Chapter 3
Runaways
(Wednesday, 6:00 PM)
I set the temperature for the house and turned on the heater. I unpacked my bag and put everything into their proper places. I looked at the picture I had snuck out of the Villa. It was made at a party that we had held for the new team members. My eyes settled on one person in particular. 'Sephiroth...' I sighed and looked at the videos Aeris had told me about. I played all of them and saw my parents for the first time. 'My mother was so beautiful....I see why Aeris and I turned out so pretty...and my father....he never even knew about me...' When I saw the video where Ifalna and Aeris were captured, I began to wish I had killed Hojo's clone. I wished I had been able to meet my father. Eventually, I turned off the tape player and checked on Princess in the stable. I made sure she was fed and that her water wouldn't freeze. Then, I practiced with my sword for a while, made dinner, and went to bed around 10:00...I dreamt of nothing else but Sephiroth and Zack, and while I slept I analyzed my heart once again... ******* (6:00 PM, same time.) (Costa del Sol)
"Cloud!" shouted Aeris from my room. Cloud quickly went up the stairs. "What is it, Aeris?" he replied. "Danielle's gone. She was there a few hours ago saying she wanted to be alone. Now she's gone! She left this,"answered Aeris, handing him the letter. He read it and began to get very angry. He stormed over to Sephiroth's room and pounded on the door. "Go away," came the immediate reply. "Open up, Sephiroth!" demanded Cloud,"We have to talk. NOW." Aeris could hear Sephiroth sigh and walk toward the door. Sephiroth unlocked it and opened the door, anger apparant on his face. Aeris was shocked. Never before had she seen Sephiroth look so messy. His clothes were wrinkled, his boots unpolished, his hair in tangles and his eyes bloodshot. "What do you want, Strife?'' he demanded coldly. "Danielle is gone," said Cloud, just as angry and cold, handing him the letter. Sephiroth read it quickly and sighed. "What did you say to her!?" he demanded,"We just rescued her and now she runs off!" "What I said to her is NONE of your business, Strife. Now leave me alone." He was about to shut the door, but Aeris pushed past Cloud and stuck her foot in the door, effectively stopping it. Aeris glared at him. "It may not be Cloud's, but it's my business. She's my little sister and you'd better find her. If you don't, you're going to pray that you have ALOT of cure materia because when I get done, you'll be charred meat.'' Sephiroth sighed and nodded. Aeris moved her foot and he shut the door. "Woah...are you alright? You never displayed this much anger before....the encounter. Other than that, remind me not to make you mad." "I'm fine. My cheerfulness has limits when it comes to my family. Don't cross my sister or me and you'll have absolutely nothing to worry about." They went back downstairs. A few minutes later, Sephiroth came out of his room looking normal. His boots were polished, his hair combed, his eyes normal, and wearing his black battle uniform and cape. His sword hung at his side. He went outside, got his chocobo and headed off.
******** (Thursday, 7:00 AM) 'God,' I prayed,'What did I do to deserve this? I've tried to be a good person. All I want is to live a normal life...have a husband, a warm house, maybe a dog. I don't know! Anything's better than being a Cetra. Everyone wants to experiment on me or take me hostage.' I eventually woke from my prayers and meditation and made myself eat breakfast. As I ate, I went over the sword drills I planned to do that day in my mind. I still remembered the day I mastered the Hand of Life Masamune...
flashback....
"Danielle, you have done well," said my teacher, Brittany. She had long blonde hair and a scar along one arm, a result of a sparring match against Sephiroth himself. "You are almost as good as the Great Sephiroth...maybe even better. It's too bad he's no longer around to compare you with him." "Thank you, Master. I will hold this blade in truth and justice." I tied the sheath at my hip and bowed to her. She bowed to me and I turned and left her home. That was 4 years ago... end flashback....
'I wonder if she's still alive..?' I thought as I cleaned my plate and headed outside. ****** Sephiroth rode into the village. 'I wonder if she's here...' he thought. He had already searched Corel, Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon before he remembered his old friend, Professor Gast, and the house in Icicle Village. He began to walk his chocobo, Lexus, through the village toward the house. When he got there, he heard the sound of a sword slashing the air. So he headed around back. He then saw me running through the drills I had picked attacking an invisible opponent. From the look on my face, he thought it was probably him that I was mad at. He saw that I was too preoccupied to notice him so the leaned against the fence to watch. ******* (45 mins. later) I continued to attack my imaginary opponent not in the least tired. I used a stump to give myself momentum as I jumped and slashed from above. "If you held your blade a little higher, your movements would be a lot more graceful," said a voice behind me. I turned around quickly, my blade held up and tensed to strike. "Sephiroth!" I said in surprise, "How did you find me here?" "A hunch. Your sister sent me after you. She was going to use her magic on me if I didn't find you." I smiled. I picked up my towel and wiped my face dry of sweat. "Do you have a place to stay?" I asked him. "I was going to get a room at the Lodge." "Don't bother. The house has a guestroom. You can stay here." Sephiroth nodded and began to lead Lexus toward the stable. "I'll meet you inside," I told him. "Sure." I walked inside, put my sword on the spot on the wall and my towel in the laundry and ran upstairs to change into a different shirt. I quickly came down the stairs just as Sephiroth came in the house. "Honestly, how did you find me here?" I asked as I made hot cocoa for the both of us. "I remembered this place from what your father told me a long time ago. Long before Aeris was born." "You knew my father!?" I asked. "Yeah..for a long time, when I was little, he was the only friend I ever had...then he died. Hojo told me he had a heart attack, but I knew he was lying." "He was," I replied pouring the cocoa into two mugs,"He had him shot and then kidnapped my mother and Aeris." "How