Chapter 14: The Final Showdown
Note: Special thanks to Angelheart for the awesome review! (I'd like to thank you a billion times!)
The gentle call of a pleasant voice slowly pulled me back into reality and away from my dreams. I opened my eyes with caution and smiled brightly as I recognized Sephiroth's mako-green eyes staring back at me. "Hello." I said quietly.
"We're almost there." He said and offered me a hand up.
A chilly gust of wind hit me as Sephiroth pulled me to my feet. My eyes widened momentarily and I suddenly found myself clinging to him in search of warmth. The same as I remembered this place to be; cold and foreboding, I thought miserably.
Sephiroth scowled. "You should have brought proper clothing." He scolded me. "You're going to freeze down there."
I hopped out of his grasp immediately. "I'm perfectly fine!" I retorted as goose bumps formed on my skin and another chill ran up my spine. Ok, so I was a little cold, I'd survive! "I hate this place." I muttered softly and walked up to the railing to take a look.
The moment I set eyes on that ghastly crater I felt all of my fears return in full force. I swallowed hard and gazed at the black hole that seemed to go on endlessly. Not a shimmer of color existed here, not even the sky held any joy. Clouds blanketed the ceiling of earth on this day.
I licked my lips uncertainly and gripped the railing tighter. A terrible, frightening feeling hung in the air. I could feel it touching me, as if Jenova herself was floating in our midst. She was beckoning us, calling us forward to face her.
My courage left me for an instant and all I wanted to do was run, run for my life. Jenova had a way of doing that to you. Something about here put fear into the heart of even the bravest of men.
I took a step away and closed my eyes in silent prayer, hoping that everyone would come out of this safely. It was the most wonderful thing being a hero to the world. So wonderful that I forgot how afraid I was when we first came here. And to think that just yesterday I felt invincible… How wrong I was.
"I hate this place too." Sephiroth said quietly, his presence suddenly beside me.
My eyes opened upon hearing his voice and I sighed. "It's always so cold here." I murmured. "Even in the summer it's cold. It's not just the weather either. The air seems bitter and cruel."
"Yes." He replied. "I know that feeling."
His hand slipped around mine suddenly and I turned my head to look at him in surprise. His gaze was warm and comforting, and brought a smile to my face. "Thank you." I said and laced my fingers through his.
He nodded silently and placed a soft kiss on my hand. "You have nothing to fear. All will be well when this is over." He assured me, a hint of a shy smile on his lips.
"Yo, you two! We've got work to do, remember?" Came Cid's bellowing voice from behind us.
I blushed and spun around in surprise. "Cid!" I squeaked.
"What?" He asked while puffing on a cigarette.
"I-I didn't know you were awake yet." I stammered.
"Well, now you do." He replied. "We gotta get the rest of these loafs up now." Cid was already moving across the room to wake up Barret and 'incidentally' kicked the lump in the middle of the floor.
"You stupid old fart!" Yuffie cried out in rage. A slender leg shot out from under the blanket and kicked Cid in the shin as he tried to escape.
"Shit!" Cid cursed. "&# #$&&#$!"
"Holy shit, what was that!" Barret shouted with a start as he jumped to his feet, ready and alert. I'd never seen Barret wake up so fast in my life.
"You stinkin brat!" Cid cried as he hopped about on one leg while clenching the other in his hands.
"What the hell?" Barret growled.
Sephiroth glowered at the scene before him. "Don't ask." He said curtly and cleared his throat. "Enough playing around, we've got work to do."
Yuffie's head peaked out from beneath the blanket and made a face.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Cid grumbled and limped back to the controls of the ship. "Is everybody up yet?"
"Sort of." Yuffie sighed and sat up.
"It seems so." Nanaki yawned and shook out the kinks in his back. "Cait Sith went to get some extra supplies from the storage room and some food incase anyone's hungry."
Yuffie literally turned green when the word 'food' was brought to attention. A loud 'erp' escaped her throat and the next instant she was in a mad rush to the railing. I cringed at the vile sound that followed as she threw up over the side.
