Howdy ya'll! Well I hope you liked the last chapter, sorry about the updates being slower, but yea well uh.. school and stuff heh heh. Well anyways, let's just cut to the chase. I had a lot of things planned out, which I was going to put into the fic, but I'm going to slim some of the story down, If I were to put all this stuff into it then the fic would still have about twenty to thirty chapters to go. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind writing all of it, but is making it harder for me to update this fic, the website freezes and I have to refresh like ten times before I can actually update it, I know I could just create a new story that follows up on the last chapter like, 'Cry of Eternity: Continued.' But I find that confusing ya know? So the story is going to be slimmed down some, which some of you might like to hear because that means the conclusion is closer and some of you may not like it because it might make some things left out in the open. Sorry if it does that.

Anyways, Goldmonkey, a new reviewer, has some questions for me.

1) Why were the villagers calling Rima a witch when she casted Materia? wasn't materia suppose to be around since the Ancients?

A) Uh.... I don't recall materia being around since the Ancients, I know the Ancients themselves had special powers, without the need of materia, and that materia is the basically the wisdom of the Ancients or something like that, I know materia is created from mako and stuff, but Yea... Let's just put it this way, in my fic, materia wasn't known back in Rima's time, seeing something amazing as materia being cast by a small child, made the villagers think she was a witch.

2) How can someone accidentally cast magic, if materia has been around (I think that was the question you asked, can't remember exactly so sorry if it's wrong, too lazy to go look)

A)Ok... Rima was a small child back then, the world didn't know of magic and materia, when Rima or rather Seria, said the word, "Quake." the spell was performed like any other materia. lol I could make this easier by just saying that Rima is a decendent of an actual witch which would make her a blood sucking, broom riding, dagger tossing, gunslinger. Hmm... lol naw... can't do that, I might get hurt.

Disclaimer- Malice (Jumps off the branch he was reclining on. He stretches and yawns while he stands on the ground) Well dimbass is taking a nap so I'm stuck doing this, Zack does not own Final Fantasy 7 and never will because he's as poor as they come, doesn't own a damn thing, not even his own life heh heh heh.

Chapter 66- Figuring Out Dregon's Plan

Daisuke groans in pain as she stands up after another attack from one of the clones. The clone just stands in front of her, waiting, his eyes seeming to taunt her. The sounds of swords clashing makes her turn her head to the side to see Sephiroth driving the other clone back. Daisuke turns her fiery gaze back at the clone in front of her, she pushes herself back up to her feet. The treasure hunter holds both her swords out in front of her and locks her gaze with the clone.

At their side, a sword drops to the ground, followed by the sound of a body falling to the ground. The clone in front of Daisuke's watchful gaze, briefly turns his head to the side to see his brother laying on the ground, headless. Daisuke immediately lunges forward, with a battle roar she swings one of her swords at the distracted clone. Quickly bringing up the Ultimate Weapon replica, the clone blocks the first attack. Daisuke quickly slashes her other sword upward, cutting the clone's right arm off in the process. A brief look of surprise flashes through the clone's eyes before Daisuke thrusts one of her swords through his throat. The clone's body jerk and trembles, as blood runs down the blade of the sword.

Daisuke tosses the corpse of the clone off to the side before sheathing both her swords. She glances over to Sephiroth to see him heading out of the cavern, "Hey! Dun go leavin' without meh!" She shouts before chasing after the dark swordsman.

------

A blinding light erupts within the cave, the sounds of shrieking demons filling the cave as the hadions seem to burn away from the light. When the light fades away all that stands is the blonde swordsman, hunched over exhausted as he takes deep breaths, trying to get air into his lungs. Had the circumstances been different, he would of taken a break, but one thought continues to cross his mind, striving him to move forward, 'Yuffie...' Cloud pushes his legs forward, making them carrying his body faster, like a bat out of hell.

------

Vincent crimson eyes blink a few times in disbelief, "Pardon?" He asks, not sure he heard the distressed woman correctly.

Rima just stands in her spot, her mouth hung agape, her eyes unblinking. Finally coming to her sense, Rima's eyes blink, breaking the stare they were in. Her heart seemed to clutch in her chest as the realization of what Hojo was saying sinks in. Rima drops to her knees, her crimson eyes fading into their once amber color as her claws return back to their normal state, leaving nothing but a human Rima. Despite all that, it went on notice by Rima, having one thought in mind, "Hojo killed my child."