do you know this? You weren't even born yet." "It was on the tapes in my father's lab. He was recording my sister on the camera, then Hojo attacked." I handed him a mug and sat on the rocking chair. "Danielle, we need to talk," he said, sitting down on the couch. "About what?" I replied sipping my cocoa. "About us." "Sephiroth, you couldn't have made your feelings clearer if you had spat in my face," I retorted. Sephiroth winced. "I'm sorry, Seph. I shouldn't have said that. It's just as much my fault as it is yours. Here I was having seen you again after 7 years of wondering what happened and I was acting like an idiot." "No, no. You have every right to be angry with me. What I said was stupid. I shouldn't have done that to you after all you've done for me." "It's just..when I saw you and Zack again...it was like...WWII battle of Jenova vs. Shinra in my head. All of the emotions..all of the feelings... I almost went crazy." He smiled a bit. "I've been down that road. It's not very fun." I laughed. "I'll give you that one. It most likely isn't." We continued to talk for a long time about old times and things that had happened during our separation. By the time I looked at the clock it was 12:30. 'Where has the time gone?' I thought as I yawned. "I'm going to bed, Sephiroth. Your room is upstairs on the right." I stood up and stretched. Sephiroth nodded. "I was going to do the same. Good-night, Danielle." "Night, Sephiroth." I headed up the stairs and closed my bedroom door. He heard me move around for a little bit and settle down in bed. 'I love you, Danni...' he thought sadly as he went up to his room. ******* As I lay in bed in my black and silver dragon pajamas, I realized that I couldn't sleep. 'The choice is a hard one....do you even know your way?' asked the Planet. 'Well...I think I do...Tell me something, If I'm so special to the Planet, why didn't Jenova kill me too? She must have realized there were two of us. I mean, I didn't exactly hide the fact that I existed.' 'Jenova believed that your sister was the immediate threat as she had the White Materia. She knew that after she had destroyed Avalanche and become ruler of the Planet that she could have killed you. She didn't expect to die when she did.' 'I see...' 'Now, back to MY question. Do you even know your path in life?' I sat there in silence and thought as well as analyzed my heart for my true feelings. 'I'm still not sure. I'm so confused...' I replied. I could sense the Planet's dissappointment as it's presence receded from my mind for the moment. Eventually, I fell asleep. ******* It was a different dream this time... A blonde woman was chasing a creature across a large city. She looked to be a policewoman from her clothes and her arsenal. Everything in that city had either died or mutated...almost. There were places where the humans had hidden, defending themselves against the mutations...She alone was left who could stop everything. She had special abilities..ones I had never seen before...As she fought a large crab-like creature, she unleashed these abilities... Then I sat up in bed drenched in a cold sweat. I sat there for a moment gathering my thoughts until I noticed my alarm clock, Friday, 8:02 AM. I got up, took a quick shower, and went downstairs to make breakfast. Suddenly, the cries of the Planet started. 'Oh God...the pain...' I felt myself hitting the floor as I passed out. ******* (20 mins. later) "Oh, God..." whispered Sephiroth as he noticed me on the floor unconsious. He knelt next to me and felt for a pulse. He found it and breathed a sigh of relief. He gently picked me up and laid me on the couch. He knelt on the floor next to the couch holding my hand and brushing the bangs out of my closed eyes. "Danni...come on, Danni...wake up.." he murmured gently. After a few minutes, I moaned and slowly opened my eyes. "Oww...my head." "Are you alright?" he asked. I nodded. "It was the Cry of the Planet, Sephiroth...it's not over yet.." I whispered. He helped me sit up and I went to start breakfast. ******* (Friday, 8:45) "This is very good, Danielle. Where did you learn to cook?" Sephiroth asked as he ate another one of my homemade waffles. "Thanks. I learned to cook in Cosmo while I was researching my heritage," I responded, smiling. "Did you learn anything interesting?" he replied, interested. "Nothing that you didn't already know. If I want to find something, Bugenhaegen said to look for the hidden libraries in the Ancient City." "Maybe we should go there sometime. There are probably books about Jenova there too, seeing as she lived with them for a while." "That sounds like a great plan. We'll have to do that," I replied as I continued eating. "Do you want to spar me later this week?" he asked. One of Brittany's final things that she'd said popped into my mind. "You are almost as good as the Great Sephiroth...maybe even better. It's too bad he's no longer around to compare you with him." "Sure," I replied,"Just don't gut me like a fish, deal?" He laughed. "Deal." ******* (same time) "They've been gone for almost a week now. Where the hell are they?" complained Zack. "You love her..don't you?" asked Cloud. "Yup. She was my girlfriend before the Nibelheim accident. I think there's something more to her past with Sephiroth than she's telling...it seems that she has feelings for both of us..." he responded. "All I can say is, my friend, even though I hate Sephiroth with every cell in my being and I pray to the gods that she chooses you...don't pressure her for an answer. She'll be even more confused and things will get worse," advised Cloud. Zack nodded and went to try and help the others convince Cid to change the channel on the TV from the 'Dukes of Hazard' Marathon. ****** (12:00, noon. A week and a half later from when I left.) "Now, come at me with everything you've got," said Sephiroth. I nodded and began to charge, my sword raised. He brought his up to counter the slash when he noticed I wasn't in front of him anymore. Suddenly, his blade was struck and he dropped it. I used that advantage and pulled his arms behind his back and held my sword against his throat. "Wow. You're almost as good as me," Sephiroth commented. "Almost!?" I pouted. "Ok, ok. I'll admit it. You are as good as me. Who were you trained by? I thought I was the only one who could wield a Masamune. Then again, I thought I had the only Masamune." I smiled and let him go, sheathing my sword.