"Hey!" Cid shouted. "What they hell are you doing? You better not be pukin on my ship! I'll make you clean the whole damn thing if I even so much as smell something funny."
Yuffie gave him the finger and remained hunched over the railing.
I sighed and shook my head. Well, at least they seemed to be in somewhat high spirits, I thought.
There was clearly a nervous edge in the atmosphere though. I could tell that easily after 5 minutes of watching my friends' behavior. Cid was already starting on a second cigarette. He hadn't smoked two cigarettes in one day since 5 years ago when Shera insisted that he cut back because of her pregnancy.
Barret was constantly fidgeting, whether it was with his gun arm or just moving his feet about. Nanaki was pacing in the corner while trying to hold a polite conversation with Lucrecia, who'd just woken up. Vincent was the only person who seemed completely calm, but then again, Vincent always appeared calm, even when a 10-foot dragon loomed above him, preparing for a barbeque. That was just how Vincent was.
This was going to be a very long day…
After forcing down a short breakfast of what looked like something from outer space, we had a quick meeting over our strategy. It was decided that Vincent and Lucrecia would stay at the landing area to make sure everything was ready when it was time to leave. Lucrecia couldn't fight anyway and Vincent pressured heavily on staying behind with her.
I jumped off the ladder and landed smoothly on the surface below. The air smelt oddly fresh here, but it was icy and cold. Sephiroth was able to muster up a jacket for me though, luckily for me.
As I waited for Barret, Yuffie and Cait Sith, the last three of the group, I examined my surroundings. There wasn't much to see and it looked as if everything was the same as before, with the exception of a strange gooey liquid that resembled mako covering just about everything. The path that we'd taken 5 years ago on our journey to the bottom and been thoroughly destroyed when a portion of the crater collapsed.
"Aww man, I hate this place." Yuffie whined as she landed gracefully onto the rock floor.
"Ain't none of us exactly love it here, ya know." Barret answered gruffly. "I was hopin I'd never have ta see dis place again."
"I'll second that. We ready to get this show on the road?" Cid asked grumpily, eyeing Sephiroth expectedly.
"Of course." Sephirpth replied. "We mustn't waste anymore time."
The path ahead would be a long, treacherous ride to the bottom. That was quite clear the moment I took my first step and nearly did a two and a half gainer. I landed with a yelp on the ground and cringed as a rock stabbed me in the thigh. "Stupid damn slime!" I cursed and slowly got to my feet.
"Are you alright?" Sephiroth asked, his gaze landing on the trickle of blood traveling down my leg from the small stab wound.
I forced a smile. "Just a scratch. I'll be fine."
He nodded slowly, a glimmer of doubt in his eyes. "Everyone, be careful. It's slippery and I'd rather you not break your neck before we face Jenova."
Cid snorted in response. "Nice to know you care." He muttered sarcastically.
Sephiroth paid no heed to Cid's crude comment and continued down the path.
It wasn't long before the majority of us were falling behind the General. How he managed to move so fast, even in circumstances such as this when every step you take must be taken with utmost caution, I don't know.
"Hey, wait up!" Yuffie cried from the near back of the line.
A body slammed into me from behind and I nearly lost my balance. "Yuffie!" I groaned. "You're not small anymore, no body slamming!"
"Oops." She giggled and took her place walking beside me. "I sort of lost control for a second there."
"I noticed." I said flatly.
Up ahead of us Sephiroth came to a stop to wait for us 'stragglers'.
As we approached I noticed the path taking on an alarmingly steep drop up ahead. The kind of steep that could quite possible require a rope and pitons, and I knew very well that we didn't have any of those.
Yuffie's eyes widened as we came to a stop at the edge. "Holy crap, we're so not going down there!"
"Oh, but we are." Sephiroth responded.
