(Author's Note: Well…I'm going on vacation so there will be no updates in any of my stories for a week…I will try to update as soon as I can when I get back though…but I thought I would just let you all know that I am still working on this story…thanks. Enjoy the next chapter!)
Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Dete is. Rueh belongs to Rueh.
Chapter 2
"Everything is in order…they are all that I need…and I shall get them in time…nothing and no one will stop me…this time I shall succeed…"
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-4 years later-
"Picnic trip! Picnic trip! We're going on a picnic!" Rueh and Dete sang as they skipped ahead of Cassandra. Sephiroth was looking for monsters around the town to get rid of them. They were walking in a forest near Costal Del Sol. There was a clearing just ahead of them.
Once there they spread a blanket on the grass. Dete suddenly screamed. Rueh laughed evilly and ran away from her.
"GET BACK HERE!" Dete yelled and gave chase.
"What did she do?" Cassandra asked with a sigh.
"She put a bug in my hair!" Rueh laughed even more as Dete said that. Cassandra just shook her head as Dete chased Rueh around the clearing.
They kept this up for awhile but soon grew tired of it. Cassandra turned at the sound of a chocobo behind her. She looked into the forest waiting for the chocobo and Sephiroth to appear but they didn't. She glanced from side to side when the laughter from Rueh and Dete suddenly stopped.
She slowly turned to see why. It happened fast. A monster of some kind rose out of the bushes. It was tall and had a green tint to its skin. It was covered in slime too. It looked like a snake with tentacles growing out of its back and arms with hand like a persons. It swung its tail and sent Rueh and Dete flying with a cry. Rueh hit the ground and rolled back to her feet. Dete landed within a clump of bushes at the clearings edge.
Cassandra ran forward drawing her sword as she did. She attacked the creature. It turned to her and swung its tail under her feet knocking her off balance. It turned and grabbed Rueh's foot with a tentacle.
"Put me down!" she snapped flailing her arms and legs to get loose but to no avail. She continued to struggle as Cassandra struggled with the tentacles wrapping around her arms, legs, waist, and neck.
Rueh had finally had enough…the creature hissed angrily as her teeth sunk into the tentacle that was trying to wrap around her arms. It tried to pull the tentacle away from her but she wouldn't let go for nothing.
Cassandra choked when the tentacle around her neck tightened and spots appeared before her eyes. The creature pulled her closer and something sharp pricked the back of her neck. She began to struggle even more when things started spinning. The creature waved a hand in front of her face. She could barely make it out as things began to fade to darker colors. She saw a tentacle hit the back of Rueh's head then she was still. The drug then caused Cassandra's consciousness to fade completely…
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It was late evening when Sephiroth got back to the villa. Inside everything was dark. No lights were on. Frowning some he tied the chocobos reins to a post outside the shed and cautiously walked toward the building. He had his hand on the door knob when he remembered that they were going to the clearing in the woods today. That's probably where they were.
He went back to the chocobo and mounted. He set a steady pace for the chocobo as they went to the clearing.
Everything was quiet when he got there. Too quiet. He looked around as he dismounted the chocobo. It warked softly. He put his hand on the side of its head to pet it then moved away from it drawing his sword.
He was walking to the center when his foot hit something lying on the ground. He looked down. It was Cassandra's unsheathed sword. He looked around the clearing when he heard something moving.
"Who's there?" he called looking around. He walked backwards after picking up her sword. The grass was flattened in places. It looked like a struggle had taken place. "Cassandra?" he called out her name thinking that she was nearby. "Come out now. If this is a joke it's not very funny."
But no one answered except for the moving of leaves on a nearby bush. He walked over to it and peeked through the leaves. "Dete!" he pushed the bushes apart and knelt in front of her. She looked up at him but then was unconscious. He looked around the clearing again. "Cassandra! Rueh!" but he didn't get an answer.
He carefully picked Dete up. He went back to the chocobo and mounted. He kicked the chocobo into a run and turned it towards the villa. When he reached it all the lights inside were on. He pulled the chocobo to an abrupt stop then nudged it into a walk as he entered the back yard. He put it in the shed and still carrying Dete went inside the villa.
The inside of the villa was a mess. Apparently someone or something had been looking for something. He went into his and Cassandra's bedroom and laid Dete down. He noticed 2 empty places on the bookshelf. Two books were gone. He scanned the bookshelf but Dete's soft groan made him turn his attention to her.
"Dete?" he asked softly. Her eyes opened and focused on him. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure. Rueh and me were playing…then there was a monster of some kind…it hit me and Rueh but I didn't see anything else," she said.
"What did the monster look like?" he asked moving her hair away from the bump on the side of her head. She told him what it looked like. "I've never seen a monster like that before," he said when she finished.
"To me…well…it kinda looked like…him…" she said in a small voice.
"Him…?" Sephiroth slowly shook his head. "It can't be. Did he ever transform in front of you before?"
Dete nodded. Sephiroth looked at the 2 empty spaces on the bookshelf. "Why don't you just rest Dete…I think I need to call Vincent Valentine and Red," he said standing up from where he sat on the edge of the bed looking at the spaces still.
Dete looked up at him. "It was Hojo wasn't it?"
"It was..."
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A scream echoed around the lab like room. Hojo smirked as he flipped through the pages of a book. He simply ignored Cassandra's struggle to get loose from the bonds that held her in place as mako was injected into her veins.
"Everything is going according to plan…"
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