"I was trained by your old teacher Brittany when I found this sword in the Ancient City." He smirked and scooped up some snow while my back was turned, crushing it into a snowball. When I turned back around, he threw it and hit me smack in the face and then dropped and sweep-kicked my legs out from under me. I fell face first into the snow shouting,"Hey! You cheater!" He still had that infuriating smirk on his face. "Never let your guard down or you'll end up dead." I smiled and grabbed some snow behind my back. I then threw it and the icy powder hit him right in the face. "What the..?" he sputtered, spitting out snow. "And you shouldn't underestimate me," I replied. Sephiroth laughed again. I pulled him down into the snow with me and we watched the clouds drift across the sky. A long time passed as we lay in the snow. I vaugely thought about Zack, but then I pushed him out of my mind. 'Maybe we shouldn't go back to Avalanche...' he thought, 'We're both perfectly happy here...' I was making a snow angel when suddenly... "So..my son has become an ally with a Cetra...I won't allow it!" Jenova floated in the air in her natural form. 'How is she alive!? Planet! Answer me!' 'She was reborn.... Her cells can reproduce when stimulated. When Cloud killed her, she shouted,"I'll be back!" She sent the order to her cells to reproduce at her death.' 'Oh god...' Jenova was fighting a mental battle with Sephiroth. 'Kill the girl..' 'I won't!' 'Do as I say...son, she'll destroy you. Kill her!' ''You are not my mother!" he shouted, "I won't do it!" "Very well....if you won't kill her...I WILL!" Her tenticles stretched out and pinned me to the ground before I could draw my sword. The other one wrapped around Sephiroth's body, sealing him off from helping me. "Now...to enact my plan..." Jenova used her powers and opened two portals... ******* (1999 AD, The Day of Lavos.) "What is that!?" shouted Marle as the winds picked up around the Time travellers and Lavos. "I don't know, but Lavos is making a mad dash for it!" replied Lucca. "Everyone to the Epoch! Let's follow this thing!" commanded Crono. Everyone ran to the Epoch and jumped in. Crono piloted the Epoch through the portal seconds before it closed. ******** (Alternate Dimension) (New York City, 2002 AD)
"This ends here, Eve!" shouts a woman by the name of Aya Brea. She selects a long-range gun from her arsenal and aims at the mutated woman. "You're wrong... You are evolving... Soon you shall become like me..." the creature replied beginning to power her abilities. "I can control my powers! I'll never be like you!" The portal opens above them and sucks them both in before closing. ******** (Normal Dimension, 3002 AD, 5:00 PM ) I struggled against the strength of Jenova's tenticle as did Sephiroth. Jenova suddenly shapeshifted a third tenticle into a razor sharp knife. "Danielle!" shouted Sephiroth, still trying to escape. She raised it up and began the downward attack designed to kill me. At the last split second, I managed to turn my body just enough that the knife imbedded itself deep into my arm. I grimiced in pain. "Ahh..." "I do believe that my associates have arrived..." sneered Jenova, keeping the thing in my arm just the see me in pain.
Suddenly, Lavos and Eve appeared in the portals and floated next to Jenova. "Welcome, Lavos and Eve, to my world..." "Oh my God..." I whispered. "Shall we leave these..mortals?" asked Lavos. Jenova dropped Sephiroth and pulled her tenticle out of my arm and let me get off the cold ground. "When we meet again, Cetra....you shall die. Until then, prepare for doom..." sneered Jenova as they dissappeared. Sephiroth quickly hurried over to me and pulled out a Cure materia. He began to heal my wound when the Epoch suddenly appeared and Aya dropped from above. "Where the hell..?" she started. I looked at Sephiroth as the Epoch's canopy opened and the Time travellers jumped out. "Where are we?" asked Crono, looking around. I stepped forward. "You're the people from my visions..." I started,"You're Aya Brea. You have special abilities because of your mutating Mitochondria and are currently chasing Eve. You're Crono, Lucca, Princess Nadia a.k.a. Marle, Glenn a.k.a. Frog, Ayla, Robo, and of course, Janus a.k.a. Magus. You are all from different eras of this Planet's history and travel in the Epoch or the 'Wings of Time' and are after Lavos." They stood there looking amazed. 'This was part of her vision that night at the dock...?' thought Sephiroth. "Since you're all going to be here for a while and I have no more guest rooms at my house, I'll lead you all to the inn." Crono nodded to his group that I could be trusted and all of the newcomers followed me to the inn. "Hello, 8 rooms please," I told the innkeeper. "Hello, Ms. Gast. You're in luck. We do have 8 rooms free. That will be 1,300 gil please." I handed over the money and he gave me the keys. I led them upstairs. "Your rooms are the ones down this hallway," I said giving each one a key, "Get some rest. I'll call over here in the morning and tell them to send you over to my house for breakfast. I'll try to explain everything then, ok?"