Rima lowers her head to the ground as her shoulders begin to tremble. After hearing a choked sob, Vincent realizes she's crying. He lowers his crimson eyes to the ground, as if he's being scolded. Taking a step closer to Rima, he reaches out and places his hand on her shoulder, "It's alright." He says, trying to give some sort of comfort.

Rima's fingers dig into the ground as she clenches her fists, a sudden wave of anger coursing through her body. Before Vincent knows what's happening, Rima is standing while he's on the ground, the right side of his face throbbing from the force of her punch. Rima steps forward, grabbing handfuls of Vincent's cloak and pulling him to his feet, a small fire of rage growing deep in her amber eyes as she shakes the dark gunslinger.

"Don't tell me it's alright!" She shouts in all her anger, "Not only do I just find out I have a brother hell bent on killing that air-headed ninja, but I find out that fucking sick bastard killed my unborn child, one that I didn't even know about. And you tell me it's going to be alright! Nothing is alright, everything keeps getting worse when I'm with you people!" She yells, venting her anger out on Vincent.

The dark gunslinger just stands there, letting Rima take her anger out at him, while keeping his eyes trained on the ground like a scolded pup, "I'm sorry." He says in a pathetic attempt to give her some sort of comfort.

"Don't apologize!" Rima hisses. She slowly lowers her face to Vincent's chest, her hands still clutching his cloak tightly as her shoulders begin to shake again, "Don't... apologize." Vincent places his human hand around her awkwardly, not used to this amount of physical contact, making him a bit uncomfortable, and with the thought of what Chaos had done, only increasing his discomfort.

"What's going on?"

Vincent's head snaps his gaze to the side. Red XIII stands in his spot, a bewildered look across his beastly face as he stares at the two. Vincent finds himself at a loss for words, not being able to find a way to explain the situation. Lucky for him, he doesn't have to. Rima pushes herself away from him, "Nothing is going on." She replies to Red XIII coldly. And as if nothing was bothering her in the first place, she calmly walks away, towards the Highwind, where she figured everyone will be going, giving no indication that she had ever been upset.

Red XIII silently watches Rima as she walks away, once out of earshot, Red XIII turns his wondering gaze to silent gunslinger, "What is wrong with her?" Red XIII asks curiously.

Vincent shakes his head, "A lot of things." He replies before heading towards the Highwind also. Red XIII tilts his head to the side as he watches the ex-Turk walk away, his head filled with questions, questions he would like answers to.

------

Cloud tries to control the anger welding up in him as AVALANCHE and the Turks hold a meeting on the Highwind, to discuss their next destination, the Great Glacier. However, the fact that Yuffie has been kidnapped again, and Reno, Elena, Tifa, and Daisuke, each arguing about the best place to start searching the Great Glacier, is slowly making his anger reaching its limit point.

Cloud slams a fist on the table, "Be quiet!" cloud shouts, effectively quieting everyone in the room. Cloud turns his angry gaze on the four who were arguing, "Reno, I don't give a damn if it's too cold for you. Elena, if Reno doesn't want to be stuck on the ship this time, then let him off, let him die for all I care. Tifa, I understand why you think we should rest for the night before leaving, I'm tired too. But Dregon has Yuffie, and we don't know what he'll do to her. And Daisuke..." Cloud turns an annoyed look to the treasure hunter, "Why the hell would we stop at Bone Village for!? We need to go to the Great Glacier and find whatever it is Dregon is searching for, and if we find that, we find Dregon, and with Dregon we find Yuffie. So forget about Bone Village!"

"But.." Daisuke begins.

"No dammit, forget it. We aren't wasting anytime!" Cloud says, his anger getting the best of him.

Daisuke gives a look of annoyance of her own, "But..." She begins again.

"No! Be quiet!" Cloud shouts, his voice seeming to rock the walls around them. Daisuke crosses her arms, her brows lowered in anger as she remains silent. Cloud takes a deep breath as he runs his left hand through his spiky hair, "Ok... We need to figure out where to look for this thing.." Cloud trails off.

