DISCLAIMER: For the last time, I don't own the characters of FF7!! They're Squaresofts!! I can only say this so many times before completely losing my mind!! ^_^
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Finally! I got around to actually writing this chapter. This was really difficult for me to write, so it also took me quite some time.. I practically did nothing but type for two days! I hope there aren't any major mistakes in my writing? I try to fix them as soon as I notice any, I hope they don't bother you much? ^_^ I had a pretty good time figuring out a few funny scenes. I wonder if you'll find them funny though.. I laugh at such weird things. 0_o Look, is that a bird? *quickly escapes*
CHAPTER 23.
I feel her presence in the
common day,
In that slow dark that widens every eye.
She moves as water moves, and comes to me,
Stayed by what was, and pulled by what would be.
- Theodore Roethke -
"Hard to believe such a dull looking stone could give us access to limitless amounts of Mako.." Rufus stared at the rainbow coloured, round stone in his hand.
"Sir, we're ready for the stone." A male SOLDIER announced, standing next to an altar.
"Perfect." The short haired man smirked, and walked over to the altar. "This thing had better work.." Rufus muttered, as he placed the stone into the shallow hole in the center of the small altar. As the stone reflected a blaze of light towards a wall, an ancient mechanism was activated. The altar slid slowly inside the wall, and revealed a staircase that led under the floor.
"Intriquing." Rufus sneered, and decended down the stairs, bowing his head a little to avoid hitting his head to the ceiling of the staircase. Entering the chamber located at the end of the stairs, Rufus lit up some torches on the sides of the room.
"You." Rufus turned to the nearest SOLDIER. "Keep guard on this place, understood?" He ordered, and then re-entered the staircase. "I imagine the AVALANCHE members will try to stop us.." Rufus said, as he walked back up into fresh air.
"Yes Sir." The SOLDIER nodded. As Rufus began walking back to the temporary base the Shin-Ra had set up close to the Temple, Rufus thought if the protection he had ordered was really of any use. If General Sephiroth wanted to enter the place, a few feeble lower class SOLDIER's could hardly stop him. Still, Rufus couldn't just leave the place completely without protection.
Time was of the essence, Rufus mused, so he hoped it would take a long while for the AVALANCHEr's to find to the old building. He needed time to figure out the engravings written to the Temple's walls. Many of Shin-Ra's leading scientist were working around the clock to solve their meaning, but Rufus feared they had gotten to the Temple too late. He snorted, as he walked with his military escort following him. This was his one chance to replace his father.. Rufus was so tired of standing in his shadow, especially since the old man wasn't doing a particularly good job. He had gotten weak.. An evilish grin spread over Rufus' face. He was tired of Shin-Ra just being an energy company.. No, Rufus had greater plans; he wanted to become the emperor of the world. And very soon, everyone else would know of his plans too.
* * * * *
"Take this and this and.. Eewwwk!" Aeris squealled as she fell to her stomach. In front of her, a green, cat sized monster looked at her with an expression that could not be anything but amusement. "Aargh.. I need those fighting lessons.." Aeris muttered and stood up. She quickly dusted her pink dress, and checked that her staff was still intact. The last thing she wanted, was to be unarmed in this jungle. As Aeris prepared for her next attack, she noticed the monster she had been fighting had escaped.
"Ha! I scared it away." She smiled to herself, and continued to walk on a narrow path that was probably created by monsters rather than humans. It led from a small lake deeper into the jungle, and many creatures of the forest probably used it when going to drink. As much as Aeris feared she might run into a big, thirsty monster, she had to keep walking to the very direction she was headed. Towards the Temple of the Ancients.. Even if she had never been to the Temple, and had only heard of it's existence a few days ago, she was sure this was the way to get to it.