"Thank you, Miss....?" started Lucca. "Danielle, Danielle Gast." "Thank you, Miss Danielle," chimed in Aya. After they went into their rooms, I returned to my house. "Did you get them situated?" asked Sephiroth. I nodded. Eventually, I told him goodnight and went to bed. ******* (8:00, Saturday morning) I woke up, got dressed, and went downstairs to start breakfast. As I cracked eggs into the skillet, I began to sing to myself an old song I had heard somewhere. I sang it in fluent Wuaitan as it was ment to be. Soon, I heard a loud knock on the door. I sighed and went to answer it. 'Odd...I haven't called over to the inn yet....Crono's group nor Aya should be here....' I opened the door. "Zack!? What are you doing here!?" "Well, you and Sephiroth have been missing for over a week and a half now and I wondered where you were. I was worried," Zack replied, stepping into the room. He kissed me gently. I pushed him away. "What's wrong, Danni?" he asked. "No, Zack. I still haven't passed judgement on my feelings. I refuse to do anything like that until I have decided," I replied turning my back to him. Zack turned angry. "Well, you'd better choose fast because I won't have you anywhere near that silver-haired freak of nature. You deserve someone much better...me," he replied grabbing my hair and pulling me toward the door. "OWW! Let go of my hair Zack!" I slapped him. He slapped me back and continued to drag me. "SEPHIROTH!!!" I shouted through the house as I was dragged outside. I heard him quickly running down the stairs. "Danielle!?" he replied. I grabbed onto the frame of the door. "Help me, Sephiroth!" Sephiroth saw who had my hair and his eyes blazed with an intensity I had never seen before. He drew his sword and rushed outside. Zack dropped me and pushed me out of the way, putting a sleep spell on me as I landed. "What have you done to her!?" "Chill, I didn't want her to see our duel. When I send you back to the Lifestream, I'll have her." Zack drew his sword, the Apocalypse. Sephiroth raised the Masamune and charged. Zack sidestepped and tried to counter, but Sephiroth's blade was there to block. The swords clashed high and low, sending sparks all over the place. They continued to fight, trying to gain the advantage for a good ten minutes. "You can't win, Zack. You know my skills are far more superior." "Like I give a damn? I'm still going to beat you." It was here that Sephiroth slashed him across the chest. Not enough to kill but enough to get his point across.
"Listen, I want to kill you more than anything right now for attempting that with Danielle, but since she hasn't decided ANYTHING yet, I will not. You go back to Avalanche and tell them we need them up here immediately. If you ever try to do that to Danielle again, I'll kill you." Zack nodded and left the yard. Sephiroth cast an Esuna spell on me and I woke up. "Where is that jerk!?" I immediately said. "Gone. I sent him back to Avalanche." I pouted. "At least he didn't rape you." "Good point. I'm going to finish breakfast." I hugged him and went for the door. "I'm going to run some errands, alright? I'll be back before breakfast." "Ok, I'll see you later." I walked inside and finished cooking the eggs. I started on the bacon and sausage and called over to the inn and told them to send my new friends over. I heard a knock on the door as I was just finishing the last of the food. "Come on in, everyone!" I shouted. "Hello!?" I heard Crono call out as they came into the house. "I'm in the kitchen. Go ahead and snag some seats, I'll be out in a minute!" Marle came to the kitchen door. "Hello, Danielle. Do you need any help?" she asked. "Nope, I'm all done. You can help me carry out the food though if you'd like." "Ok." She picked up one of the platters and I picked up the other two and headed out to the dining room. ****** "Wow, this looks so good!" said Lucca. "Thou art a good cook madam, you have my praise," added Frog after tasting my eggs. "Please Frog, call me Danielle." "Danielle! I'm back." Sephiroth came into the kitchen. "Oh, hello everyone." "Hello Mr....'' started Aya. "Sephiroth Alexandros. Just call me Sephiroth." He sat down next to me and set the bag he carried by his chair and fixed himself a plate of food. "Where are you all from?" asked Sephiroth. "Guardia kingdom, 1000 AD. "said Crono, motioning to himself, Marle, and Lucca. "Guardia, 600 AD," answered Frog. "Zeal, 21,000 BC," said Magus. "Me from Ioka Village, umm... way before yesterday," added Ayla. "65 million BC," translated Lucca. "I'm from an alternate dimension. It's New York, 2002 AD," answered Aya. 'Wow, I had heard myths about the Timetravellers...but I never realized they existed! This is so cool!' I thought. "Frog, that is an interesting broadsword...what is it called?" I asked after everyone had finished. "Tis called the Masamune in mine land." I looked at Sephiroth in amazement. "How odd....My sword is called the Masamune and Danielle's is the Hand of Life Masamune." "So...How did we end up here?" asked Crono. "Well, apparently, Jenova seems to know Lavos and Eve somehow and teleported them to this time period. She must not have known they were being opposed and accidentally brought you here too. This is Icicle Village on the Northern Continent. It's 3002 AD here and now those three are running loose somewhere. I can keep you guys at the inn until my friends get here. We're going to need all the help we can get. I also think it would be good if you guys learned how to use materia. It'll help you alot," I explained. "Sounds good to me," said Crono. "Me too," said Aya. Soon, after thanking me for breakfast, they went to explore the town. I put the dishes in the sink and sat on the couch. Sephiroth sat next to me. "This is going to be a hard fight...are you sure you want to do this?" he asked looking at me with concern. "I must....It is my duty to the Cetra and besides, she wants to kill me. Should I sit here and wait for her?" "No.. I'll protect you." We just sat there gazing at each other.
