"(We'll cross the ocean to another continent. Even if we are wearing Shinra's uniforms)," thought Cloud.
Even with sweat beading on his face, Cloud was boiling inside his Shinra uniform. The large cargo hold was next to and above the boiler room in the huge freighter, and the heat oozed through the steel walls and filled the air.
Despite the heat, several other soldiers and many sailors were busying themselves with inspections, clean-up, and other assigned chores.
Several guards were posted in front of the doors to the engine room, allowing only sailors with two blue stripes on their broad collars.
Boxes lined the walls and towered to the high ceiling, creating a giant wooden maze to the other end of the room where a flight of stairs led to the deck. The bittersweet smell of sea air blew down the stairs, allowing small, cool relief from the thick heat below decks.
From around a corner came the gurgling, choked noise of what sounded like somebody who was getting a second chance at seeing lunch.
Cloud thought it was rather strange to hire a seasick sailor, until he saw it was Yuffie, crouching behind some boxes, muttering weakly.
"Oh god, I HATE ships. Hey Cloud, have you got a tranquilliser?" asked Yuffie, weakly.
Cloud nodded, and took out a small vile of blue liquid flecked with pink from his pocket. Yuffie quickly snatched it from his hands and drank it, but almost threw up at the bitter taste of it, and spat it back out.
"Ugh, this stuff is awful! You'd better just get away and don't bother me unless its an emergency," said Yuffie.
Suddenly, Yuffie threw up all over the floor, and Cloud decided to go elsewhere before Yuffie could throw up on him. He turned and walked along the cargo ship until he ran into another Shinra soldier, but relaxed when he saw it was Aeris.
"Poor Yuffie…well, you can't say you didn't try. Hey, Cloud; it's me, Aeris. Cloud, did you see the airship at Junon airport?" asked Aeris, cheerfully, looking as though she was quite enjoying herself.
"I knew it was big, but I didn't expect it to be THAT big," replied Cloud.
"Yeah, that airship was really something. Hey, do you think I could get on it?" asked Aeris, curiously, smiling brightly.
"Maybe I'll take you someday," said Cloud, shrugging.
Aeris's smile widened in delight, and her beautiful emerald green eyes sparkled.
"Wow! I'm really looking forward to it! Let's ride the airship together, okay? Promise me," said Aeris, smiling.
Aeris smiled up at Cloud, and nestled into his shoulder.
"Promise me you'll take me up on it sometime?" asked Aeris, smiling, looking up at Cloud through the visor on her soldier helmet.
Cloud fought the instinct to put an arm around her shoulder and pull her close. He only just barely managed it.
"I promise. Keep hoping," gasped Cloud.
Aeris giggled, and then she walked off, still smiling back at Cloud and winking at him.
Quickly managing to regain his composure, Cloud walked up some stairs, which lead to the cargo area of the ship. This was the part of the ship that was outside.
On deck, the two huge smokestacks in the middle of the ship bellowed fiercely and belched out a gaping mouthful of thick black smoke.
The green-tinted cloud crawled up around the lip of the charred barrel and slowly rose into the still blue sky, vanishing in a sudden ocean breeze.
The warm ocean waters crashed up against the brine-covered steel hull of the ship, rocking it gently back and forth in the wind.
The shrill cries of seagulls filled the air, and alongside the ship, silvery-grey dolphins chattered to themselves as they rolled between the waves. The sea wasn't so bad, if you didn't mind the swaying, Cloud thought. Yuffie obviously did mind it though…
Cloud looked around the area and he ran into a Shinra soldier. This soldier was actually Tifa. Tifa smiled at Cloud and turned towards him, and gave him a mock salute.
"Yes, sir! Everything's quiet here, sir! But…you know what, Cloud? I really hate this uniform. I feel so dirty in this thing. Uniforms, soldiers, war. I hate them all. They take away all the things and the people you love. I wish they would all just disappear. Right, Cloud?" said Tifa.
"Yeah, I guess so…" replied Cloud, shrugging.
"You're right! Yes, sir. I'll continue my watch, sir!" said Tifa, sarcastically, playing along with her disguise. She was then giggling in laughter.