In her dream, something had imprinted a map of this huge forest into Aeris' memory, and when she had woken up the fiery urge to leave for the Temple had forced her to leave Tifa, Barret and especially Sephiroth behind. After a few hours of walking Aeris was here; she felt this was very close to the Temple's location. She remembered that in her dream, the voice of the Planet had repeated over an over again the same message: the Planet was in danger and that Aeris would have to hurry to the Temple. There was no time to waste.. Even if Aeris felt she could hardly stop Zenobius or Shin-Ra from entering the Temple, she still wanted to do as the Planet said. She felt she owed it to it.. As Aeris walked forward, she tried to imagine what was going on with the others. She hoped Sephiroth wouldn't be angry that she had left.. or worried. Aeris had wanted to wake him up and ask him to come along, but this was something she had to do on her own. She didn't want Sephiroth to risk his life for something Aeris had heard in a dream.
As she took another carefree step forward, Aeris noticed something move in the corner of her eye. "Oh no, not another one!" Aeris sighed, and held tightly onto her staff. Soon the noise stopped though, so she decided to continue walking. Aeris glanced briefly at her shoes, that were stained in muddy dirt
"Just where do you think you're going?"
An angry voice asked from nearby, making Aeris stumble into a bush with large, green leaves. This was it, her worst nightmare come true. She was alone in this dense jungle, with.. Sephiroth? Aeris blinked at the sight of him, standing in a perfect posture with his arms folded protectively in front of his chest.
"Gosh, you scared me! For a moment there I thought you were--" Aeris fell silent, not wanting to voice her thoughts in fear Sephiroth might get further offended.
"Well I could have been him." Sephiroth's voice was still angry, and his expression was as cold as ice. "You keep making so much noise it would have been easy for even a deaf person to find you!" He muttered, and then took a step forward. He extended his arm towards Aeris, and helped her up.
"Still.. Stop sneaking up on me. I'm gonna have a heart-attack one day.." Aeris mumbled in a small voice, admitting Sephiroth was right. She had been so anxious to find out more about her ancestors, she had forgotten all about the Barracudas and Zenobius.
"Sorry. I just don't like the idea of you walking around alone, especially with the Shin-Ra people still around.. Don't forget you're on the run from them too." Sephiroth reminded Aeris, and she jut nodded at him in response.
Aeris felt a little ashamed of her rash decision to leave for the Temple, but it had felt like a good idea at the time. "I wasn't going to go far." She fidgeted.
"Oh?" Sephiroth tilted his head as he the answer came to him without Aeris even voicing the words. "You're searching for the Temple.." He sighed, his voice suggesting he was glad he had gotten to Aeris before she had reached the Temple. It was most likely the Shin-Ra people were already there.
"Whatever there is cetra in me.. It's dying to go there.." Aeris voice was faraway, as she explained her motives.
"Well, dead's how you are going to end up, if you go there alone." Sephiroth snorted. "You should have asked me to come with you." There was a little bit hurt undertone in his voice, that caught Aeris' attention. She wanted him to understand, that she hadn't left him behind because she didn't want his company, but because she had wanted to protect him.
"I didn't want to wake you.." Was all that Aeris said though.
"Well I'm here now." Sephiroth said, and pulled a leaf out of Aeris' hair.
"Did you see me fight off that green monster! I was pretty good eh?" Aeris smiled at Sephiroth.
"Actually.. It stole your money while you were lying on the ground." Sephiroth smirked.
"Why that little.." Aeris puffed as she checked her purse. Sephiroth was right, she had lost a few thousand gils. "Let's just leave already." Aeris sighed at Sephiroth's amused expression, and they both continued walking westwards.
* * * * *
"I knew it - Sephiroth has kidnapped her." Tifa muttered, and glanced at Barret.
"Kidnapped? Now where did dat come from?" Barret thought aloud.
"OK, so maybe not kidnapped--" Tifa sighed in frustration. "But they're still both missing! Why would they leave, especially since Cloud and the others are still missing too!" She shook her head and sat down on a rock. "Maybe he's changed sides or freaked out again.. I wonder if this situation could possibly get any worse." Tifa complained.
"Aeris would have made some noise if she didn't want to be with 'im.. Mabbe they just eloped." Barret suggested, and Tifa rolled her eyes.
"I was wrong." She said under her breath, and turned to face the path leading down into the jungle.