Nanaki padded up to where Sephiroth stood, his snout wrinkling in a disapproving manner. "Are you sure about this?" He said slowly, carefully scanning the area. "You know that this could very well kill us all?"
"I think you can handle it." Sephiroth replied and started his gradual decent.
I nibbled my lip nervously before carefully following after him.
It was a long, grueling voyage to the bottom and Holy knows how we made it without killing ourselves, but we did and we were all in one piece thankfully. After a quick rest to regain our strength and composer, we were off again to travel the countless caverns of crater in search of Jenova.
With each step I could feel Jenova's presence getting closer. The air smelt rank and weighed heavily upon our shoulders as we pushed onward, doing our best to avoid the preying eyes that glowed in the shadows.
We met little hostility on our way though, despite the constant feeling of being watched. At first I was prone to thinking luck was with us, but as we met less and less monsters I began to think differently. In fact, it was starting to make me nervous.
I don't think I've ever been relieved to be attacked by a salivating creature with four eyes and six legs, but I was today. So exuberant was I that I charged straight into battle without a second thought, and nearly got myself severely injured in the process. I received a stern glare from Sephiroth after barely evading a devastating attack. That was not one of my best decisions I admit, but I recovered quickly and got into position with the others.
Sephiroth, Cid and myself took up the front line while Nanaki and Cait Sith stood back a few feet. Yuffie and Barret fired away from afar. The battle was over in 5 minutes with only a few minor injuries.
Not 7 yards later another beast leapt out from the shadows grinning at us through hungry eyes, a long forked tongue escaping its pale blew lips.
"You stupid shit!" Cid snapped, glaring at the creature in an appalled manner, as it had happened to have land in front of him. He lashed out quickly with his spear and made a deep gash in the creatures shoulder. He, however, was too slow on the recovery and the beast responded with a harsh blow from its tail, sending Cid flying through the air and into Sephiroth. They both went tumbling across the ground upon impact, and it was up to the others and myself to deal with the menace at hand.
Nanaki used his speed to his advantage and managed to circle around and catch the monster from behind while Barret and Yuffie kept him occupied. As Nanaki mad his presence known with a savage attack from behind, the monster whirled around, leaving his back to me. I took my chance while I had it and went for its weakest part, which after studying the creature, I decided was the neck. I jumped onto its back and led with a series of punches followed by a quick, hard roundhouse kick. A satisfying crunch followed and I grinned as the creature slumped to the ground.
"Woohoo, nice one!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"#&# &!" Cid's voice echoed loudly, even over Yuffie's exuberant cries of victory.
All attention was turned to the blonde man who was currently staggering lamely across the ground with Sephiroth supporting him reluctantly. Cid gave him a sidelong glance and yanked his arm away roughly.
"Get yer paws off me." He growled lowly and bent down to pick up his spear.
"Are you ok?" I asked with concern and brought out a cure materia just in case.
Cid frowned. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shakin up that's all."
Sephiroth sighed and crossed his arm impatiently. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."
"Damn ass hole has never heard of a #&( rest before." Cid muttered as we started off again.
I was beginning to see why there were so few opposing creatures before. They were all waiting for us at the core. It was a full two hours of hard battling before we actually had time to rest our tired bodies. Sephiroth was reluctant to let us sit for only a few minutes, but after a rather colorful argument with Yuffie he gave up trying and sat down himself, probably to recover from the recent interlude with the hotheaded ninja.
The girl had a sharp tongue and she knew how to use it pretty well too. It amazed me just how much she had changed, and I wondered how on earth I hadn't noticed before.
"Tifa! Yo, quit day dreamin. It's time to roll!" Barret called.
I snapped to attention and hurried to catch up as everyone was on the move again and leaving me behind.
We rounded the next bend and the trail emptied abruptly into an enormous cavern. Somewhere up ahead was a hole and in it rested the lifestream, for I could see its tender glow from the entrance as it illuminated the cavern.
Everyone halted.
The soft scurrying of a small rodent startled Yuffie into a panic and she fired her conformer upon the poor, defenseless creature with extreme precision.