I set the temperature for the house and turned on the heater. I unpacked my bag and put everything into their proper places. I looked at the picture I had snuck out of the Villa. It was made at a party that we had held for the new team members. My eyes settled on one person in particular. 'Sephiroth...' I sighed and looked at the videos Aeris had told me about. I played all of them and saw my parents for the first time. 'My mother was so beautiful....I see why Aeris and I turned out so pretty...and my father....he never even knew about me...' When I saw the video where Ifalna and Aeris were captured, I began to wish I had killed Hojo's clone. I wished I had been able to meet my father. Eventually, I turned off the tape player and checked on Princess in the stable. I made sure she was fed and that her water wouldn't freeze. Then, I practiced with my sword for a while, made dinner, and went to bed around 10:00...I dreamt of nothing else but Sephiroth and Zack, and while I slept I analyzed my heart once again... ******* (6:00 PM, same time.) (Costa del Sol)
"Cloud!" shouted Aeris from my room. Cloud quickly went up the stairs. "What is it, Aeris?" he replied. "Danielle's gone. She was there a few hours ago saying she wanted to be alone. Now she's gone! She left this,"answered Aeris, handing him the letter. He read it and began to get very angry. He stormed over to Sephiroth's room and pounded on the door. "Go away," came the immediate reply. "Open up, Sephiroth!" demanded Cloud,"We have to talk. NOW." Aeris could hear Sephiroth sigh and walk toward the door. Sephiroth unlocked it and opened the door, anger apparant on his face. Aeris was shocked. Never before had she seen Sephiroth look so messy. His clothes were wrinkled, his boots unpolished, his hair in tangles and his eyes bloodshot. "What do you want, Strife?'' he demanded coldly. "Danielle is gone," said Cloud, just as angry and cold, handing him the letter. Sephiroth read it quickly and sighed. "What did you say to her!?" he demanded,"We just rescued her and now she runs off!" "What I said to her is NONE of your business, Strife. Now leave me alone." He was about to shut the door, but Aeris pushed past Cloud and stuck her foot in the door, effectively stopping it. Aeris glared at him. "It may not be Cloud's, but it's my business. She's my little sister and you'd better find her. If you don't, you're going to pray that you have ALOT of cure materia because when I get done, you'll be charred meat.'' Sephiroth sighed and nodded. Aeris moved her foot and he shut the door. "Woah...are you alright? You never displayed this much anger before....the encounter. Other than that, remind me not to make you mad." "I'm fine. My cheerfulness has limits when it comes to my family. Don't cross my sister or me and you'll have absolutely nothing to worry about." They went back downstairs. A few minutes later, Sephiroth came out of his room looking normal. His boots were polished, his hair combed, his eyes normal, and wearing his black battle uniform and cape. His sword hung at his side. He went outside, got his chocobo and headed off.
******** (Thursday, 7:00 AM) 'God,' I prayed,'What did I do to deserve this? I've tried to be a good person. All I want is to live a normal life...have a husband, a warm house, maybe a dog. I don't know! Anything's better than being a Cetra. Everyone wants to experiment on me or take me hostage.' I eventually woke from my prayers and meditation and made myself eat breakfast. As I ate, I went over the sword drills I planned to do that day in my mind. I still remembered the day I mastered the Hand of Life Masamune...
flashback....
"Danielle, you have done well," said my teacher, Brittany. She had long blonde hair and a scar along one arm, a result of a sparring match against Sephiroth himself. "You are almost as good as the Great Sephiroth...maybe even better. It's too bad he's no longer around to compare you with him." "Thank you, Master. I will hold this blade in truth and justice." I tied the sheath at my hip and bowed to her. She bowed to me and I turned and left her home. That was 4 years ago... end flashback....
'I wonder if she's still alive..?' I thought as I cleaned my plate and headed outside. ****** Sephiroth rode into the village. 'I wonder if she's here...' he thought. He had already searched Corel, Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon before he remembered his old friend, Professor Gast, and the house in Icicle Village. He began to walk his chocobo, Lexus, through the village toward the house. When he got there, he heard the sound of a sword slashing the air. So he headed around back. He then saw me running through the drills I had picked attacking an invisible opponent. From the look on my face, he thought it was probably him that I was mad at. He saw that I was too preoccupied to notice him so the leaned against the fence to watch. ******* (45 mins. later) I continued to attack my imaginary opponent not in the least tired. I used a stump to give myself momentum as I jumped and slashed from above. "If you held your blade a little higher, your movements would be a lot more graceful," said a voice behind me. I turned around quickly, my blade held up and tensed to strike. "Sephiroth!" I said in surprise, "How did you find me here?" "A hunch. Your sister sent me after you. She was going to use her magic on me if I didn't find you." I smiled. I picked up my towel and wiped my face dry of sweat. "Do you have a place to stay?" I asked him. "I was going to get a room at the Lodge." "Don't bother. The house has a guestroom. You can stay here." Sephiroth nodded and began to lead Lexus toward the stable. "I'll meet you inside," I told him. "Sure." I walked inside, put my sword on the spot on the wall and my towel in the laundry and ran upstairs to change into a different shirt. I quickly came down the stairs just as Sephiroth came in the house. "Honestly, how did you find me here?" I asked as I made hot cocoa for the both of us. "I remembered this place from what your father told me a long time ago. Long before Aeris was born." "You knew my father!?" I asked. "Yeah..for a long time, when I was little, he was the only friend I ever had...then he died. Hojo told me he had a heart attack, but I knew he was lying." "He was," I replied pouring the cocoa into two mugs,"He had him shot and then kidnapped my mother and Aeris." "How do you know