All questions are answered in this chapter*. All mysteries are solved*. The entire story will come to an end here and now*. Why the hell are you still reading this? Get on with the story! (See note at end for *)
At the very bottom of the crater, where the opening to the lifestream once was, there was nothing really left. On one side there was a small pond of Mako, but the rest of the floor was covered in loose rubble. Oddly enough, the floor was relatively straight, not what would be expected of rubble that collapsed from higher up. At the other side, across from the pond, there was a large sigil. It was a circle about twenty feet across, around the edges were some kind of ancient script, perhaps Cetra. A man sat in the middle, his face and body covered in a large black cloak. At his feet sat Cloud's Ultima weapon. Perhaps sensing someone, the man stood up and faced them. He pulled back his cloak to reveal someone else. It wasn't Cloud. The man was just as tall as Cloud, but he had dark hair pulled into a ponytail. And he didn't have Mako eyes, although they were blue as sapphire. he held up a gauntleted hand in greeting.
"Hello!"
"Who are you?"
"Well, my name is Casamaw Nakam. But I prefer if people call me Cas."
"What are you doing down here?"
"Waiting. Perchance might you two be Yuffie Kisaragi Valentine and Vincent Valentine?"
"How did you know that? No one outside of Wutai should know that!"
"I met with your father a while back. He didn't like the idea, but I convinced him in the end."
"It was you?! I'll kill you! Bloodfest!"
Yuffie stormed towards the man. Pulling out her Conformer, she leapt to strike the first blow. The man pulled a ebony rod from his cloak and blocked the attack. Throwing Yuffie back, the man walked out of the sigil.
"I suggest you stop now Miss Yuffie. I don't want to things to get out of hand. And neither do you. If that sigil is broken, Cloud is dead. Relax."
Yuffie lowered her weapon.
"Who are you?"
Vincent walked down the broken rocks so he could stand by Yuffie.
"I did say I was Cas."
"What are you doing here? Why do you have Cloud's sword?"
"I thought I answered the first one. I was waiting for you two to show up. The ritual isn't finished yet. And Cloud left it here. He didn't need it anymore. In fact, it was needed for the ritual."
"How did you know about the ritual? What the hell is going on here?"
"I think I should start at the begining."
"Damn straight!"
"Hush Yuffie."
"Don't tell me to hush."
"Couples fighting are so cute."
You stay out of this!"
"If you let me tell my story, you'll see I can't very well 'stay out of this.' I met Cloud about five years ago. I was visiting the Corral Valley and had stopped by in the Ancient City. Cloud was in a large building near the middle of the city. We talked and I found out what he was up to. He told me that he had received a vision from the planet and was trying to resurrect Aeris. I thought it was really moving, so I decided to help Cloud out. I study the Cetra and have learned a lot of their mortal knowledge. That, combined with some tidbits of wisdom Cloud gleamed from being doused in the lifestream, we came up with a plan. I had learned of a ritual to summon beings from the planet. The process required a few particular items. Like all summoning materia and a piece of clear materia. Cloud had both. Well, almost both. He had most of the summon materia and his Ultima weapon was made of clear materia. Clear materia is materia that hasn't been affixed with any special properties. It doesn't even resonate with the lifestream. But once the right ritual has been cast, it can become powerful materia. Most of it was used in the creation of the Black materia. But enough was left for this little project."
"Which was?"
