Chapter 12

It was on the fifth day that Sephiroth and Alpha had remained in Gongaga when danger caught up with them. During the past few days, the two had been living in peace with the townspeople (who had agreed to protect the two from any would hunt them), working part of the time and enjoying the company of each other's presence during the rest. Alpha had learned that Sephiroth had survived the final battle by pure luck and a strategic maneuver, replacing himself with one of his loyal clones who was more than happy to sacrifice himself for his master. As for the angel, he learned nothing more about Alpha.

Reno and Rude entered Gongaga while the angel and android were working in the kitchen of the village restaurant. Though Alpha knew nothing of the Turks presence, Sephiroth sensed their presence as soon as they sat down. Expanding his keen hearing, the dark angel listened in on Reno's conversation with one of the many waitresses as he and Alpha continued washing dishes.

"We're lookin' for a kid and a swordsman," Reno told her. "Here's a picture of 'em both. You seen 'em?"

There was a pause as the waitress looked over the pictures. "I'm sorry, but I've never seen these two here before." She handed the pictures back. "Would you like to order or do you want to wait?"

The red-haired Turk sighed and muttered to himself. "Fine...I'll have the Hot and Spicy Beef with Hot and Sour Soup, Orange Chicken, and a Code Red Mountain Dew. Rude here will have the Pu Pu Platter and a Dr. Pepper." (Reno likes his food spicy. Just check any Chinese-restaurant menu!)

"We don't have Dr. Pepper..." the waitress said, scribbling everything down.

Again Reno cursed, but Rude simply answered, "Pibb Extra."

Smiling sweetly, the waitress took down the drink order and stated, "I'll be back in a moment with your drinks." Bowing slightly, she turned and scurried to the kitchen. "They're looking for you," she whispered to the two in the kitchen. "I'll try to distract them while you escape."

Before either Alpha or Sephiroth could reply, Rude entered the kitchen. He looked blankly at the waitress and said, "To go." That said, he left without even so much as a glance at Alpha or Sephiroth. For a moment, the three stood slightly stunned and baffled at what had just happened, but soon recovered.

"We'd better hurry," Sephiroth told Alpha. "It won't take Rude that long to figure out what just happened."

No sooner had the angel said that did Reno's voice shout out through the restaurant, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE IN THE KITCHEN?!" Thundering footsteps ran over the wooden planks of the floor towards the kitchen to find only the lone waitress, doing her best to fix the Turks' orders all by herself.

When she saw them enter, the woman looked up and glared at him, holding her large chef's knife. "What are you doing here?!" she screeched. "Customers are not allowed back here! Out, out, out!"

***

The angel and android stopped running in the forest southwest of Gongaga, pausing only to catch their breaths and stop laughing. "Did you see the look on Rude's face when he walked in?" Sephiroth asked between breaths and laughter.

Alpha's giggles stopped for only a moment, just long enough for him to reply, "Is he always that much of an idiot?"

Nodding his head, Sephiroth leaned against one of the trees and sighed, finally able to stop laughing and catch his breath. "I can't believe they found us so quickly," he said. "Once again we're on the run from these people..."

A soft sigh passed through Alpha. "Why do they want me so badly? I thought Hojo only wanted to fix me..."

"I think it may be something more than that now," stated the angel. "It has something to do with the Promised Lands...I know it. And Delta said something about three keys to the Promised Lands. Perhaps there's something Hojo found out that I didn't."

"Sephy...can we go?" Alpha shivered, sitting on his knees. "I...I don't feel well."

Saying nothing, Sephiroth unfurled his single wing and picked Alpha up from the ground. Flying over the oceans, he was grateful he kept their things with him and that Alpha had fallen into a deep slumber that lasted through most of the flight.

***

"Yes, my angel, fly...Fly straight to where all your questions will be answered," Jenova smiled to herself, watching still from her energy-orb image. "Go to Icicle Inn and hide away there until the right moment." She smiled to herself, standing from her spot. "Beta, come!"

At the command, the girl android appeared and knelt at Jenova's feet. "I am here Mother. What is your bidding?"

"Your brother, Delta is alive again...I can feel it. Where did you dispose of his body?" Jenova asked, her face seeming somewhat pleased with the current circumstances.

"We dumped it in the middle of Corel Prison for the Cactaur to use as a pincushion," answered Beta.

"Find him and take him with you to Crater. He'll still be weak from being revived, so obtaining him should be no problem. I'll join you there after I've finished some business here." She turned her back to Beta. "The end is coming my sweet Beta, for this miserable piece of dirt that is called a planet."

A curious look crossed Beta's face. "Mother...What is going on?"

Jenova turned and smiled at the android. "Mother...I remember when even Sephiroth referred to me as that. You remind me so much of him and also of the good-hearted Vincent." She shook her head. "Beta, you are my bringer of death, my little Grim Reaper almost. Within you lay a shard of Black Materia, and that shard grants you that strength of death that you hold."

"Only a shard?" Beta asked.

For a moment, Jenova glared down at the android, but the glare melted into an evil smile. "I would have given you all of Black Materia, but it is gone. However, all you need is a shard to fulfill your duties. You have a very important job, my Beta. But first, I need you and Delta to go to Crater and wait for me there. I will draw little Alpha and sweet Sephiroth to us, then everything will be revealed."

Beta bowed. "Yes Mother. I will see you at Crater." That said, she turned and vanished.

The woman's face melted into that of anger. "And how long have you been here, Professor Hojo?" she asked, not turning to the shadows behind her.

"Long enough to know," he growled, stepping out of the shadows and into the light. "You used me as your pawn...We had an agreement!"

She laughed cruelly, sending chills down Hojo's spine. "And you know well enough that I may not have gone with the agreement and turn against you at any time! You were expendable, my dear professor. A mere pawn in my game, as everyone is in my plans. And no one can stop me."

"You're wrong," the scientist smiled. "He can stop you. And he will, too. Just to protect the one he loves, he'll destroy you without a second thought." His devilish grin grew as he saw Jenova twitch at the sudden thought. "You know it too. He may have hidden away his powers for the past few weeks, but with his full potential, he'll be able to destroy you with the flick of his wrist."

"Silence!" The word rang through the air with a sharp ring that made Hojo clamp his hands over his ears. "I will not allow a tiny ant like you stand in my way of glory and ultimate power!" She raised a hand to shoulder-height, pointed at the stunned scientist. "Be gone from my sight you puny little wretch!"

From the end of her outstretched finger, a small orb of light appeared. Suddenly a white-hot laser shot out from the light, streaming towards Hojo's heart. The laser pierced his flesh and set his body on fire. Jenova merely watched as the scientist screamed and howled in pain as his body fell to the ground, burning brightly. Soon his shouts ended as the man finally died, his corpse laying twisted and twitching as it burned on. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air, but Jenova didn't smell it as the smolders and embers died away.

"Well, that was a waste of a pawn," she muttered, walking past the silent-screaming corpse and out of the room. "And he served me quite loyally." Smiling darkly to herself, the woman left the labs, and with a wave of her hand, the woman sent a wall of fire through the labs of Shinra HQ and vanished amongst the flames and smoke. Only her dark laughter could be heard over the shouts of the many who burned in the sudden explosion of flames.

"I'm coming, sweet power!" she laughed. "Once I reach the Promised Lands, the world will be mine!"