I cringed as the animal was mutilated by the deadly weapon, and turned away from the grotesque mess.
"Way to go, you savagely murdered a helpless rat." Cid grinned.
Yuffie whipped around edgily. "Shut up! How was I supposed to know it was just a rat? It could have been an ugly, 8 foot tall thingy with 1000 eyes and blood dripping from sharp fangs and fleshy bits stuck between them."
"What a vivid imagination." Cait Sith commented.
"Far too vivid." Nanaki added. "Come on, let's take a look around."
We investigated the cavern for at least an hour and discovered very little, save for the remaining pieces of Reeve's soldiers. That was a picture that I didn't want to envision again.
"What the #&$!" Cid cursed. "Where the hell is-"
The ground gave a very sudden, violent lurch, cutting Cid off in mid-sentence, and throwing me to the ground. Bits of ceiling began to fall here and there. One rather large chunk landed only 2 feet away from me, startling my eyes to sizes larger than normal and an instant later Sephiroth was dragging me to my feet.
Then it stopped.
I looked around me alertly, making sure that my friends had all gotten up safely. Everyone appeared to be fine to my relief, but something in the air was making my hair stand on end.
A loud, angry shriek split the air and the ground gave another shudder, this one far less pungent than the last. The gaping hole that contained the lifestream groaned as a large, figureless thing rose up from its depths.
A moment of completely silence followed. Whether the silence was out of fear or out of speechlessness in our failing attempts to figure out what exactly the blob hovering before us actually was, is hard to say.
"Aw for crying out loud, what the #$ is that?" Cid moaned, his face shifting into an almost pleading look.
"I seem to remember this happening last time." Nanak scowled. "But really Cid, now is not the time to be worrying about such pointless things."
"Look at it! She's transformed from one blob into another!" Cid cried, shoving his finger in Jenova's direction. "It's a wonder how you people keep a straight face. If she wasn't trying to kill us, you'd be laughing yer hind ends off."
I couldn't blame him. It was an old pilot's attempt at bringing some joy to the faces of friends when facing what could be our last hour. Jenova was rather odd looking though, too. One wonders how she managed to function properly with her body parts in such disarray.
"Fools!" Jenova's voice shook the walls of the cave.
"I think ya pissed her off." Barret said. "She don't look so happy."
"You'll pay dearly for your stupidity, insects!" Jenova exclaimed. "You." She hissed, her attention suddenly drawn to the silver haired man at my left. "Silly boy. What are you doing over there? It's by me where you should be."
His eyes clouded over with fury and he unsheathed his sword.
"You're going to fight me? Your own mother?" She asked, a chilly sarcasm in her voice.
Sephiroth let out a harsh laugh. "You're no mother to me." He growled. "Quit wasting my time with these foolish games of yours."
"Very well then. Soon you will learn your own folly and beg for me to forgive you." She replied and a tentacle shot out, catching Nanakie in the body. The blow threw him through the air and into a bolder. My heart stopped as he crumpled to the floor broken and in pain.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Yuffie cried and raced to his side.
Suddenly the entire room was lit up with gunfire, swords, spells and whatever else you can think of. Not to mention flying bodies, I noticed, as a stuffed mog and a very pissed of Cid got caught in a back slash of one of Jenova's attacks and went soaring across the cave.
I kept an eye on the two to make sure that they both got up while I myself tried to avoid suffering the same fate. So far I was on a good run, but I wasn't doing much. It was near impossible for me to get in close enough to her to do damage, which left me with only one option and truth be told, it wasn't a bad one. Knights of the Round would definitely do the trick, I thought happily.
My heart sank into my shoes several minutes later when to my utter disappointment Jenova didn't die. In fact, she looked hardly fazed by the devastating summon, which was very unusual and extremely alarming.
