there, all glaring at him and Reno. This last caused his cool composure to slip, if only for an instant.

"We aren't here to cause trouble." he said.

"'Less you guys want us to," added Reno with a sneer. "Fact of the matter is, Big Nasty, over there, is blocking our way out. Yours, too, I'll bet." Reno gestured at the gargoyle, still blocking the exit, and still staring balefully at them. "Don't suppose you'd like to take a crack at him, eh?"

Cloud, Buster drawn, said, "We have no intentions of co-operating with the Turks."

"Suit yourself," the red-haired man answered. "Guess we're all stuck here."

"Why haven't you taken care of it, tough guy?" Yuffie asked Rude. Cloud looked at her angrily. Rude guessed that the little dork didn't take kindly to people undermining the things he said.

"No materia. It's made of rock, which makes punching, hitting, and shooting less-than-effective." Rude made sure that the implication was clear. Cloud and his group did have materia, so it was pretty much up to them to get them all past.

Tifa looked at Rude - his heart skipped a beat - and asked, as politely as her obvious distaste would allow, "If you did have materia, what would your plan be?" This also earned a nasty look from Cloud. Rude restrained himself from punching him in the mouth. Picking a fight at this juncture would not be beneficial for anyone.

"Fire, then Ice," he responded immediately. "It would make the rock crack apart." She looked at him with a surprised expression on her face, and he added, "We're trained to think outside the box." He felt himself flush, and hoped it was too dark to see.

Tifa looked at him a moment longer, and Rude had fight to keep from fidgeting, and then she turned to Cloud, and asked, "Do we have any Ice materia?"

"As a matter of fact, I have it," Cloud answered, a little stiffly.

"Are you willing to give Rude's idea a shot?" Cloud didn't answer this.

Aeris leaned forward, still looking quite worn from whatever it was she'd done back in the picture-room. She said, "Cloud, it's the only shot we have, here. Give it a try." Rude thought he saw Tifa stiffen, now. He wasn't sure just what he thought of that.

". . .Fine," he said. "But it's no good, unless we have the Fire one, too, and Barret has that."

Vincent spoke up immediately. "Actually, I have the Enemy Skill one with me. It's possible that it's picked up a fire-elemental attack at some point."

Cloud nodded, and said, "Check and see."

Vincent drew his pistol, and looked at the holes in the top. Most were empty, except one. It contained the Enemy Skill materia, which he picked out with two of the talons on his prosthetic arm. Reholstering the Quicksilver, he placed it in the palm of his real hand. Immediately, he said, "There's one. The monster it came from thought of it as Flamethrower. It should do nicely."

Cloud nodded again, and looked at Rude. "How confident are you that this will work?"

"It will."

"Okay. Vincent, you're up."

The strange man stepped forward, replacing the Enemy Skill materia in its slot, and brushing past Rude and Reno without a second thought. Rude was impressed. The guy had guts.

Vincent stopped maybe twenty feet in front of the creature, just beyond its reach, should it lunge, and raised his gun. A very faint yellow light poured off the weapon, and washed over him. Moments later, it flowed back over the gun, gathering at the muzzle. Then, he pulled the trigger.

An enormous wave of flames gushed from the weapon, mutilating the bullet the instant it left the barrel, and poured over and around the gargoyle, which did not flinch at all. As it was engulfed but not devoured by the fire, Rude could see its rocky "skin" scorching, and then, very minutely, giving off waves of heat in every direction. Vincent, apparently, felt it, too, for, while the Flamethrower did not affect him in the least, he stepped back as the creature's surface began to heat up.

After a few more moments of this - around twenty-five seconds in all - Vincent finally stopped, breathing heavily. He stepped back, and said, "Your turn, Cloud."

The former SOLDIER stepped up, walking up to where Vincent had initially stood, and then moving back, slightly, flinching from the heat. He raised the Buster in front of him, and the same kind of glow that had come from Vincent's weapon began to come from his, only, this time, it was green instead of yellow. As it gathered in the sword, he lowered it to his side, faintly touching the ground. Then, with a roar, he quickly raised it, and swung it in the direction of the gargoyle. As he did, a crescent- shaped body of light was thrown from the blade, and, from the place it hit the monster, a harsh frost began to spread outward, over its body.