"I'll get to that. Anyway, Cloud had most of the materia. All except Leviathan. He decided to go and look for you Yuffie, seeing as you were a thief and were most likely to have taken it. I never heard such swearing before. Most of the monsters around here fled, probably thought another Weapon was waking up down here. So he tried to track you down for a bit. He gave up and, following my suggestion, sent a letter to you Vincent. He left his diaries behind before coming back here. I had stayed behind to set things up for him. The sigil took a month to finish. Then I had to bless the area to ward away any monsters that might still be here. But in time, everything was ready to go. It was now a matter of waiting for Yuffie to come here with the Leviathan materia. But I had to go somewhere and check on a few things. Before I left, I taught Cloud what to do, just in case I wasn't here when you two got here. Then Cloud made a mistake. Without the Leviathan in place, the ritual was incomplete. While it didn't fail, it also didn't succeed. Cloud became trapped in the spell, unable to get out or finish. When I came back, there was nothing I could do but wait. I traveled to every place I could, trying to find either one of you, but to no avail. It wasn't until I was passing through Costa del Sol, did I hear about two yahoos who were knocked out of town by a tsunami from a giant snake. I checked Cloud's place and found that the journal was gone. I called and made a few inquiries at the WDO headquarters in Kalm and found out that Vincent Valentine had requested a leave of absence. Taking that to heart I made to follow you. But as I was following you I was struck by a vision. I traveled to Wutai and convinced your father to marry you two. Don't blame me for what happened. I was just the messenger. Someone told me to do it."
"Who?"
"I have my suspicions on who asked me, but I shall keep that to myself. Back to the story, I returned to Gold Saucer and I got recruited by Dio to deliver the message and, later on, the second part of Cloud's journal."
"I thought you looked familiar. You were the guy who gave it to me. But what about the tip?"
"I explained that. I had stopped by Gold Saucer at the same time as you and your friends. I didn't have enough money for a good tip and had to wait to see you again to make up for it."
"If you were at Gold Saucer when we were there to get Cloud's journal, why didn't you just stop us and send us here?"
"Because I wasn't allowed to interfere. If I had stopped you from going to Wutai, I would have nullified my earlier efforts. And if I'm right, it was the least I could do."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm saying that I think someone, or some ones, used the materia I got from Cloud, to transmit information to me from the lifestream itself."
"Who could do that?"
"Aeris! She could do that, couldn't she?"
"I think you're right Yuffie. That's along the same lines as I was thinking. I don't think Aeris fully entered the lifestream. I think she might have been guiding things from behind the scenes, somewhere where Sephiroth couldn't find her. But this is all circumstantial. So I followed you two around. Around Nibelheim, I felt it important to make sure Vincent knew about Baxent, so I sneaked ahead and manipulated the owner of the inn. I figured you Vincent would suggest the mansion and I was right. I manipulated a few monsters to attacking you and hoped that Baxent would let you two downstairs. Seems you knew how to get in without his help."
"What if you were wrong? What would you have done then?"
"Just make the monsters disappear and call Baxent with my cell phone. I had to ask him about the Ultima weapon once Cloud was gone. I mostly left you two alone after that, but at Icicle Inn, my Ice materia was activated. It wasn't the first time this had happened. Some of the materia went off at Gold Saucer and started a storm. This time they set off that avalanche. Sorry about all this, but I'm sure there's a reason, even if I don't get it. And I should. I know a lot of stuff, but this is beyond me. And that brings us to this point now. Now Yuffie, could I please have the Leviathan materia. I'd like to finish this. Five years is a long time to wait for anything."
Yuffie searched through her possessions looking for the materia. Cas watched anxiously.
"Well? Do you have it?"
"I can't find it. maybe it was knocked off in the avalanche, which might I remind you that you started!"
"I didn't start it. Someone used the materia and oww!"
While Cas was talking, Yuffie had flicked the Leviathan materia she had hidden in her hands at his forehead. Cas picked it up and walked to the sigil, muttering under his breath.
"That'll teach ya!"
"You didn't need to do that Yuffie."
"He deserved it. Yo Cas! What now?"
"I finish the ritual. I can't leave the sigil for the next day and I can't be disturbed until I'm done. So I need you two to make sure nothing enters the sigil until I say so."
"So what happens after that?"
"I don't know. A happy ending I hope."
*Note: All answers and mysteries will not actually be solved. And there are several more chapters to go. If you went to the bottom of the chapter first,without reading the chapter first, what the hell were you thinking? You read the story first before the fine print at the end or its not funny.