"We ought to be lookin' for the others.." Barret told her.
"Yeah.. The sooner we find them the better." Tifa agreed. They began gathering their few things in silence, as the sun was creeping higher up on the sky.
"I've got a feelin' this'll be one damn sweaty day.." Barret muttered, and tried to enjoy the last moments of the chilly morning air, before the sun turned it's temperature.
* * * * *
"This is it." Aeris stopped in front of a small rope-bridge, that had been built over a deep breach surrounding the Cetran holy site.
"The Temple of the Ancients.." Sephiroth muttered, as his eyes studied the large building located at the end of the bridge. It looked like it was built in several floors, some probably even under ground level. There appeared to be only one entrance to it, which bothered Sephiroth. The large stone building looked like a mouse trap, standing before them eerily quiet as though it was waiting for something.
"Come on, let's go take a look!" Aeris smiled excited, and quickly walked over the bridge.
Sephiroth followed her in silence, looking out for anything even remotely suspicious. He couldn't see anyone or anything, and Sephiroth wasn't sure what it meant. For a passing moment Sephiroth had the strangest feeling he was walking straight into a trap, but a look at Aeris' enthusiastic expression was more than enough to erase the thought of Sephiroth's mind.
"Ooh, look at this.. All these engravings.. It's a bit like at the marble-temple, remember?" Aeris turned to look at Sephiroth, and blushed a little as she remembered the details of that evening.
"Yes.." Sephiroth glanced at her, and continued to walk slowly to the inner parts of the building.
"So.." Aeris stared at his back, and then turned to study the symbols more carefully. She wished she could read them, somehow.
"Do you know what Zenobius is looking for from here?" Aeris asked, and noticed Sephiroth stop immediatly.
"You mean you don't know what's kept here?" Sephiroth seemed a little surprised.
"No." Aeris answered him with a smile.
"The Black Materia.." Sephiroth explained. "It's a weapon of ultimate destruction." He added, and Aeris nodded at him with a serious expression on her face.
"We shouldn't let Zenobius get it.. Let's just hope he's not here yet." She told him, biting her lip a bit troubled by the thought of running into the black-haired man. Something about Zenobius was familiar to Aeris somehow, and it frightened her that she didn't understand the feeling emanating from him.
"Aeris.. You know you might be in greater danger because of my presence? Jenova can still sence me, it was thanks to me that she found you in Niebelheim." Sephiroth told Aeris.
"I know.. But I guess I'll be in danger anyway. I'd rather face it with you, than alone." Aeris smiled reassuringly.
"Well.. I guess there's not much I can say to that." Sephiroth shrugged, and they walked a while in silence.
Inside the entry, Sephiroth noticed a few torches had been lit on the sides of the room. Also, the hole in the floor indicated that they were not the first to have gotten to the Temple. The thought made Sephiroth a little worried, since he didn't know what kind of an enemy to expect. Was it Shin-Ra, or Zenobius? Sephiroth couldn't really rule out either option. "It looks like they've already used the KeyStone.." Aeris glanced at Sephiroth, biting her lip. It seemed she was thinking of the same thing as Sephiroth.
"We should still go take a look, after all we didn't come all this way here for nothing.." Aeris frowned, and entered the staircase before Sephiroth had a chance to answer her.
"Aeris.. I'm not sure if.." Sephiroth muttered, as he followed her deeper into the Temple. "..That is such a good idea.." He continued, as he entered a larger cavity. There were murals and engravings everywhere, and there were some old clay pots and vases on the floor.
Aeris was admiring a mosaic, a thoughtful look on her face. "Wow.. The cetra must've been really something?" She smiled at Sephiroth awkwardly. She still felt odd about the whole being an Ancient thing.
"Looks that way." Sephiroth nodded at her as he answered, and moved to a wall. As his fingers ran across the eye of a chocobo looking bird, a wall slid aside. Behind it, a large dark passageway led even deeper into the building.
"How did you..?" Aeris looked at Sephiroth in awe.