This did cause a reaction on the gargoyle's part, as the sudden drop in temperature from its previous heat caused it to roar in pain, it's face cracking in several places, and chunks falling away from the jaw. Finally, the lower half of its face just fell right off. Furious, it backed up, and, with a final scream, it lurched forward, toward their hiding place.

Reno called, "Move your asses, here it comes!" And he backed up quickly, bringing a squawk of irritation from Yuffie as he accidentally sent her sprawling. Rude followed. Cloud didn't move at all; he was too strained from the use of Ice. Rude saw Tifa run forward to grab him, and grabbed her as she passed, wrapping an arm around her waist, and swinging her back to the others.

At the same moment, Reno fell forward, swearing loudly, and a something flew past Rude's ear with a whizzing sound. He reflexively fell sideways, bracing himself against the side of the tunnel, and watched the object fly out of the tunnel's mouth. The injured gargoyle never even saw it. It collided with the creature's nose, and banked back toward them. This time, Rude threw himself on the ground, and everyone else followed suit. Except for Yuffie.

She caught the Four-Point Shuriken in one hand, and Rude looked up at her dumbly. He looked back out at where Cloud was finally backing away from the gargoyle, and the gargoyle was just staring blankly. It shattered, falling to thousands of tiny pieces. Rude looked again at Yuffie. She shrugged, and said, "It looked like things needed to be helped along." He nodded slowly, and rose to his feet, trying to look reasonably non-chalant as he did so. Reno did the same.

As others rose to their feet, Reno said, "That actually worked pretty well, Rude." Reno sounded surprised. Rude could have cheerfully socked him one. Reno turned and looked at Cloud, who was staring at them all, looking shell-shocked. He said, "You know, when big monster think you look like little hamburger, you run. Dork." Rude decided that this made him want to hit Reno a lot less.

Rude turned to face the others, and was greeted by a fist. His nose exploded in pain, and his sunglasses flew off. Surprised, he looked at Tifa, who was scowling at him. Then, she grabbed his shoulders, and planted a knee in his stomach. Now hurting in two places, he continued to just stare at her in disbelief. Then, she took a step away, and screamed, "HiiiiyA!" as she landed a roundhouse kick hard on his jaw. He flew back, hitting the ground with a thump. He rubbed his jaw and nose, which he thought might be broken; it was certainly bleeding enough.

She grunted, and told him, "I never gave you permission to touch me." Then, she stalked past, leaving the rest gaping after her.

One by one, they filed past, and Rude seethed. The last one to pass was Vincent, who stopped in front of him. Reno made as if to move forward, but Rude held up a hand, and he held his place. Vincent looked down at him for a long time, those curious red eyes seemingly trying to see into his soul. The man's face was expressionless. Finally, he said, "You think I'm going to hit you. I could, and it would probably kill you. However, I know that you very likely saved her life, back there, even if she can't see that. I have no idea why you did, but you did. Just so you know it wasn't totally thankless." The man made as if to move on, and then paused. He reached into his cape, and brought out a vial. It was a potion. He flipped it to Reno, who caught it deftly with one hand. "That ought to cover the damage."

The damage. As if they'd gotten into a minor fender-bender on the street. Rude didn't know what to make of it. Reno bent down, his face totally without emotion, and took out the vial's stopper. He handed it to Rude, who took it gratefully. He drank it, feeling the warmth of it begin to spread throughout him immediately. He wiped his mouth, and tossed the container away. It smashed somewhere back toward the clock pit, and he paid it no mind. He got to his feet.

He still hurt everywhere that Tifa had hit him, but he was determined not to show pain until they'd left this place behind. He walked carefully into the room with the doorway, where the rest were clustered around the gargoyle's remains. He and Reno skirted them, and opened the door. Rude was almost unsurprised to see Cait Sith standing there.

"Well, it's about time you guys let me in!" he said, bounding forward. Then, he saw who he was speaking to, and, without any apparent surprise, nodded. "Reno. Rude."