What was even more dismaying was she began to laugh. My eyes widened in horror as I noticed too late the incoming tentacle as it slammed me in the stomach and backwards into the air. Several thoughts raced through my head in that instant, the dominating one being 'this is going to hurt like hell', but to my surprise someone caught me from behind and lessened the pain of the landing.
As I got up and turned to see whom my rescuer was, I found myself smiling widely at Vincent Valentine. "Vincent! Thank Holy you're here!" I gasped and helped him to his feet.
"Lucrecia convinced me to go. I should have come with you in the first place." He answered. "Let's go help the others."
I nodded and followed him back into the battle, which from the looks of it had not gotten anywhere.
"Yo, we need a plan and damn quick!" Barret growled just before being caught by one of Jenova's spells.
I cringed as he hit the ground, and I immediately cast cure 3 on him to make up for the damages.
"No shit!" Cid yelled and went rolling across the ground, just missing another blow from Jenova. "Where the hell are Yuffie and Nanaki?"
"We're coming!" Yuffie cried from behind us.
Seconds later her Conformer shot past me and imbedded itself in what I'm guessing was Jenova's neck.
"Hey, wait a second!" Yuffie yelled. "Give that back!"
After a great deal of strategizing and a lot of help from Vincent and Nanakie, Yuffie was able the retrieve her Conformer without much injury while the rest of us gave Jenova a beating.
The battle raged on, yet no one would yield.
Jenova fired another spell and caught Sephiroth off guard, as he was about to attack, knocking him silly. He got to his feet instantly and glared up at her with malice. Flames burned in his eyes as he strode back into the battle.
I'd never seen him so angry in my life, nor so focused. Apparently he didn't take lightly to being knocked around and he was coming for his revenge.
Whilst Jenova struggled against the unfaltering barrage of attacks by the rest of us, Sephiroth went for the kill. He let loose his limit break once he was close enough and brought Jenova to her knees. It appeared that the fight might finally be over.
When he was finished she slumped to the ground, blood oozing form countless wounds in her flesh. "No!" She shouted. "You will never defeat me!"
I caught my breath as she began to transform again, shrinking until she'd taken the form of a woman with long, silver hair and the blackest of eyes. Even Sephiroth, who was now standing beside me, gasped in horror. Somehow, now that she was in the human form, she seemed even more ghastly for she was beautiful. She was gorgeously beautiful, yet terrible and sickening at the same time.
"Congratulations." She said sourly, her jaw set firmly as she took an elegant step forward. "You were the first to get this far…and no doubt the last." Her harsh gaze landed on Sephiroth. "It's a pity that you should have to die too, I kind of liked you. But…your lack of intelligence seems to have…" Her gaze drifted to me. "Led you astray."
I wanted to pommel her into the ground right then and there. My fists were aching with the desire to be planted into her pretty face. Sephiroth held me back with a stern arm though, knowing all to well what would happen if I tried something so foolish.
Jenova chuckled. "Isn't that cute." She mused as she glanced back and forth between us.
"Hey, I hate to break this happy time and all, but we got business with you." Cid growled. "And it doesn't involved chatten!"
Jenova scowled. "Very well. I suppose you're right." She sighed.
There was no time to react to the sudden twisting ball of energy hurling towards us. It hit me with a truly enormous force and tossed me backwards several feet. I landed hard, my life almost completely drained by the furious blow. Somehow I managed to get to my knees and it nearly killed me I think. The others looked no better than I did, except for Sephiroth. Though he kneeled, he was still in the same spot he'd been standing. The spell had not caused him near as much damage as it had caused the rest of us.
"This is ridiculous!" Jenova cried in anger. "Why won't you idiots just die!" She went for another spell.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant. It occurred to me right than that this could be the last breath I would ever take. The fear that held me still right then was almost unbearable, until I saw Sephiroth move and felt hope return. With inhuman speed Sephiroth jumped to his feet and drove his sword through Jenova's chest.
Jenova punched Sephiroth in response, knocking him back several feet. "This is impossible! There's no way you can stop me!" She shrieked.