At the very bottom of the crater, where the opening to the lifestream once was, there was nothing really left. On one side there was a small pond of Mako, but the rest of the floor was covered in loose rubble. Oddly enough, the floor was relatively straight, not what would be expected of rubble that collapsed from higher up. At the other side, across from the pond, there was a large sigil. It was a circle about twenty feet across, around the edges were some kind of ancient script, perhaps Cetra. A man sat in the middle, his face and body covered in a large black cloak. At his feet sat Cloud's Ultima weapon. Perhaps sensing someone, the man stood up and faced them. He pulled back his cloak to reveal someone else. It wasn't Cloud. The man was just as tall as Cloud, but he had dark hair pulled into a ponytail. And he didn't have Mako eyes, although they were blue as sapphire. he held up a gauntleted hand in greeting.
"Hello!"
"Who are you?"
"Well, my name is Casamaw Nakam. But I prefer if people call me Cas."
"What are you doing down here?"
"Waiting. Perchance might you two be Yuffie Kisaragi Valentine and Vincent Valentine?"
"How did you know that? No one outside of Wutai should know that!"
"I met with your father a while back. He didn't like the idea, but I convinced him in the end."
"It was you?! I'll kill you! Bloodfest!"
Yuffie stormed towards the man. Pulling out her Conformer, she leapt to strike the first blow. The man pulled a ebony rod from his cloak and blocked the attack. Throwing Yuffie back, the man walked out of the sigil.
"I suggest you stop now Miss Yuffie. I don't want to things to get out of hand. And neither do you. If that sigil is broken, Cloud is dead. Relax."
Yuffie lowered her weapon.
"Who are you?"
Vincent walked down the broken rocks so he could stand by Yuffie.
"I did say I was Cas."
"What are you doing here? Why do you have Cloud's sword?"
"I thought I answered the first one. I was waiting for you two to show up. The ritual isn't finished yet. And Cloud left it here. He didn't need it anymore. In fact, it was needed for the ritual."
"How did you know about the ritual? What the hell is going on here?"
"I think I should start at the begining."
"Damn straight!"
"Hush Yuffie."
"Don't tell me to hush."
"Couples fighting are so cute."
You stay out of this!"
"If you let me tell my story, you'll see I can't very well 'stay out of this.' I met Cloud about five years ago. I was visiting the Corral Valley and had stopped by in the Ancient City. Cloud was in a large building near the middle of the city. We talked and I found out what he was up to. He told me that he had received a vision from the planet and was trying to resurrect Aeris. I thought it was really moving, so I decided to help Cloud out. I study the Cetra and have learned a lot of their mortal knowledge. That, combined with some tidbits of wisdom Cloud gleamed from being doused in the lifestream, we came up with a plan. I had learned of a ritual to summon beings from the planet. The process required a few particular items. Like all summoning materia and a piece of clear materia. Cloud had both. Well, almost both. He had most of the summon materia and his Ultima weapon was made of clear materia. Clear materia is materia that hasn't been affixed with any special properties. It doesn't even resonate with the lifestream. But once the right ritual has been cast, it can become powerful materia. Most of it was used in the creation of the Black materia. But enough was left for this little project."
"Which was?"