Daisuke just loses it, "That's what I was tryin' to say ya jackass!" She shouts, she stands up, slamming both her hands on the table as she glares at Cloud, "If ya would jus let meh speak, ya would of already know! Bone Village is a town full of us treasure hunters! If that there Dregon fellow is searchin' for some sort of ancient artifact or something like that, we'd have it written down in our documents! We have everything written down about legendary treasures and whatnot! If ya jus taken ya head out of ya ass and listened for one small minute, ya would already know this!" With that said, Daisuke plops down in her seat in a huff, crossing her arms over her chest as she glares at the wall across the table.

"Alright.." Cloud says scratching the back of his head, "Since we don't know where to begin searching, and since Bone Village seems to be the only place to get a lead. We'll go there. Everyone get ready." Cloud says.

The group nod their heads before they begin to leave the room, all but one. Daisuke stays in her seat, staring straight ahead, seemingly lost in thought. Suddenly, Daisuke whacks her head on the table multiple times, while saying, "What Whack! ws Whack! wrong Whack! with Whack! me!" Daisuke shakes head in her hands, as a shudder courses throughout her body with what's to come when they arrive at Bone Village. The visit home isn't going to be what you call a 'pleasant' visit. She'll have to deal with, 'him.' The thought itself makes Daisuke's face heat up.

------

The group soon lands in the backwater town of Bone Village, the loud motors, and the bright lights of the Highwind, soon awakening everyone in the Bone Village from their slumber. Some villagers just ignore what's going on outside, and go back to sleep while others peek out of the tents they live in, one of them being the governor of the village. The governor of the village, exits from his tent, and approaches the group as they step off the Highwind.

"We need your help." Cloud says, cutting straight to the chase.

The governor glances around the group, recognizing some of the group as the rebel group AVALANCHE while some of them he hasn't seen before. One of the members in the group however, catches his eyes the most. Walking towards the woman who's seems to be cowering behind the group, he wraps his arms around her immediately, "Daisuke, you've finally come home!"

"Uh... hi Pa." Daisuke replies embarrassedly. The group watches the scene in amusement, "Could you like... let meh go now?"

Her father releases his hold on her and studies her, up and down, "My my my, these past six months seem to have been harsh to you." He comments, noticing the various tears in Daisuke's clothing and the blood stains on them.

"Alrighty, look." Daisuke says, trying to change the subject, "These folks need to do some research about somethin'. We need to find somethin' that this one dude is lookin' for."

Daisuke's father nods his head in understanding before turning around, "Come this way. All the books are in my tent." He says.

The group follows closely behind Daisuke's father, Daisuke keeping near the back of the group as she glances all around the village, as if expecting something. Tifa notices Daisuke's strange behavior and decides to question it, "What's wrong?"

"Nothin's wrong! What make ya think somethin's wrong? Everythin' is perfectly fine, nuttin wrong here, no sir-re." Daisuke says a bit too quickly for Tifa to catch. Daisuke quickens her pace to the tent, trying to get inside as quickly as possible.

"Now.. give me a description of what you're looking for." Daisuke's father says.

"Description? uh...." Cloud trails off, "We don't know what it looks like."

"Then tell me what you do know about it."

Cloud scratches the back of his head, "Well... it seems that there's three of them, and that they are all located in different places.... and that's about it."

The governor places a hand on his chin, looking as if deep in thought. After a moment or two he lets out a sigh, "I'm afraid that's not much to go on."

Silence fills the tent as each member of the group tries to think of something they might have left out. The silence is soon ended by Vincent, "It's origins are from Wutai." His monotone voice cuts through the silence.

"And how do you know that?" Reno asks, suspiciously. True Vincent used to be a Turk, just like himself, but that doesn't mean Reno trusts him. He only trusts him as much as the rest of AVALANCHE, which isn't much, not after the whole incident with Zack.

"Place the clues together.." Vincent begins. "Dregon needs something from Yuffie and whatever this item he's searching for to succeed in his plans, whatever they might be. If it concerns Yuffie, then the object he desires must have come from Wutai."