"Heya, Reeve, what's shakin'?" said Reno, his tone quite sarcastic. Not waiting for an answer, he went out the door. Rude followed. Cait Sith looked out after them, and Rude guessed he was a little annoyed to be called by his real name in the presence of Cloud and the others. Just at a glance, though, he could see that they hadn't even noticed. He nodded to Cait, and then turned, and went to find Tseng.

* * *

Cait Sith bounded on up to Cloud, peering around as he went. He said, "Looks like you guys had a bit of a problem, here. . ."

Cloud gave a dismissive wave, and said, "Nothing we couldn't handle." He looked at Cait. "You ready?"

"And willing, fearless leader!" the mechanical cat said, affecting a salute. Reeve knew it looked comical on the Cait Sith body, and that was the point. Keep the tension levels down. If he was good at anything, it was cheering people up. Cloud didn't smile, though. Reeve guessed his smiler was broken, and almost laughed.

Cait began to head for the clock pit, and then stopped. Without turning around, he said, "I want to thank you guys for trusting me, even though I worked for Shinra. And for having faith in my ability to do this. Thank-you."

He heard Aeris say, "Cait, why don't you tell our fortune?"

Reeve turned around and said, "Yeah, that's a great idea! But. . . what should I tell?"

Aeris smiled, and leaned in close to Cloud, who blushed. "See how compatible Cloud and I are!" Tifa turned and began to closely study the exit, Reeve noticed. Judging from the way Vincent didn't look at anyone, least of all Tifa, Reeve guessed he noticed, too. Yuffie just grinned excitedly.

Cait nodded, and he said, "Okay!" with as much cheer as he could muster. It sounded okay, to him. He turned around, and set the machines in motion. A small slip of paper came out the cave moogle's mouth, and Cait Sith deftly caught it with one hand. He held it up to the cameras which hid behind his eyes, and looked at it.

The paper was blank. "What?" he muttered.

"What does it say, Cait?" asked Aeris.

"Uh, this one's just a recipe for cookies! Let me try again. . ."

The machine whirred again, and the moogle spat out another slip of paper. This one was blank, too. Reeve stared for a long time, trying to consider the implications of such a thing. The moogle, for all its appearances, tended to be quite accurate in its predictions. He didn't know why that was, and never really questioned it. Now, though, he was made to wonder just how accurate the moogle was. From time to time, it did spit out cookie recipes, phone numbers, and sometimes pictures. It had never given a blank fortune, though, and the consistency with which it was now doing so meant it wasn't just a screwup. But what could it mean?

"Cait?" said Aeris, her voice tentative. "What does it say?"

"Oh, uh, it says you two are perfect for each other," he replied in his cheeriest voice, silently steeling himself from some kind of reaction from Tifa. Tifa just shook her head, and walked out the door. Only he and Vincent noticed.

Aeris jumped up and down in excitement, as did Yuffie. Cloud just shook his head, trying to hide a grin. Then, Aeris waved, and said, "Thank- you, Cait Sith! Good luck." Pulling Cloud by the hand, she ran out the door. Yuffie cheered, and followed.

"See you around, guys. . ." Reeve said quietly.

He turned to go, and a hand clamped down on the moogle's shoulder. Cait Sith turned to look, and found himself face-to-face with Vincent. The strange man studied Cait's face for a long time, and Reeve was suddenly glad the face was incapable of anything besides happiness and mock-sadness. Right then, he would be seeing happiness.

Finally, Vincent asked, "Can I see that fortune?"

Reeve replied, a wry smile tinging his voice, "Not much gets past you, does it?"

No answer. The grin slipping from Cait Sith's face, he glumly handed Vincent the piece of paper. Vincent stared at it for a moment, and then said, "What's this?"

"It's what came out. Twice." He handed the former Turk the other piece of paper, and Vincent looked at it, as well.

"Well, your fortunes aren't very reliable, you know. . ." The caped man didn't sound convinced, however.

"They actually are, aside from the occasional dirty limerick. Trust me. I, of all people, would know."

"Then what is this supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," Reeve replied truthfully. Quickly, without giving Vincent a chance to ask him any more difficult questions, he asked, "Which way's the room with the model?"

Vincent told him, and Cait Sith turned around and bounded off down the passage.