Speaking of someone who wouldn't just die, I thought. I was beginning to think that maybe we would die here when, to my utmost bewilderment, a red and black mist surrounded formed around the others and me. I could feel my life being restored as it drifted through by body and on towards the now cowering Jenova.
She looked up and for the first time there was fear in her eyes. "No." She whispered in horror. "It can't be! Only the Cetra could do this!" An ear-piercing scream shattered the air as she was engulfed by the strange mist and turned to stone before our eyes. A loud grown sounded out from the stone encasing as the seal was completed.
The cavern was silent for the next five minutes, save for the shifting of pebbles beneath someone's feet now and then. Several minutes passed before anyone spoke.
It was overwhelming, the feat that we'd just accomplished. Everything seemed to be going down hill at the end when suddenly a miracle presented itself and saved humanity once again. Amazing…
"So it is over." Vincent stated simply. "She has been sealed."
"Yeah…but how?" Barret asked.
"The black materia." Sephiroth answered.
"Speaking of which, isn't there supposed to be another half somewhere?" Cid inquired curiously. "We never found it, remember?"
Nanaki frowned. "That's correct, but my instincts tell me that this couldn't have been done without the other piece."
"What the hell do you mean your 'instincts' tell you?" Cid growled and started looking around suspiciously. "Alright, who's got it?"
Everyone's gaze fell on Sephiroth, who appeared completely bewildered and very annoyed by the fact that everyone was automatically assuming that it was he who had it.
He scowled. "It is not I who has it."
"Oh yeah?" Cid challenged. "How do we know that?"
"Because…she's got it." Sephiroth replied, his finger pointing directly at Yuffie.
There was a turn of heads and now Yuffie had become the center of attention.
"Traitor!" Yuffie cried lividly in Sephiroth's face. "You bastard! I'll get you for this! Somehow I'll get you for this!"
"Yuffie?" I stared her blankly in disbelief.
Yuffie's cheeks were on fire and her toes were literally digging holes in the stone. The glamorous smile she wore as a disguise did no good to dissuade us and the expression fell rather quickly. "Umm, well…you see…ah…"
"Out with it!" Sephiroth snapped.
"Alright, alright. Don't get you boxers in a bunch." Yuffie muttered. "Yeah, I have it."
"I should have known." Cid accused and tossed his arms into the air. "The sneaky, no good, materia thief has had it this whole entire time and never said a damn word! Ooo, you better run maggot because when I catch you you'll wish you were rotting in the fiery bowls of hell!"
"Wait!" I cried in vain as Yuffie sprinted off for the entrance with Cid right on her heels. I smiled suddenly. "You know, I never knew Cid could run that fast."
Nanaki chuckled beside me. "Yes, he seems to be moving at quite a good clip."
"Ya know, it ain't so suprisen now that I think about it." Barret commented. "We all know how she is about materia and all."
"So, does this mean it's all over?" Cait asked curiously.
"I guess." I answered and looked over to find Sephiroth standing by the sealed Jenova, glowering at his sword that happened to have also been sealed with her. He took hold of the handle then and yanked it out of its stone encasing. The hole in which the sword rested sealed up as soon as the blade was removed.
He sheathed his sword and spun swiftly on his heel. "You didn't think I was actually going to leave it did you?" He asked.
"Of course not." I answered and smiled knowingly. "Come on, let's go find those two before they get themselves killed."
"Cid maybe, but Yuffie?" Sephiroth queried. "I doubt she'd be a serious loss to civilization."
"Sephiroth!" I gasped. "That was wrong and you know it!"
"I dunno Tif, I'm thinken of siden with Seph on this one." Barret drew in and grinned.
My expression hardened in reprimand. "Oh screw it, I'm not even going to bother with the both of you." I groaned.
Sephiroth chuckled. "Alright, let's go."
We didn't get far before stumbling across the crazed pair as they wrestled across the cavern floor. Instead of breaking it up and getting bruised in the process, we sat back and watched, waiting for the out come.