Cloud walked along the cargo area, and he saw a Shinra soldier walking very strangely, as though he was struggling to stand on his own two feet and he had a red, fiery tail sticking out of his uniform. Therefore, Cloud had instantly recognized who this soldier really was.
"It's me, Red XIII. I'm a little woozy, but I shouldn't get caught. Humans only look at appearances, anyway. So anyway you look at it, I'd say I make a fine human being. It's pretty hard standing on two feet," said Red XIII, who (as a lion-like animal) preferred to stand on all fours.
Cloud chose not to comment on his tail.
Further up near the front of the ship were the Presidential quarters, with its huge, tinted windows and map of the world. Several pegs and thumbtacks were pushed into the map, with green-clad soldiers removing pins and pushing more in every few seconds.
It seemed that a lot of the white pins were moving towards Junon, while the blue and green ones were steadily going south around the East Continent.
Cloud wasn't sure what all that meant, but it couldn't be good, if the Shinra were involved in it so thoroughly.
From the back of the room, Cloud spotted a scowling Rufus and a flustered Heidegger, who was explaining something to the President with obvious urgency.
Heidegger laughed a few times and made large, elaborate arm gestures, thumping his meaty fist on a table once or twice. Seemingly satisfied, President Rufus waved Heidegger off and turned back to glance at the world map.
Cloud walked further along the cargo area, and he found Barret. He was dressed in a sailor uniform, and he was looking through a window, looking at Rufus and Heidegger, but Barret was also crouching just below it, so he wasn't noticed.
"Look, Cloud. It's Rufus and Heidegger. They're this close, but we can't do a damn thing to them," said Barret, irritated.
Heidegger suddenly seemed to be laughing about something, as if some amusing thought had occurred to him.
"How can he? Going off laughing like that? Because of him, Biggs…Wedge…Jessie…" said Barret, his voice mixed with rage and grief. He was still clearly very upset about their deaths.
"God, I can't take it anymore!! I'm going to settle things here and now!" shouted Barret, shaking in anger, raising his gun-arm and pointing it at the window at Rufus and Heidegger, about to fire…
****************************************************************
Meanwhile, inside the room of the ship, Rufus Shinra brushed his blond hair out of his face as Heidegger paced around the room.
"Has there been any trouble yet, Heidegger?" asked Rufus, glancing out of the far window to his right.
"Ha, ha, ha! Nothing at all yet, Mr. President! Ha, ha, ha! AVALANCHE won't be getting on this cargo ship!" laughed Heidegger.
"Will you stop that stupid horse laugh, Heidegger!? It's been getting on my nerves lately," hissed Rufus, angrily, glaring at Heidegger.
"My apologies, Mr. President. But as I just told you, there is absolutely no way that AVALANCHE could get onboard this ship," said Heidegger.
"You had better hope so, for your own sake," said Rufus, sharply, making Heidegger even more nervous.
Rufus ran a hand through his hair, crossing his arms, and looked down at the table between himself and Heidegger at some notes on a clipboard.
"There are rumours that Sephiroth has been seen in Junon, Heidegger. If it is Sephiroth, is there a chance that he can get on board?" asked Rufus, curiously.
"Ha, ha! It's impossible for Sephiroth to get onto this boat, sir. I have guards everywhere on the ship!! They won't let anything get past them!" exclaimed Heidegger, but suddenly, something unexpected happened.
Perhaps it was just a bad twist of fate on Heidegger's behalf, but alarms started ringing as soon as the words left his mouth. Rufus hid his startled surprise, raising an eyebrow at Heidegger and giving him a very angry and cold look.
"It sounds like something just got past them, Heidegger," said Rufus, coldly, his voice icy.
Heidegger gulped nervously and then growled irritably, turning around and storming out of the room. Rufus shook his head, looking towards the window.
His eyes narrowed when he saw a black man staring back at him. It was Barret. Before Rufus could shout out, Barret was gone from sight. Rufus quickly raced out of the room and followed Heidegger, grabbing his shotgun as he did so.
"Emergency alert! Reports of a very suspicious character found! Those not on detail, search the ship! Report when found!" said a message on an intercom radio around the ship.
****************************************************************
Meanwhile, Cloud and Barret had noticed all the commotion that was going on, and had heard all the alarms, and they looked around nervously.