* * *

The picture room was a mess, now, and Reeve gawked at the dragon, which remained trapped within some unusual Barrier. He'd heard it all over Cloud's PHS, but it was still something to see. He hoped to find out more about it, later. For now, he had a job to do, and everyone was counting on him.

At the other end, he could see the model of the temple, sitting on its table. Quickly, Cait Sith bounded over.

Okay, gotta compress it. See, Cloud? See, everyone? I can protect the Planet, too. I'm kinda embarrassed. . .

Back at the Shinra building, in his office, Reeve smiled happily and began to process of collapsing the temple. As it began to close in on Cait Sith, that smile somehow translated itself to the robotic face of the cat, stretching the face in ways it was never meant to. Cait Sith's smile mirrored that of its controller in the last moments of its existence.

* * *

Outside, high overhead in a stolen chopper, Tseng, Reno, and Rude watched as the Temple collapsed inward. Rude looked at Tseng with an alarmed expression on his normally impassive face.

"That's supposed to happen, Cue-Ball, calm down. Reeve did it."

"Did what?" Reno asked, sounding thoroughly confused.

Tseng said, "I'll explain on the way back." He smiled.

* * *

Cid had just won his two-hundred-and-eighty-sixth game of Rock, Paper, Scissors in a row against Barret when a low rumble began to fill the air.

Barret growled, and said, "Dammit! How c'n you be so lucky at this?"

As he turned to look at the temple, Cid mumbled distractedly, "Not luck, pal. Skill."

"Yeah, I'll b'lieve that like I'll b'lieve-" Cid held up a hand, and Barret was silent immediately.

"Y'hear that, ebonics-boy?"

"Yeah, I hear it. You shouldn'ta eaten all that spicy food, back at the Saucer."

"That ain't me. It's comin' from the &$^#@$ temple."

Nanaki, who'd been napping in the shade of a tree, lifted his head, and looked at the enormous structure, ears cocked. Cid watched him do this with minor interest, and then the feline said, "He's right, Barret. Something's happening, in there. I'd wager Cait Sith accomplished whatever it was he was going in there for."

As he said this, Cid spotted the others, led by Tifa, running across the suspension bridge, full-tilt. Cloud and Aeris ran almost side-by-side behind her, followed by Yuffie. Vincent brought up the rear. Behind them, the temple began to shudder, and Cid could swear it was getting lower. Then, it became clear that it truly was sinking, except that wasn't quite it. It was imploding.

Nanaki began to run forward, but he said, "No, dammit! Red, stay the ^*@% here! There's gonna be a lotta debris."

The cat stopped, and looked at him, an amazed and angry expression on his face, and answered, "Well, we aren't just going to stand here and watch, are we?"

Cid looked at him, and said, "That's exactly what we're gonna do, furball. Sorry, but there ain't a thing else we can do."

Nanaki seemed to want to argue, but nodded instead, and watched.

The bridge swung hard to the sides, and everyone grabbed the rope supports to keep from toppling over, and, as soon as it stopped, they kept moving. Behind them, dust clouds puffed out from the collapsing temple, and stones flew. One hit the bridge directly behind Vincent, and hard. It crashed through, fraying the ropes, and causing a loose quality the bridge hadn't had, before.

Tifa made solid ground first, followed by Cloud, who tripped and sprawled forward. That was when the bridge collapsed. Vincent's reflexes saved both himself and Yuffie a fall, as he leapt, grabbing the ninja by the back of the shirt as he passed overhead. The jump carried them both to where Tifa and Cloud were. Aeris was almost at the side, but, as it fell, she disappeared from Cid's view. He saw Tifa standing there at the edge, even as Cloud was getting up from where he'd fallen. She was just staring downward, and then she stepped back, slipped, and fell hard on her rear. She scrabbled away from the edge as fast as she could, and Cid thought, That's it, then. The girl's dead.

He was surprised to feel sorrow at this thought. Up until now, he'd been as disconnected from most of his emotions as a sniper lining up his target. Now, though, he felt close to tears.

Fighting them back furiously, and succeeding, he chomped down hard on the end of his cigarette, and looked again at Nanaki and Barret. Nanaki was watching the events unfolding before them with an intensity he hadn't yet seen in the cat, and Barret was looking at him. He was scowling. "Good call, Captain."