Eventually Cid was able the throw the raving and screaming Yuffie over his shoulder. "I got the little squirt." He said proudly, with a genuine smile marking his face.
"Let me down!" Yuffie cried in vain and commenced beating on his shoulders with her fists.
"Hey, that feels pretty good, but you might wanna try a little lower." Cid commented.
Yuffie let out a strangled growl of fury and elbowed him sharply between the shoulder blades.
Several colorful curses poured from his mouth as he instinctively dropped the squirming Yuffie, letting her fall head first toward the ground. Her ninja skills saved her from the face plant though and she was able to land on her feet.
"I'll kick your butt next time!" Yuffie growled and threw a few threatening punches in his direction.
Nanaki came forward and looked Yuffie in the eyes. "Where is the second half of the black materia?"
Her gaze danced around a bit before her shoulders slumped forward in sudden defeat. "This is stupid! I found it damn it! I should be able to keep it!" She moaned in protest.
"Yuffie." Nanaki repeated sternly.
She shoved her hand into a pouch and pulled out the small orb. "Here. Take it!" She snapped and threw it onto the floor.
Nanaki jumped back in surprise as a spark flew through the air. "What on earth?" He echoed confusedly and took a cautious step forward.
Another spark jumped from the tiny orb.
"Something is happening." Nanaki said, his gaze examining the small orb carefully.
I walked up beside him for a closer look and felt my hair suddenly come lose of the ribbon. I spun around in panic and noticed that other half of the black materia had fallen out of the ribbon, or rather burnt through it. "Umm…Nanaki? The other piece just burnt through my hair ribbon."
As Nanaki and the others crowded around to observe the other piece, the two orbs rose into the air above us.
"Hey!" Yuffie cried. "That's mine! What the hell! Get back here!" She lunged into the air and tried to grab the orb, but it was out of her reach.
"Fascinating!" Nanaki breathed. "They are coming together once again!"
A brilliant flash of white light filled the entire room as the two orbs came together, the light blinding us momentarily. When it receded, the black materia fell to the ground, now back in its original form.
Yuffie's eyes brightened and she dove for the black sphere, only to be pulled back by Sephiroth.
"Damn you!" She shouted. "This isn't fair!'
I stooped down and picked up the orb. It rested easily in my hand, its smooth and unmarred surface as black as onyx now. "Well, what do we do now?" I asked. "We certainly can't leave it here when it's so dangerous."
Nanaki sighed. "Hide it somewhere." He answered. "Its power is far too great, it cannot fall into the wrong hands."
"Hey!" Yuffie said sharply. "I resent that!"
"Oh shut up!" Cid grumbled. "You know what it does. Summoning meteor ain't gonna doing anything for Wutai so let it go."
"Oh…" Yuffie frowned and relaxed. "Fine, be that way. It would have been nice to add to my collection though."
"How about we get back to the ship and decide what to do there?" Cait suggested. "I've had enough of this place."
"Yes, a warm meal and long rest would do nicely right about now." Nanaki said in agreement. "Let's get back to the surface of the world."
It was a great relief to finally collapse on the deck of the Highwind. Though the trip back had not been near so treacherous, being that Vincent had found a safer route, it was still tiresome. The past few days seemed to have been nothing but endless muscle ache.
The sun had come up during our absence though, and was now showering the land with rays of sunlight and warmth. It turned out to be a nice day after all, on all accounts. Now there was just one thing left for me to do…
Author's Notes: Whew, here we go. One more chapter left. Woohoo, hope this all sufficed for everyone. I'm still convinced I could have done it better, but that's how I am as you all must know by now. I've been working like mad on schoolwork for the last 4 days and probably will continue to do so. Who knows when the next chapter will be out - hopefully soon - but every time I say that it ends up taking a month, so I better not say anything this time.
Have a nice day!
And Happy Easter (even though it isn't here yet)! Love you all, and thank you a thousand times over!