"Damn it! Did they see us!? Hey…it don't seem to be us. Do they mean Tifa and the others!? Hey, get off ya spiky ass and let's go, Cloud!" shouted Barret.
Cloud and Barret quickly ran towards the middle of the cargo ship. Meanwhile, Red XIII, Yuffie, Aeris and Tifa were waiting for them there.
"Where's Cloud? They didn't get him, did they?" asked Aeris, anxious and concerned.
"I don't think so. He just went past me towards the front of the ship. There wasn't any commotion up there that I could hear. And my ears are pretty sharp," said Red XIII.
"Yeah, Cloud's going to be alright. He always is," said Tifa, reassuringly.
Just then, Cloud and Barret both arrived, and they ran up to them. They looked around to check if everyone was there, and they saw that they were all here. But then who was the one causing all of the trouble?
"Everyone alright!?" asked Tifa.
"You alright!?" asked Barret.
"Everyone's here, right?" said Tifa, looking around.
"Hey, wait a minute. You don't think that suspicious character is…" said Barret, thoughtfully.
"Sephiroth!?" shouted Cloud, alarmed, and the shock of that realisation hit everyone hard.
"Really!?" asked Tifa, shocked.
"How the hell am I supposed to know?" replied Barret, sharply, annoyed.
"Then let's find out," said Cloud, firmly.
"It's the most logical thing to do. Then who's going to go?" asked Red XIII, curiously.
They all turned and faced Cloud, except Yuffie, who instantly backed away from them.
"No way! Not me! I don't even like Sephiroth anyway. And besides, I'm think I'm going to be sick," said Yuffie, terrified, and she ran off and threw up over the side of the ship.
"I'm going too!" said Barret.
"Take me with you!" said Tifa.
"Is it really Sephiroth? Then I'm going too. You'll need me to help," said Aeris.
"These clothes are too tight on me. I'll come too so I can take them off," said Red XIII.
Aeris stepped forward, removing her helmet, and Tifa followed. Barret helped Red XIII out of his uniform, and after a few minutes of heated debate, Yuffie finally agreed to come along, although reluctantly. They all took off their uniforms and changed back to their regular clothes (except Red XIII who as an animal didn't wear any).
With everybody else in tow, Cloud pulled out his huge sword from its sheath on his back, clutched it in his hands, and moved down the stairs.
With the heat and cramped space, the stale air inside the cargo hold had become stagnant and wretched. The thick smell of fresh blood clung to the inside of Cloud's throat.
The leather hilt of his sword was slick with sweat and almost slipped out of his grasp as he slowly descended the steel staircase to the cargo hold below decks.
What little light there had been from the lights hanging on the ceiling had been knocked out, causing the bulbs to flicker and spark.
The flashing lights cast long, dark shadows against the sizzling hot steel walls, and more than once, Cloud thought he saw something scurry just out of the corner of his eye.
Turning to see what had moved, though, Cloud found only a stack of empty crates.
At the bottom of the staircase, the air became almost like a soup that made breathing difficult. The bodies of several guards were piled across the floor and piled on top of boxes, fixed expressions of terror and surprise glued to their cold, lifeless faces. The door to the boiler room was propped open, and Red XIII was the first to voice his complaints after sneezing and shaking his head.
"Something's in there. And it smells like something from Hojo's lab," said Red XIII, warningly.
Cloud took a whiff of the air, and found a cold, bitter smell lingering in the air; it was faint, but it was definitely there. More than the smell though, Cloud felt something pulling on him at the very edges of his awareness, beckoning him to step inside the room, to come closer into it.
As he got closer, his sword seemed to grow heavier, and sleep began to creep into the front of his thoughts. Shrugging the feeling off as best he could, Cloud quickened his pace and flung the door to the boiler room open.
Almost immediately, the waves of the heat that streamed from the furnace blasted across him, making his skin break out into sweat.
Cloud's heart began to slam up against his ribs as the pulling sensation returned, stronger than ever, and calling to him from all directions.
Whispers in his ears from invisible sources filled his head, telling him dark, terrible secrets. Most of them were in a garbled, sloppy language that Cloud had a hard time making out, but there were a few distinct words he could filter out.