"I just got lucky.. I guess." Sephiroth smirked, and Aeris gave him a look. "Oh really?" She smiled, and walked through the dark opening. Sephiroth followed her, an amused look on his face.
They continued to pace past walls that had more skilled artwork on them, and Sephiroth watched in silence, as Aeris stopped to look at some of them. "It's nice to know you've still got your sence of priorities." Sephiroth told her, as she stopped for maybe the tenth time during the relatively small distance.
"Aww.." Aeris walked over to him, and turned his head with her fingers. "Feeling a little neglegted, are we?" She smiled at Sephiroth.
"..Maybe a little." Sephiroth smiled back at her, enjoying the charged atmosphere.
"Well.. Let's see what I can do about that." Aeris whispered him, standing up on her toes. She leaned closer to Sephiroth, and they exchanged a long, passionate kiss. When they finally broke apart, Aeris giggled at something. "I feel like a teenager, sneaking a boyfriend into my home.." She explained, and grabbed Sephiroth's hand. Finally the tunnel ended, and behind it they saw a larger chamber, that was lit by rays of sunlight streaming in through a few cracks in the ceiling.
"Hmm?" Aeris suddenly stopped, as she heard a whisper from a small pond of Mako nearby, located almost at the center of the room. "Oh, come take a look.. I think it's trying to contact me." She looked at Sephiroth slightly embarrassed.
"What's it saying?" Sephiroth asked, as Aeris kneeled next to the pasific green liquid.
"I'm not sure.." Aeris tried to concentrate. "I mean, it's hard to understand. Their message is beyond words.. But what I do understand.. They're warning me; they sence evil." Aeris lifted her gaze to Sephiroth.
"Duh." He snorted, and Aeris just giggled at his blunt remark.
"It's not you." She shook her head, smiling amused.
"No?" Sephiroth asked, wondering who the cetra meant then. Zenobius?
"There are still Jenova cells within me.. And I'm sure the cetra still consider Jenova to be 'evil'.." Sephiroth continued, sitting down on the opposite side of the Mako pool. Aeris stared at him across the small distance.
"I never thought of it that way.." She tilted her head. The whispers of the Planet were like a melody in her head, as the voices kept drawing near then dying again. "To me you're just Sephiroth.." Aeris smiled innocently, and Sephiroth smiled back at her. Unwittingly, Aeris had just spoken a great compliment.
"Thanks." Sephiroth grinned, and then allowed his gaze to sink into the depths of the Mako pool.
"It's strange.." He spoke. "This liquid is what we'll become.. when we die." He continued, and stirred the surface with his fingers. Aeris looked at his behaviour horrified, since she knew how poisonous Mako was. It was because of the beautifully glowing liquid, that the normal animals had nearly dissappeared off of the face of the earth. Any animal that had been in contact with Mako turned into a monster, capable of hunting with spells. It was easy to understand, that normal animals had been defenceless against such creatures.
"Don't touch it!" Aeris told Sephiroth, and he quickly pulled back his fingers.
"Why not? I'm immune to it.." Sephiroth explained. "I was injected with such large doses of Mako throughout my life, my cells have learned to co-exist with it." He kept talking, slightly bitter again like always when talking about his past.
"I've heard they shower people with Mako in SOLDIER.." Aeris nodded at Sephiroth.
"Yes.. Such a treatment is dangerous only if the dosage of Mako is too large.." He nodded, thinking back to the horribly mutated people locked up in Niebelheims reactor.
"I wonder if I'm immune to it too.. I'm supposed to be a cetra, anyway." Aeris thought.
"Well, I suggest you don't jump into that stuff until you're sure." Sephiroth snorted, and stood up. He had had enough rest, and Sephiroth was keen to study the Temple further.
"I wasn't going to.. I think it'd just be cool to be as strong as you." Aeris smiled and followed Sephiroth towards a dimly lit chamber.
"Mako's not the thing that makes me strong." Sephiroth shook his head, and for a moment Aeris wondered what he meant. "It's just something that makes it easier for me to recover.. I believe I mentioned something of this to you earlier." He glanced at Aeris over his shoulder.