"I'll get to that. Anyway, Cloud had most of the materia. All except Leviathan. He decided to go and look for you Yuffie, seeing as you were a thief and were most likely to have taken it. I never heard such swearing before. Most of the monsters around here fled, probably thought another Weapon was waking up down here. So he tried to track you down for a bit. He gave up and, following my suggestion, sent a letter to you Vincent. He left his diaries behind before coming back here. I had stayed behind to set things up for him. The sigil took a month to finish. Then I had to bless the area to ward away any monsters that might still be here. But in time, everything was ready to go. It was now a matter of waiting for Yuffie to come here with the Leviathan materia. But I had to go somewhere and check on a few things. Before I left, I taught Cloud what to do, just in case I wasn't here when you two got here. Then Cloud made a mistake. Without the Leviathan in place, the ritual was incomplete. While it didn't fail, it also didn't succeed. Cloud became trapped in the spell, unable to get out or finish. When I came back, there was nothing I could do but wait. I traveled to every place I could, trying to find either one of you, but to no avail. It wasn't until I was passing through Costa del Sol, did I hear about two yahoos who were knocked out of town by a tsunami from a giant snake. I checked Cloud's place and found that the journal was gone. I called and made a few inquiries at the WDO headquarters in Kalm and found out that Vincent Valentine had requested a leave of absence. Taking that to heart I made to follow you. But as I was following you I was struck by a vision. I traveled to Wutai and convinced your father to marry you two. Don't blame me for what happened. I was just the messenger. Someone told me to do it."
"Who?"
"I have my suspicions on who asked me, but I shall keep that to myself. Back to the story, I returned to Gold Saucer and I got recruited by Dio to deliver the message and, later on, the second part of Cloud's journal."
"I thought you looked familiar. You were the guy who gave it to me. But what about the tip?"
"I explained that. I had stopped by Gold Saucer at the same time as you and your friends. I didn't have enough money for a good tip and had to wait to see you again to make up for it."
"If you were at Gold Saucer when we were there to get Cloud's journal, why didn't you just stop us and send us here?"
"Because I wasn't allowed to interfere. If I had stopped you from going to Wutai, I would have nullified my earlier efforts. And if I'm right, it was the least I could do."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm saying that I think someone, or some ones, used the materia I got from Cloud, to transmit information to me from the lifestream itself."
"Who could do that?"
"Aeris! She could do that, couldn't she?"
"I think you're right Yuffie. That's along the same lines as I was thinking. I don't think Aeris fully entered the lifestream. I think she might have been guiding things from behind the scenes, somewhere where Sephiroth couldn't find her. But this is all circumstantial. So I followed you two around. Around Nibelheim, I felt it important to make sure Vincent knew about Baxent, so I sneaked ahead and manipulated the owner of the inn. I figured you Vincent would suggest the mansion and I was right. I manipulated a few monsters to attacking you and hoped that Baxent would let you two downstairs. Seems you knew how to get in without his help."
"What if you were wrong? What would you have done then?"
"Just make the monsters disappear and call Baxent with my cell phone. I had to ask him about the Ultima weapon once Cloud was gone. I mostly left you two alone after that, but at Icicle Inn, my Ice materia was activated. It wasn't the first time this had happened. Some of the materia went off at Gold Saucer and started a storm. This time they set off that avalanche. Sorry about all this, but I'm sure there's a reason, even if I don't get it. And I should. I know a lot of stuff, but this is beyond me. And that brings us to this point now. Now Yuffie, could I please have the Leviathan materia. I'd like to finish this. Five years is a long time to wait for anything."
Yuffie searched through her possessions looking for the materia. Cas watched anxiously.
"Well? Do you have it?"
"I can't find it. maybe it was knocked off in the avalanche, which might I remind you that you started!"
"I didn't start it. Someone used the materia and oww!"
While Cas was talking, Yuffie had flicked the Leviathan materia she had hidden in her hands at his forehead. Cas picked it up and walked to the sigil, muttering under his breath.
"That'll teach ya!"
"You didn't need to do that Yuffie."
"He deserved it. Yo Cas! What now?"
"I finish the ritual. I can't leave the sigil for the next day and I can't be disturbed until I'm done. So I need you two to make sure nothing enters the sigil until I say so."
"So what happens after that?"
"I don't know. A happy ending I hope."
*Note: All answers and mysteries will not actually be solved. And there are several more chapters to go. If you went to the bottom of the chapter first,without reading the chapter first, what the hell were you thinking? You read the story first before the fine print at the end or its not funny.