He caught "Cetra", "Jenova", and a few others that seemed to make little sense, but one in particular stood out, one word, that every time he heard it, seemed to increase in volume as the soft whispers turned into hoarse screams. The word was KILL. Suddenly Cloud and the others noticed a guard standing alone in the room. They cautiously walked over to him.
"Is it Sephiroth?" asked Cloud.
The guard turned, faced Cloud, and the guard suddenly fell on the floor, died, and then his body suddenly vanished.
"No…not Sephiroth," gasped Cloud, taking a few steps backwards in horror.
Suddenly a deep, cold voice was heard all around the room, and Cloud recognised it instantly, with a feeling of cold dread and piercing horror.
"After a long sleep…the time…has finally come…at last," said the voice.
"Look, Cloud!" shouted Barret, pointing to where the voice was coming from.
Sephiroth suddenly appeared out of nowhere right in front of them, and remained still. He looked exactly the same as he did five years ago. Sephiroth had re-emerged after all, he even had his Masumane sword, held tightly in his hand.
"Sephiroth! You're alive!" shouted Cloud, horrified.
"Who…are you…?" asked Sephiroth, confused.
"You don't remember me!? I'm Cloud, from Nibelheim!" shouted Cloud.
"Cloud…Nibelheim…" said Sephiroth, thoughtfully, as if suddenly remembering something from long ago.
"Sephiroth! What are you thinking!? What are you doing!?" shouted Cloud.
"The time…is now," said Sephiroth.
"What are you saying!? I thought you were dead!" shouted Cloud, sharply. Sephiroth laughed coldly.
"You'd think so, wouldn't you? But I'm not effected by Mako energy like those pathetic people out there, Cloud," said Sephiroth, coolly.
Cloud didn't understand what he meant, and was thoroughly confused, as was everyone else, but Cloud quickly regained his composure.
"I can't say that I'm pleased to see you back, Sephiroth," said Cloud, coldly.
"I never expected you to be," said Sephiroth, coolly.
"I'll never let you take over this Planet!" shouted Cloud, angrily, raising his sword.
"Ah, but Cloud, that's not the point. I don't want to rule this world. Well…at least not as a mortal," said Sephiroth, now grinning evilly.
"What are you talking about?" asked Cloud, confused.
Suddenly, Sephiroth flew straight past them, knocking Aeris, Tifa and Yuffie to the floor and knocking them unconscious. He suddenly vanished from the boat but he had left something else behind to deal with them – Jenova.
Jenova was now five times larger that Cloud or any of the others. It now had a black alien-looking head with red eyes. It had two huge arms that were so big they almost looked like massive wings from a huge bird.
It didn't have any legs, and it had a big cone-like end touching the floor instead but it was still connected with the rest of Jenova.
Jenova's skin was a mixture of red, white, black and blue colours. Jenova was so big that it was nearly touching the ceiling. Jenova had three huge spikes sticking out of its back. It also had a big, strange tail.
Jenova suddenly spun quickly around a few times and suddenly paralysed Red XIII with a flash from its eyes. Red XIII found that he couldn't move or do anything no matter how hard he tried, but he felt that it would wear off eventually.
Red light burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as he raised his sword and ran towards Jenova, slashing it three times with his sword and giving Jenova three bloody scars across its strange body. Jenova shrieked angrily.
Red light burst from the ground at Barret's feet as he charged up his gun for a moment, and fired an orange ball of energy from his gun, straight at Jenova. The ball of energy hit Jenova and exploded, sending it crashing hard into the wall on the other side of the room on the cargo ship. Jenova shrieked angrily, having received more injury from the attack.
Green light burst from the ground at Barret's feet as he quickly reached for a Materia attached to his gun-arm, and grasped it tightly, and the Materia glowed brightly at once. A bolt of lightning appeared out of nowhere and struck Jenova, stunning it for even longer.
Jenova quickly got even angrier and suddenly fired a blue laser from its eyes, straight at Cloud. The laser hit Cloud and sent him flying backwards into the wall, giving Cloud a scorch mark where the laser had struck. Although injured, Cloud managed to get back up and ran back towards Jenova.
Green light burst from the ground at Barret's feet as he reached and grasped another Materia equipped on his gun-arm, which glowed brightly at once. A green cloud of poison appeared out of nowhere and struck Jenova, poisoning it and therefore slowly weakening it.