"Yeah." Aeris remembered it clearly, as though it had just been yesterday when they had been walking towards Kalm. She still loved to listen to Sephiroth's voice.. Something about it was very soothing.
"I think Mako's not really meant for waging war.." Sephiroth sighed and shook his head, "I think it's more a thing of light than that of darkness.."
* * * * *
"Cid! Vincent!" Cloud greeted the two tired looking travellers.
"Are the others with you?" Red glanced around them, yet couldn't see or hear anyone.
"No.. It's just us." Cid yawned. Vincent nodded in agreement, and then reatreated to the back of the group, comfortable in his role of an observer.
"Where could she be?" Cloud thought, and decided they should keep walking towards a relatively small cliff in the distance. He briefly wondered though, if Sephiroth was the kind to sit around and wait for the others to arrive. No, it was more likely that Sephiroth would find them them before they could find him..
"So Tifa, Barret, Aeris and Sephiroth are still missing huh?" Cid asked, as Red filled him in on the latest events. They discussed the Barracudas and the weird noise Cid and Vincent had heard, and concluded that the Shin-Ra were probably not far away.
"We'd better be extra careful from now on.." Cloud said, and led his team further up an unpaved road that sloped to the peak of a hill.
* * * * *
"Waahh!!" Aeris screamed, a look of sheer terror on her face.
"W-what?" Sephiroth rushed to her side, and looked in the direction Aeris was pointing to with her shaking finger. A small spider, about the size of a large fingernail, was walking slowly on her dress. "This was what you screamed about?" Sephiroth rolled his eyes and flicked the spider off. "Women.." He muttered under his breath, as Aeris clinged onto him.
"Urgh.. Spiders are so creepy." Aeris frowned. "I can still feel it's little feet.." Her voice was shaky, to a ridiculous extent.
"It's harmless." Sephiroth sighed, but his words seemed to do no good.
"Well why can't it be walking it's harmless little body somewhere else than on my dress!" Aeris pouted a little, checking there weren't any other spiders around.
"Spiders these days.." Sephiroth chuckled, he thought Aeris' little fobia was rather amusing. He had very few fears left, Hojo had made sure of that.
"You just wait when you'll be frightened of something.." Aeris gave Sephiroth a look, and parted from him when she got over her fear of encountering another spider.
"Did you find out anything, before that creature from your worst nightmare appeared?" Sephiroth asked with an evilish smirk.
"Oh, don't rub it in!" Aeris told him, and finally her lips drawed into a smile. "No, I didn't find out anything." She answered then. "Even the pictures seem to be done in another language." Aeris added, and gave an engraving of a large star one last look.
"Well, I'll tell you what I think then.." Sephiroth cleared his throat and walked to a picture of a city. "I think this Temple was built to protect the two ultimate Materia orbs." He began. "And for paying respect to ancestors.. Those who have passed away." Sephiroth's finger ran across a few words engraved to the wall.
"That's why there's so much Mako around!" Aeris agreed with Sephiroth's theory.
"Possibly.." Sephiroth continued after collecting his thoughts. "The Black Materia is still here.. somewhere. I can almost sence it." He replied, and moved to a different picture.
"This one's a warning.. And it also explains why the Black Materia is so dangerous.. With it, a person strong enough could summon a force so powerful, it would injure the Planet itself.." Sephiroth's voice turned thoughtful. "Injure the Planet..?" He repeated, and a sudden look of realization spread over his face. "Of course! I understand now." Sephiroth muttered, and walked in small circles.
"Sephiroth..?" Aeris looked at him a little bit concearned. He suddenly reminded Aeris of Hojo, as Sephiroth was so deep in his thoughts he seemed completely unaware of his surroundings.
"Remember what we talked about earlier, that Mako had regenerative properties?" Sephiroth asked, and Aeris nodded at him. He was clearly onto something, but Aeris couldn't even begin to understand what it was.