Without answering, Cid broke into a run toward the others. Screw the debris. It looked like the others needed help.

He slid to a halt directly in front of the place where Aeris had fallen, and landed hard on his shoulder, even as Vincent, Cloud, and Yuffie were still getting up from their respective landing places. Grace was definitely not his strength. He peered over the edge, and was greeted with the sight of Aeris hanging from one of the bridge's slats with one hand. In the other hand, she gripped a funny-looking staff of some kind. Her hold was slipping, but she didn't let go of the staff.

"Aeris, drop the damn stick!" he called.

The girl looked up, and replied, a little confusedly, "Cid?" She looked down at the staff, and said, "I can't! The Princess Guard! My mother!"

He had no idea what she was talking about, but he knew he couldn't wait any longer, or she'd fall. He called out, hoping someone would hear him, "Hold onto me! I'm headin' down!"

With that, he slid forward, and over the lip. There was a bare moment when he was certain no one had heard him, and that he'd fall to his death, and then someone grabbed the cuffs of his pants.

He didn't look to see who it was, instead concentrating on reaching Aeris's gloved hand. He came within reaching distance just as she slipped, and he clamped both of his much larger hands over hers. "Gotcha," he said, as though the fact wasn't plain.

At the same time, the hand which had him began to pull both he and Aeris back up, with incredible strength. As he cleared the lip, Cloud, who had been waiting at the side, stepped forward, and grabbed onto Aeris's hand, pulling her the rest of the way up. The person behind him let go, and he watched as Aeris and Cloud hugged each other. Cloud looked about to cry. Wuss. The pair began to walk away from the calming wreckage, and he called, "You're welcome!" No one answered.

Ahead, he saw that Aeris hadn't been in any real danger of falling. Instead, the other side of the gulley had collapsed inward, filling the place where the bridge had been with rocks. She would have been crushed, instead.

He rolled over onto his back, and looked up at the person who'd caught him. It was Tifa, finally recovered from whatever had happened to her. "Hey," she said.

* * *

When the dust had settled in the temple's ruins, Cloud said, "We're heading back in there."

"Care t'explain?" Cid asked.

"The black materia was the temple, and now we need to get it before Sephiroth does." Cloud didn't quite understand just what was so hard to comprehend about that concept.

"The bridge is out. How the hell d'we get back in there?"

Cloud looked back at the entrance to what was once the temple, and, sure enough, the bridge was out. As though he hadn't already known. Beyond, he could see the place where the temple had been, and, he assumed, must still be, after a fashion. Where the bridge had been, there was a massive pile of rocks. "We can cross those rocks." Without another word, he started walking.

The small ridge proved tottery, but passable. The only one who had any trouble with it was Barret, but, then, Barret sometimes had trouble just walking. He took a few steps out, and then a rock slid out from under his foot, and he'd fallen hard on his face. Tifa had helped him up, and Cloud tried hard not to laugh. Reasonably successfully, he thought, but the big man had shot him a dark look, anyway.

On the other side, there was what Cloud thought looked like a gravel pit. There was nothing in it, that he could see. Then, Aeris began to descend into it, and he followed, more out of an innate protectiveness for the girl than any real belief that anything would be found down there.

They spent a long time, searching through the loose grey stone of the temple, and found nothing. Then, Aeris did find it. She simply stuck her hand under a seemingly random pile of loose rock, and pulled out a black marble. The Meteor materia glowed blackly. She said, "Cloud, catch," and tossed it to him. He caught it carefully, and looked at it.

He wondered just how something could emanate darkness the way it did, and held it up to the light. He could see everyone else gathered around the edge of the pit, and scanned their faces. They all held the same dubious expression. Then, he saw why. The materia not only gave off darkness, but it seemed to actually negate light, so that the area immediately surrounding it for about an inch or so was almost pitch-black. "Creepy," he said.

Aeris gasped, and Cloud spun around to face her. Standing about ten feet away was Sephiroth, still holding the Masamune loosely in one hand. He laughed, and Cloud blacked out, almost immediately.