Cloud ran up to Jenova, raised his sword, and swung it at Jenova, slashing at its strange body and giving it another bloody mark across it. Jenova shrieked in pain and anger.
Jenova suddenly fired a blue-yellow laser from its tail, which went straight towards Cloud, then Barret, and then Red XIII, hitting all of them in turn and sending them flying backwards, hard into the ship wall and giving them bruises and scorch marks where the laser had hit. Cloud, Barret and Red XIII slowly managed to get up, even though they were all injured and badly bruised.
Barret raised his gun-arm and fired his bullets straight at Jenova, all of them hitting Jenova and giving it small, bloody gunshot holes across its strange body. Jenova shrieked in agony, while the technique it had used on Red XIII earlier had now finally worn off.
Red light instantly burst from the ground at Red XIII's feet as he ran very quickly up to Jenova, and he rammed into it very hard, going straight through the middle of it and back out, leaving a bloody hole in the monstrous creature, and badly wounding it. Jenova shrieked in agony.
Cloud raised his sword, ran up to Jenova and swung his sword at Jenova, slashing it across its body and giving it another sword wound. Jenova shrieked in agony once again, as its dark blood dripped down its body.
Jenova suddenly fired two blue lasers from its eyes, one heading straight for Cloud, and the other one heading straight for Barret, both lasers hitting their targets and sending both Cloud and Barret flying backwards into a wall, and leaving more scorch marks and injuries where the lasers had hit.
Both Cloud and Barret just managed to get up, though they were now struggling to even stand up as a result from their injuries inflicted by Jenova.
Red light burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as he quickly raised his sword and ran towards Jenova, slashing it three times with his sword, and giving Jenova three more bloody scars across its strange body. Jenova shrieked angrily.
Green light burst from the ground at Barret's feet as grasped another Materia attached to his gun-arm, which at once glowed brightly. Some magical energy appeared out of nowhere and fully healed his injuries and restored his health.
Green light burst from the ground at Red XIII's feet as he also grasped a Materia on his head attached to the long feather on him, which glowed brightly at once. Some magical energy appeared out of nowhere and fully healed his injuries and restored his health.
Green light burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as he also grasped a Materia equipped to his sword, which also glowed bright green in an instant. Some magical energy appeared out of nowhere and fully healed his injuries and restored his health.
Barret raised his gun-arm, and fired more of his bullets at Jenova. All of the bullets hit Jenova and gave it even more gunshot wounds. Jenova shrieked in agony.
Cloud ran up to Jenova, raised his sword, and swung it at Jenova, slashing across its strange body and giving it another sword wound.
Green light burst from the ground at Red XIII's feet as he some flames appeared out of nowhere and struck Jenova, burning its skin slightly and giving it burns across its strange body. Jenova shrieked again, even louder this time.
Barret raised his gun-arm and fired more of his bullets at Jenova. All of the bullets hit Jenova and gave it even more gunshot wounds.
Cloud ran up to Jenova, raised his sword, and swung it at Jenova, slashing across its strange body and giving it another sword wound.
Green light burst from the ground at Red XIII's feet as some icicles appeared out of nowhere and struck Jenova, smashing against its strange body and giving it more bruises and injuries across its already badly wounded body.
Barret raised his gun-arm and fired more of his bullets at Jenova. All of the bullets hit Jenova and gave it even more gunshot wounds.
Cloud ran up to Jenova, raised his sword, and swung it at Jenova, slashing across its strange body and giving it another sword wound.
Red XIII quickly charged at Jenova, and slashed at it with his razor-sharp claws, giving even more bloody scratches across its body.
Getting very angry now, Jenova suddenly fired blue three lasers from its eyes, one to each of them. The lasers hit Cloud, Barret and Red XIII and sent them flying backwards, hard into a wall and giving them bruises, injuries and scorch marks where the lasers had hit.
Barret raised his gun-arm and fired more of his bullets at Jenova. All of the bullets hit Jenova and gave it even more gunshot wounds.
Cloud ran up to Jenova, raised his sword, and swung it at Jenova, slashing across its strange body and giving it another sword wound.