this? You weren't even born yet." "It was on the tapes in my father's lab. He was recording my sister on the camera, then Hojo attacked." I handed him a mug and sat on the rocking chair. "Danielle, we need to talk," he said, sitting down on the couch. "About what?" I replied sipping my cocoa. "About us." "Sephiroth, you couldn't have made your feelings clearer if you had spat in my face," I retorted. Sephiroth winced. "I'm sorry, Seph. I shouldn't have said that. It's just as much my fault as it is yours. Here I was having seen you again after 7 years of wondering what happened and I was acting like an idiot." "No, no. You have every right to be angry with me. What I said was stupid. I shouldn't have done that to you after all you've done for me." "It's just..when I saw you and Zack again...it was like...WWII battle of Jenova vs. Shinra in my head. All of the emotions..all of the feelings... I almost went crazy." He smiled a bit. "I've been down that road. It's not very fun." I laughed. "I'll give you that one. It most likely isn't." We continued to talk for a long time about old times and things that had happened during our separation. By the time I looked at the clock it was 12:30. 'Where has the time gone?' I thought as I yawned. "I'm going to bed, Sephiroth. Your room is upstairs on the right." I stood up and stretched. Sephiroth nodded. "I was going to do the same. Good-night, Danielle." "Night, Sephiroth." I headed up the stairs and closed my bedroom door. He heard me move around for a little bit and settle down in bed. 'I love you, Danni...' he thought sadly as he went up to his room. ******* As I lay in bed in my black and silver dragon pajamas, I realized that I couldn't sleep. 'The choice is a hard one....do you even know your way?' asked the Planet. 'Well...I think I do...Tell me something, If I'm so special to the Planet, why didn't Jenova kill me too? She must have realized there were two of us. I mean, I didn't exactly hide the fact that I existed.' 'Jenova believed that your sister was the immediate threat as she had the White Materia. She knew that after she had destroyed Avalanche and become ruler of the Planet that she could have killed you. She didn't expect to die when she did.' 'I see...' 'Now, back to MY question. Do you even know your path in life?' I sat there in silence and thought as well as analyzed my heart for my true feelings. 'I'm still not sure. I'm so confused...' I replied. I could sense the Planet's dissappointment as it's presence receded from my mind for the moment. Eventually, I fell asleep. ******* It was a different dream this time... A blonde woman was chasing a creature across a large city. She looked to be a policewoman from her clothes and her arsenal. Everything in that city had either died or mutated...almost. There were places where the humans had hidden, defending themselves against the mutations...She alone was left who could stop everything. She had special abilities..ones I had never seen before...As she fought a large crab-like creature, she unleashed these abilities... Then I sat up in bed drenched in a cold sweat. I sat there for a moment gathering my thoughts until I noticed my alarm clock, Friday, 8:02 AM. I got up, took a quick shower, and went downstairs to make breakfast. Suddenly, the cries of the Planet started. 'Oh God...the pain...' I felt myself hitting the floor as I passed out. ******* (20 mins. later) "Oh, God..." whispered Sephiroth as he noticed me on the floor unconsious. He knelt next to me and felt for a pulse. He found it and breathed a sigh of relief. He gently picked me up and laid me on the couch. He knelt on the floor next to the couch holding my hand and brushing the bangs out of my closed eyes. "Danni...come on, Danni...wake up.." he murmured gently. After a few minutes, I moaned and slowly opened my eyes. "Oww...my head." "Are you alright?" he asked. I nodded. "It was the Cry of the Planet, Sephiroth...it's not over yet.." I whispered. He helped me sit up and I went to start breakfast. ******* (Friday, 8:45) "This is very good, Danielle. Where did you learn to cook?" Sephiroth asked as he ate another one of my homemade waffles. "Thanks. I learned to cook in Cosmo while I was researching my heritage," I responded, smiling. "Did you learn anything interesting?" he replied, interested. "Nothing that you didn't already know. If I want to find something, Bugenhaegen said to look for the hidden libraries in the Ancient City." "Maybe we should go there sometime. There are probably books about Jenova there too, seeing as she lived with them for a while." "That sounds like a great plan. We'll have to do that," I replied as I continued eating. "Do you want to spar me later this week?" he asked. One of Brittany's final things that she'd said popped into my mind. "You are almost as good as the Great Sephiroth...maybe even better. It's too bad he's no longer around to compare you with him." "Sure," I replied,"Just don't gut me like a fish, deal?" He laughed. "Deal." ******* (same time) "They've been gone for almost a week now. Where the hell are they?" complained Zack. "You love her..don't you?" asked Cloud. "Yup. She was my girlfriend before the Nibelheim accident. I think there's something more to her past with Sephiroth than she's telling...it seems that she has feelings for both of us..." he responded. "All I can say is, my friend, even though I hate Sephiroth with every cell in my being and I pray to the gods that she chooses you...don't pressure her for an answer. She'll be even more confused and things will get worse," advised Cloud. Zack nodded and went to try and help the others convince Cid to change the channel on the TV from the 'Dukes of Hazard' Marathon. ****** (12:00, noon. A week and a half later from when I left.) "Now, come at me with everything you've got," said Sephiroth. I nodded and began to charge, my sword raised. He brought his up to counter the slash when he noticed I wasn't in front of him anymore. Suddenly, his blade was struck and he dropped it. I used that advantage and pulled his arms behind his back and held my sword against his throat. "Wow. You're almost as good as me," Sephiroth commented. "Almost!?" I pouted. "Ok, ok. I'll admit it. You are as good as me. Who were you trained by? I thought I was the only one who could wield a Masamune. Then again, I thought I had the only Masamune." I smiled and let him go, sheathing my sword.