"What if.. Somehow.. They could concentrate a huge dose of Mako to a one single place.. And.." Sephiroth tried to capture the thought bouncing around in his mind. "Hmm.. it would have to be someone who's immune to the Mako.. someone who'd not get mutated.." He kept voicing his thoughts. "Someone from the Jenova project.." Sephiroth realized, and stopped walking. "Is Zenobius..?" Sephiroth tilted his head and continued walking.
"Oh Sephiroth, what are you saying?!" Aeris walked closer to him, a worried look in her eyes.
"It's very theoretical.. But.. Such a thing would mean.. immortality." Sephiroth stopped walking, and stared at Aeris blankly.
"What?" She blinked.
"Anyone with that kind of amounts of Mako.. would become indestructible. Literally invincible. A god.. Just like he said." Sephiroth explained.
"I don't understand.. Does Zenobius want to become a god? It's impossible!" Aeris shook her head.
"And the consiousness of the Planet would be replaced by Jenova's.." Sephiroth muttered, obviously missing Aeris' question completely.
"Where could he get that much Mako!" Aeris argued. Sephiroth just turned his eyes at a picture of a large star, falling towards ground, and stared at it for long.
"When the materia is used, the Lifestream should gather to protect the Planet.." Sephiroth answered in a quiet voice.
"OK, so let me get this straight: with the help of the Black Materia.. They'd become too strong to be defeated?" Aeris asked, beginning to make out some sence of Sephiroth's ramblings.
"Yes.. And there's more.. So far the Lifestream is a sea of Mako, consisting of millions of souls. But in case of danger.. It just might be they could destroy the Planet's mind, and replace it with their own. Black Materia would be perfect for the job." Sephiroth nodded in agreement.
"We have to stop them! Can't we destroy the Black Materia?" Aeris asked.
"No. While I was at Niebelheim, I had a chance to study old Cetran legends.. I fear destroying either the Holy Materia or the Black materia would cause a cosmic imbalance.. I wouldn't recommend it." Sephiroth frowned.
"So what can we do?" Aeris sighed.
"Rather than destroying the materia, we should try destroying those who want to use it." Sephiroth shrugged.
"Suddenly my fear of spiders seems like a small meaningless thing.. This is really bad news." Aeris shook her head.
"If I'm right, that is." Sephiroth walked over to a set of stairs, and sat down on them.
"I have a feeling you are.. it all makes sence to me now. Shin-Ra probably want the Black Materia for the same reason as Zenobius.. To get a huge amount of Mako to concentrate to a one single place." She spoke.
"Yeah.. It's difficult to suck it up from the ground.. There aren't many places where there's Mako close enough to the surface to be collected." Sephiroth nodded, and watched as Aeris sat down next to him.
"And, like Bugenhagen said.. If the Shin-Ra use up it all, the Planet will die.. It's hard to say which is worse, that Zenobius becomes one with the Planet or that Shin-Ra destroy it little by little." Aeris gave Sephiroth an exasperated look.
"Feeling a little tired, miss guardian of the world?" Sephiroth asked with a grin.
"Oh yeah.." Aeris smiled at him. She was glad he was here.. It would have taken her a lot longer to figure out the whole riddle without Sephiroth's help and expertice. "So what do we do now?" She asked. "Should we stay here or go back to look for the others?" She continued.
"I think.. maybe we should look for the Black Materia. We should steal it, before Shin-Ra or Zenobius get to it." Sephiroth muttered.
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea Sephy. It's been a while since I've last stolen anything." Aeris smiled.
"What, you've actually stolen something?" Sephiroth snorted.
"Yep. Elmyra's cookies. I wasn't supposed to have any before dinner, but I just couldn't resist." Aeris smiled.
"Oh, now that's evil for ya." Sephiroth smiled back at her.
"Why thankyou." Aeris bowed melodramatically, glad that the atmosphere had turned less tense. "Hmm.. I wonder what we could do while waiting for the next crisis?" She turned to face Sephiroth, a slightly mischievous look on her face.
"Oh I don't know.." Sephiroth smirked, and leaned closer to meet Aeris' lips. "I'm sure we'll be able to think of something.."
* * * * *
"Cloud..?" Tifa blinked as she looked up at the person she had bumped into on her way down a road.