Green light burst from the ground at Red XIII's feet as more flames suddenly appeared out of nowhere and struck Jenova, giving even more burns than before and badly burning its body, wing-like arms and head.
Jenova shrieked a horrible shriek, in agony, as it was badly wounded, burnt, bruised and battered. Jenova then suddenly disappeared and vanished from the battle, and even from the ship itself. Cloud, Red XIII and Barret had managed to defeat Jenova this time, but it was still far from finished.
Jenova had probably gone back to Sephiroth.
Cloud, Red XIII and Barret had managed to survive from the fight with Jenova, but they were badly bruised, battered and injured, so they quickly healed themselves with potions as Aeris, Tifa and Yuffie woke up and were all alright. Jenova had something behind in its escape – a green, alien-like tentacle.
Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aeris, Red XIII and Yuffie slowly walked over to it. Yuffie was suddenly sick when she saw it and threw up all over the floor behind them, whilst the others took no notice, and stared down at the alien-like tentacle.
"I've seen this before…" said Aeris, thoughtfully.
"…Jenova…it's the arm of Jenova…" said Cloud, shivering slightly in revulsion and horror.
"Jenova...you mean to tell me that Sephiroth has been walking around with that damn thing?" asked Barret.
Suddenly, the green monstrous tentacle vanished from the boat just like Jenova and Sephiroth had done before hand earlier, and this was certainly no co-incidence.
"So…it was Sephiroth…" said Cloud, thoughtfully, and there was certainly no doubt among anyone now that Sephiroth had indeed returned, but it didn't make dealing with the fact of it any easier than before.
"The time is now…I think that was what he said," said Aeris, thoughtfully.
"The time is now…?" said Cloud, confused.
"I don't know what the hell is going on! Cloud, why don't you explain to me about what's happened so far?" said Barret.
Everyone else in the group immediately agreed to this, and they all turned to face Cloud, all of them listening intently, as he shrugged and nodded in response.
"I'll try, but don't anyone interrupt me while I'm explaining it all to you. Sephiroth went off searching for the Promised Land, so that he could become the ruler of the Planet. That was five years ago. Then Sephiroth came back and he mercilessly killed President Shinra. And just now, all of us saw Sephiroth. He was carrying Jenova with him too. This much I do know. He told me five years ago that he wants to go to the Promised Land with his mother, Jenova. I guess that's about it," explained Cloud.
A message on the radio intercom suddenly appeared from the ship, heard from all around it.
"Attention dock workers. Order on the ship has been restored. The trouble has stopped. Keep an eye out for any suspicious people still on board. Attention, personnel. Main suspect has escaped, presumed to be lost overboard. We will be docking in Costa Del Sol in ten minutes. Please return to your work stations," said the message.
"We'd better damn well hurry and hide somewhere, you guys," suggested Barret, urgently.
"Yeah, maybe we shouldn't stay in here any longer," said Aeris, nodding in agreement.
"Sephiroth…is still alive. The Promised Land…does it really exist?" wondered Cloud, thoughtfully.
No one else in the group had an answer to that question of course, but they all looked deeply thoughtful about the whole subject too.
Cloud, Aeris, Barret, Red XIII, Tifa and Yuffie left the room and they walked to somewhere else on the boat to hide. Cloud thought again about what had happened.
"Sephiroth asked me who I was. He knows who I am. Or at least he should. Just where has he been all these past five years…?" asked Cloud, thoughtfully, and then he suddenly noticed Tifa staring at him with a mixture of concern and alarm on her face.
"What is it, Tifa?" asked Cloud, surprised.
Tifa hesitated for a while, looking clearly worried and uncomfortable about something, and then she finally spoke.
"Even we don't remember what ultimately happened at Nibelheim, Cloud, so maybe even he doesn't either. I think it's important that we should know. But we don't…" said Tifa.
"That ain't what's important. What's important now is the Planet. It don't matter what happened five years ago. It's now that's important," said Barret. Red XIII nodded in agreement.
"Barret's right. Before you start worrying about the past, we'd better make sure we have a future," said Red XIII.
The sharp dock whistle made them spin around and head back to the cargo hold. The cargo ship travelled for a while afterwards and then it finally arrived in Costa Del Sol.