"I was trained by your old teacher Brittany when I found this sword in the Ancient City." He smirked and scooped up some snow while my back was turned, crushing it into a snowball. When I turned back around, he threw it and hit me smack in the face and then dropped and sweep-kicked my legs out from under me. I fell face first into the snow shouting,"Hey! You cheater!" He still had that infuriating smirk on his face. "Never let your guard down or you'll end up dead." I smiled and grabbed some snow behind my back. I then threw it and the icy powder hit him right in the face. "What the..?" he sputtered, spitting out snow. "And you shouldn't underestimate me," I replied. Sephiroth laughed again. I pulled him down into the snow with me and we watched the clouds drift across the sky. A long time passed as we lay in the snow. I vaugely thought about Zack, but then I pushed him out of my mind. 'Maybe we shouldn't go back to Avalanche...' he thought, 'We're both perfectly happy here...' I was making a snow angel when suddenly... "So..my son has become an ally with a Cetra...I won't allow it!" Jenova floated in the air in her natural form. 'How is she alive!? Planet! Answer me!' 'She was reborn.... Her cells can reproduce when stimulated. When Cloud killed her, she shouted,"I'll be back!" She sent the order to her cells to reproduce at her death.' 'Oh god...' Jenova was fighting a mental battle with Sephiroth. 'Kill the girl..' 'I won't!' 'Do as I say...son, she'll destroy you. Kill her!' ''You are not my mother!" he shouted, "I won't do it!" "Very well....if you won't kill her...I WILL!" Her tenticles stretched out and pinned me to the ground before I could draw my sword. The other one wrapped around Sephiroth's body, sealing him off from helping me. "Now...to enact my plan..." Jenova used her powers and opened two portals... ******* (1999 AD, The Day of Lavos.) "What is that!?" shouted Marle as the winds picked up around the Time travellers and Lavos. "I don't know, but Lavos is making a mad dash for it!" replied Lucca. "Everyone to the Epoch! Let's follow this thing!" commanded Crono. Everyone ran to the Epoch and jumped in. Crono piloted the Epoch through the portal seconds before it closed. ******** (Alternate Dimension) (New York City, 2002 AD)
"This ends here, Eve!" shouts a woman by the name of Aya Brea. She selects a long-range gun from her arsenal and aims at the mutated woman. "You're wrong... You are evolving... Soon you shall become like me..." the creature replied beginning to power her abilities. "I can control my powers! I'll never be like you!" The portal opens above them and sucks them both in before closing. ******** (Normal Dimension, 3002 AD, 5:00 PM ) I struggled against the strength of Jenova's tenticle as did Sephiroth. Jenova suddenly shapeshifted a third tenticle into a razor sharp knife. "Danielle!" shouted Sephiroth, still trying to escape. She raised it up and began the downward attack designed to kill me. At the last split second, I managed to turn my body just enough that the knife imbedded itself deep into my arm. I grimiced in pain. "Ahh..." "I do believe that my associates have arrived..." sneered Jenova, keeping the thing in my arm just the see me in pain.
Suddenly, Lavos and Eve appeared in the portals and floated next to Jenova. "Welcome, Lavos and Eve, to my world..." "Oh my God..." I whispered. "Shall we leave these..mortals?" asked Lavos. Jenova dropped Sephiroth and pulled her tenticle out of my arm and let me get off the cold ground. "When we meet again, Cetra....you shall die. Until then, prepare for doom..." sneered Jenova as they dissappeared. Sephiroth quickly hurried over to me and pulled out a Cure materia. He began to heal my wound when the Epoch suddenly appeared and Aya dropped from above. "Where the hell..?" she started. I looked at Sephiroth as the Epoch's canopy opened and the Time travellers jumped out. "Where are we?" asked Crono, looking around. I stepped forward. "You're the people from my visions..." I started,"You're Aya Brea. You have special abilities because of your mutating Mitochondria and are currently chasing Eve. You're Crono, Lucca, Princess Nadia a.k.a. Marle, Glenn a.k.a. Frog, Ayla, Robo, and of course, Janus a.k.a. Magus. You are all from different eras of this Planet's history and travel in the Epoch or the 'Wings of Time' and are after Lavos." They stood there looking amazed. 'This was part of her vision that night at the dock...?' thought Sephiroth. "Since you're all going to be here for a while and I have no more guest rooms at my house, I'll lead you all to the inn." Crono nodded to his group that I could be trusted and all of the newcomers followed me to the inn. "Hello, 8 rooms please," I told the innkeeper. "Hello, Ms. Gast. You're in luck. We do have 8 rooms free. That will be 1,300 gil please." I handed over the money and he gave me the keys. I led them upstairs. "Your rooms are the ones down this hallway," I said giving each one a key, "Get some rest. I'll call over here in the morning and tell them to send you over to my house for breakfast. I'll try to explain everything then, ok?"