* * *

Cait Sith bounded across the rocks, toward the place where the temple used to stand, with Reeve at the controls, once more. He'd had a helicopter on stand-by, in case such an occurrance as the first Cait's destruction were to come about. As soon as it had become apparent that it was going to happen, the chopper had flown in, from a distance, and set down, ready for the second Cait Sith to come to life and move out. Then, upon the "death" of the first one, he'd switched over to the other one.

This new Cait Sith was fitted with a few more options. He was meant for combat and travel, not espionage, and that was fine with Reeve. His cover was blown with this group, in any case. Now, he could show them what he could really do. Reeve smiled, and Cait Sith mimicked the motion with complete accuracy. This model was fitted with more advanced facial expression modules, capable of everything its pilot was. It was more a gesture of good faith, allowing them to see the face as his really was, than anything else. He hoped it helped. He really didn't want them to hate him.

Though this particular model was a lot harsher for him, as a result of the neural uplink, he still liked it. Another feature was a simulated sense of touch. Underneath the fur lay literally hundreds of sensors, which translated every type of contact the robot had into real sensations for Reeve. He thought it was neat. Rufus had thought it was stupid, but had allowed him that.

Cait scraped to a stop to find most of the others looking down into the pit with identical expressions of dismay. He acted on his first instinct, and said, "Hey! My name's Cait Sith Two! Pleased to meet you all!" The joke was met with not only silence, but complete inattention. He looked down where they were all staring, and said, "Did I come at a bad time? Oops, looks like you're having a whole 'thing,' here. . ."

Down below, he could see Cloud, and the ex-SOLDIER looked like a puppet, dancing on its strings. He was walking stiffly toward Sephiroth, the black materia in one outstretched hand, and all anyone seemed able to do was gawk. Even Aeris just stared, seeming to totter on the edge of trying to stop him. "Cloud, what are you doing?" he cried.

No answer. Whatever he was seeing, down there, Cloud wasn't even an issue anymore. He was about to jump down and stop him, when something unusual happened.

The Cait Sith body stopped responding. The arms and legs went slack, and the cat's head tipped sideways, the vision becoming staticky. What he saw, however caused some confusion. He was seeing two Clouds. One was the puppet, and the other, not dressed in Cloud's SOLDIER uniform, and much shorter, was standing in front of the puppet. He looked like a younger version of Cloud. Young Cloud was running back and forth in front of the puppet, and Reeve was able to make out something else. Young Cloud was saying something. "No. . ." Then there was static. "Stop it, Cloud, don't let him. . ." More static. This hurt his head, badly.

Then, Cloud gave the black materia to Sephiroth, who laughed again, and simply disappeared. No, he didn't just disappear. He flew away. He lifted off the ground, and simply soared away toward the horizon.

Within moments, he was gone, and Cait Sith began, slowly, to function again. As everything crept back online, he saw Cloud scream, and start taking swings at the empty air where Sephiroth had been, moments before. Then, screaming more loudly, he spun, and began to pound away at Aeris, without any warning at all. Reeve yelled, "Cloud! Stop it!"

He saw Cid quickly descend the slope toward the SOLDIER and the flower-girl. The Captain said, "#&$^, Cloud, that's enough!" and, putting him into a full-nelson, yanked him off of Aeris. The pair fell backward, Cid slinging Cloud behind him. Almost immediately, Cloud's flailing weakened, and then stopped, altogether. He was out cold. Cid got to his feet, and just stared.

After a few moments, he bent, and picked up his cigarette, which had fallen out during his struggle with Cloud. He puffed madly at it, and looked up at the rest of them. "Barret, help me with 'im, wouldja?"

As Barret wordlessly hopped down to aid Cid, Reeve began to wonder just what he'd witnessed, here.

**************************************************************************** ********************

Ah yes. Rock, Paper, Scissors. The old stand-by.

If you don't know where to contact me to tell us what a good job we did, check the recap, alright? I'm too lazy to retype it over and over. Next up: The Dream and Gongaga

Added: I apparently forgot to include Ree-chan's info, here, so here it is: chaos_vincent21@hotmail.com. Also, schuldich.signmyguestbook.com. She'd love to hear from ya. As would I. Seriously.