"..Tifa?" Cloud seemed equally surprised. A moment after the two gave each other a big hug.
"It's good to see that.. you're OK." Tifa blushed a little, remembering the others in their company. Barret had already joined Red, and the two were exchanging news. "Sephiroth is with Aeris, somewhere.. I'm worried about her." She told Cloud.
"She should be OK if she's with him.. There's nothing in this forest that could harm Sephiroth." Cloud shrugged, a slightly dissappointed tune to his voice.
"You don't understand.. They left our camp this morning, really early.. I think something fishy is going on.. Aeris wouldn't just take off like that, not after all we saw last night!" Tifa said. "She couldn't be so stupid that she'd leave anywhere on her own!" She added.
"Yeah, after all, she's done that already. Remember Niebelheim?" Yuffie commented, and Tifa and Cloud gave each other an embarrassed look. They had completely forgotten about Niebelheim.
"So it's possible Sephiroth left again, and Aeris took off after him? It sounds.. like something Aeris might do." Cloud nodded, deep in thought. He hoped they were together, even if Cloud was against their relationship, he thought the safest place at the moment for Aeris to be was with Sephiroth. Something told Cloud, in spite of all his doubts, that Sephiroth wouldn't harm Aeris. He'd had plenty of chances to do that already, yet Sephiroth hadn't done a move to harm her.. Cloud hoped his instincts were right.
* * * * *
"That annoying lowlife!" Zenobius snarled as he pressed a cloth against the wound in his chest, that was already beginning to heal.
You were careless.. Now you've been punished because of it. Jenova's voice lacked sympathy. She had little patience for weaklings.. If Zenobius wouldn't get his act together, Jenova thought, she'd have to resort to the Puppet's help. Jenova sighed, it sure was a pity Sephiroth would not return to her.
"I'm gonna go after them and kill that bastard in his sleep!" Zenobius raised his voice, frightened of the thought of Jenova abandoning him. He had seen and experienced too much to return to Shin-Ra's service.
No need to get upset.. For he's hardly invincible. Jenova laughed. That girl.. She makes him weak. She thought.
"We should kill all of them, before they figure out a way to stop us! I don't care if I have to drag the Puppet and Sephiroth along dead; I swear this is the last time he beats me!" Zenobius was genuinely frustrated.
Poor dear.. It's a good thing you recover quickly. For we must continue towards the base.. That's the most important thing right now, don't forget that. Jenova reminded.
"Are you sure Shin-Ra has the KeyStone?" Zenobius asked, not wanting to make a long trip through the jungle for nothing.
Yes, I'm certain we'll find it there.. Jenova answered. Hurry up now, we still have a Temple to go to. She continued, laughing maliciously.
* * * * *
"So this is the direction you heard that loud sound from?" Cloud asked Cid.
"I'm sure of it!" The captain answered.
"It's probably them Shin-Ra jackasses, they've probably found the Temple by now.." Barret snorted, and Cloud nodded at him in affirmative.
"I think so too. We should hurry to the building, since Shin-Ra has the KeyStone already.. If they use it, it'll be really easy for Zenobius and Jenova to enter the Temple too." Cloud continued. "I wish I hadn't trusted that Cait Sith.." He sighed, a look of regret shadowing his features.
"Don't worry about it.. let's just concentrate on getting the stone back." Tifa encouraged him with a smile, as they continued to walk on a relatively large path. It looked like it had been only recently formed, and quite possibly by the very same machines the AVALANCHEr's had encountered the day before. "I wonder if Aeris and Sephiroth are at the Temple too?" She suddenly turned to Cloud.
"Maybe." He answered, and shrugged. "You can never really be sure of Sephiroth.." Cloud added after a moments silence.
After a few hours of walking in the moist heat of a jungle, the AVALANCHEr's finally saw the pale form of the Temple of the Ancients before them. The building sure looked like everyone had imagined it. But there was something strange happening at the front of it.
"Look!" Tifa pointed towards two platoons of SOLDIER's standing by the entrance.