"Thank you, Miss....?" started Lucca. "Danielle, Danielle Gast." "Thank you, Miss Danielle," chimed in Aya. After they went into their rooms, I returned to my house. "Did you get them situated?" asked Sephiroth. I nodded. Eventually, I told him goodnight and went to bed. ******* (8:00, Saturday morning) I woke up, got dressed, and went downstairs to start breakfast. As I cracked eggs into the skillet, I began to sing to myself an old song I had heard somewhere. I sang it in fluent Wuaitan as it was ment to be. Soon, I heard a loud knock on the door. I sighed and went to answer it. 'Odd...I haven't called over to the inn yet....Crono's group nor Aya should be here....' I opened the door. "Zack!? What are you doing here!?" "Well, you and Sephiroth have been missing for over a week and a half now and I wondered where you were. I was worried," Zack replied, stepping into the room. He kissed me gently. I pushed him away. "What's wrong, Danni?" he asked. "No, Zack. I still haven't passed judgement on my feelings. I refuse to do anything like that until I have decided," I replied turning my back to him. Zack turned angry. "Well, you'd better choose fast because I won't have you anywhere near that silver-haired freak of nature. You deserve someone much better...me," he replied grabbing my hair and pulling me toward the door. "OWW! Let go of my hair Zack!" I slapped him. He slapped me back and continued to drag me. "SEPHIROTH!!!" I shouted through the house as I was dragged outside. I heard him quickly running down the stairs. "Danielle!?" he replied. I grabbed onto the frame of the door. "Help me, Sephiroth!" Sephiroth saw who had my hair and his eyes blazed with an intensity I had never seen before. He drew his sword and rushed outside. Zack dropped me and pushed me out of the way, putting a sleep spell on me as I landed. "What have you done to her!?" "Chill, I didn't want her to see our duel. When I send you back to the Lifestream, I'll have her." Zack drew his sword, the Apocalypse. Sephiroth raised the Masamune and charged. Zack sidestepped and tried to counter, but Sephiroth's blade was there to block. The swords clashed high and low, sending sparks all over the place. They continued to fight, trying to gain the advantage for a good ten minutes. "You can't win, Zack. You know my skills are far more superior." "Like I give a damn? I'm still going to beat you." It was here that Sephiroth slashed him across the chest. Not enough to kill but enough to get his point across.
"Listen, I want to kill you more than anything right now for attempting that with Danielle, but since she hasn't decided ANYTHING yet, I will not. You go back to Avalanche and tell them we need them up here immediately. If you ever try to do that to Danielle again, I'll kill you." Zack nodded and left the yard. Sephiroth cast an Esuna spell on me and I woke up. "Where is that jerk!?" I immediately said. "Gone. I sent him back to Avalanche." I pouted. "At least he didn't rape you." "Good point. I'm going to finish breakfast." I hugged him and went for the door. "I'm going to run some errands, alright? I'll be back before breakfast." "Ok, I'll see you later." I walked inside and finished cooking the eggs. I started on the bacon and sausage and called over to the inn and told them to send my new friends over. I heard a knock on the door as I was just finishing the last of the food. "Come on in, everyone!" I shouted. "Hello!?" I heard Crono call out as they came into the house. "I'm in the kitchen. Go ahead and snag some seats, I'll be out in a minute!" Marle came to the kitchen door. "Hello, Danielle. Do you need any help?" she asked. "Nope, I'm all done. You can help me carry out the food though if you'd like." "Ok." She picked up one of the platters and I picked up the other two and headed out to the dining room. ****** "Wow, this looks so good!" said Lucca. "Thou art a good cook madam, you have my praise," added Frog after tasting my eggs. "Please Frog, call me Danielle." "Danielle! I'm back." Sephiroth came into the kitchen. "Oh, hello everyone." "Hello Mr....'' started Aya. "Sephiroth Alexandros. Just call me Sephiroth." He sat down next to me and set the bag he carried by his chair and fixed himself a plate of food. "Where are you all from?" asked Sephiroth. "Guardia kingdom, 1000 AD. "said Crono, motioning to himself, Marle, and Lucca. "Guardia, 600 AD," answered Frog. "Zeal, 21,000 BC," said Magus. "Me from Ioka Village, umm... way before yesterday," added Ayla. "65 million BC," translated Lucca. "I'm from an alternate dimension. It's New York, 2002 AD," answered Aya. 'Wow, I had heard myths about the Timetravellers...but I never realized they existed! This is so cool!' I thought. "Frog, that is an interesting broadsword...what is it called?" I asked after everyone had finished. "Tis called the Masamune in mine land." I looked at Sephiroth in amazement. "How odd....My sword is called the Masamune and Danielle's is the Hand of Life Masamune." "So...How did we end up here?" asked Crono. "Well, apparently, Jenova seems to know Lavos and Eve somehow and teleported them to this time period. She must not have known they were being opposed and accidentally brought you here too. This is Icicle Village on the Northern Continent. It's 3002 AD here and now those three are running loose somewhere. I can keep you guys at the inn until my friends get here. We're going to need all the help we can get. I also think it would be good if you guys learned how to use materia. It'll help you alot," I explained. "Sounds good to me," said Crono. "Me too," said Aya. Soon, after thanking me for breakfast, they went to explore the town. I put the dishes in the sink and sat on the couch. Sephiroth sat next to me. "This is going to be a hard fight...are you sure you want to do this?" he asked looking at me with concern. "I must....It is my duty to the Cetra and besides, she wants to kill me. Should I sit here and wait for her?" "No.. I'll protect you." We just sat there gazing at each other.