"Shin-Ra.." Both Barret and Cid gave the SOLDIER's harsh looks.
"I wonder if they're using the KeyStone now?" Cloud pondered, glancing at the others in turn.
"I don't believe it.." Tifa's voice was a little shaken, as she kept staring at the Temple.
"What?" Cloud turned his head back, and could hardly believe what he saw. Sephiroth walked out of the Temple alone, a red-uniformed SOLDIER pointing a gun at his back. The unit leader looked like he could only barely carry the Masamune and it's sheath, that he had taken from Sephiroth. Cloud couldn't believe Sephiroth would have just surrendered to Shin-Ra.. But the explanation for his behaviour was soon revealed to them.
"Is that Aeris?" Tifa's expression was pure bewilderment. The young cetra woman was walked out by a blond-haired woman in a red dress. She was holding a gun at Aeris' head.
"They captured both of them?" Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Great.. I guess we'll have to rescue them now?" She asked, and looked at Cloud for an answer.
"I.. How about the Temple?" Cloud blinked, still overwhelmed by what he had just seen. Sephiroth would let Shin-Ra capture him so that they'd save Aeris' life? Cloud had difficulty believing what he had just seen had really happened.
"Yeah, we can't let Shin-Ra or Zenobius get whatever it is that's kept there." Tifa said in a small voice.
"I wish I'd had a chance to ask Sephiroth about the Temple." Cloud silently cursed his bad luck.
"We can't just leave them to Shin-Ra either! Who know's what they will do to them!" Yuffie dissagreed with Cloud and Tifa.
"Of course not! Nobody said we wouldn't help them! It's just a question of when.." Tifa answered the young ninja, upset by what she had implied.
"Who's dat!?" Barret pointed at a man in a white suite, who walked to Sephiroth and exchanged a few words with him.
"I don't know.." Tifa and Cloud gave each other a look.
"I think Aeris and Sephiroth are not in any immediate danger.. We should check out the Temple first, and then think of a plan to rescue those two.. It would be best to wait until dark before trying anything, anyway." Red finally voiced his thoughts, and the others nodded at him.
"Good plan, Red." Cloud complimented the red-furred creature.
"We shouldn't wait too long, though.." Red added thoughtfully. He shuddered as he remembered some of the things he had seen while he had been locked up in Professor Hojo's laboratories. Hojo was a so obsessed with his research, he had long ago forgotten the fine line between right and wrong..
"I suggest we split up.." Vincent suddenly spoke, and Cloud felt like hitting himself. The thought hadn't occurred to him, probably since it wasn't that long ago that he had been feverishly looking for the others. The thought of getting separated again seemed a little unpleasant to Cloud, but under the circumstances it was the best alternative.
"Yeah.. One group could go see what Shin-Ra's up to, while the others check out the Temple." Red nodded at Vincent.
"OK, I'll go to the Temple with Tifa and Red.. The rest of you should try to find out where Sephiroth and Aeris are held." Cloud informed everyone, and the AVALANCHEr's seemed satisfied with the way Cloud had divided them.
"Heh, finally my skills as a master thief will be apprecciated!" Yuffie beamed, and prepared for some serious lockpicking.
"I sure hope you're as good as you keep reminding us.." Vincent glanced at the young ninja, who then glared back at Vincent.
"Well I can't wait to kick some Shin-Ra butt!" Barret shook his gun-arm, as a heavily armed escort walked Aeris and Sephiroth towards an unknown destination.
"You should go after them. We'll meet you there!" Cloud gave the others one last look, before his team began the short walk to the Temple of the Ancients. "Oh and one more thing.. Good luck!" Cloud added from a distance, and the others nodded at him their goodbyes.
Jenova's plot is finally revealed then. Not that you didn't know it already. ^_^ This is how I understood the whole "I'll become one with the Planet" thing. It was a bit confusing in my opinion, so it's possible people get it differently. I hope this chapter answered some questions about the plot though? Umm.. In the next chapter, you'll find out more of what Shin-Ra's up to.. Lot's of conspiracies in this story. ^_^