"Well, in that case..." Daisuke's father begins, "I happen to have four books that y'all can look through. Whatever this item is, it's bound to be in one of them." Daisuke's father walks over to the other side of the tent, where an old chest sits. Opening it up, he begins rummaging through the chest, pulling out a book every now and then. Once he has the four books he's searching for he turns around and carries them over to the group, "These books are consisted, primary of old Wutianease artifacts. Search through them for anything that catches your eye.

"I'll take this one!" Daisuke announces, grabbing the top book off the pile. she sits down in a spot at the side of the tent and opens up the book. Tifa walks over to Daisuke, deciding to help the treasure hunter search through the book.

"I hate reading." Reno mumbles under his breath before snatching the next book.

"Oh come on, Reno. It's not that bad..." A teasing smirk plays across Elena's face as she follows Reno to a spot to read, "Unless of course, you don't know how to read."

Reno shoots Elena a challenging look over his shoulder, "Are you implying something?" He asks threateningly.

"Only the fact that you never made it passed sixth grade." Elena replies offhandedly.

Reno's eye twitches in annoyance, "I. Can. Read." He says slowly, making sure to get his point across.

Elena pats Reno on the back, "Of course you can."

Reno shakes his head, "Elena, shut up."

"......" Vincent walks over and takes the third book from the governor's hands before walking away, his claw flipping through the pages as he skims through it.

Cloud scratches the back of his head and takes the last book. He glances down at Red XIII and grins, "I guess we get what's left over." Red XIII nods his head.

------

"Ugh... this really blows, ya know?" Daisuke says, aggravated with searching through the book.

Tifa bites back a yawn, the demand for sleep weighing heavily on her body. "We still have half the book left over."

Daisuke opens her mouth to remark but shuts it when a frighteningly familiar voice reaches her ears. "Hey old man!? You in here? What's with the lights?" A male voice says outside the tent. Daisuke ducks behind Tifa, confusing the fistfighter in the process. A moment later a man walks into the tent, his brown eyes scanning the tent as he notices all the people. "You have a lot of guests tonight eh?"

The man brushes a few brunette strands out of his eyes. Dirt smudges are visible all over the boy's black shirt and blue jeans. His black steel toe boots are worn down, making the steel under the leather on the toe visible. His arms carry various scars from all the cuts and scrapes you get from excavating the land, the beginnings of a beard is visible on his face. The man couldn't be older then twenty years old.

The man glances around the tent, "So what's with all these folks?"

"Tenskai...was there a reason for your visit?" Daisuke's father asks.

The man, known as Tenskai, shrugs his shoulders, "Curious as to why you're up this late. I heard what sounded like an airship land around here so I was awake. Went to..." Tenskai stops what he's saying when he notices a certain woman hiding behind Tifa. Tilting his head to the side, Tenskai tries to get a better look at the woman, "Daisuke?" He asks uncertain.

"Damnit..." Daisuke whispers behind Tifa, making the fistfighter giggle. Standing up, Daisuke reveals herself, "Eh.. heh heh..." Daisuke scratches the back of her head as her face turns red under Tenskai's gaze, "H-hi, Tenskai."

A wide smile spreads across Tenskai's face before he quickly walks over and wraps his arms around Daisuke, lifting her off the ground in a tight hug, "It is you!" He says happily. "It's been six months! Do you know how boring it was around here without you!?"

"Can't...breathe...." Daisuke manages to choke out.

Tifa giggles from her spot as she watches the couple. Tenskai releases Daisuke for his bear hug. Scratching the back of his head, Tenskai chuckles embarrassedly, "Sorry... forget how strong I am sometimes."

"So you going to introduce us?" Tifa asks a bit teasingly.

"Yea, yea, yea." Daisuke says. "That there is Tifa." Daisuke says, pointing to Tifa. Tifa smiles and waves to Tenskai. Daisuke continues on, "The two over there are Reno and Elena. The dog and blondie over there are Red and Cloud."

"I am not a dog." Rd XIII says insulted.

"Whatever..." Daisuke waves him off. She points over to Vincent, "Though vampire lookin' dude is name Vincent. The woman who seems to take fashion lessons from him, but more personality then a stone unlike Vincent, is named Rima. And finally... " Daisuke points to Sephiroth who's standing off to the side, "Not that he needs an introduction since he's known throughout the world, that's Sephiroth, a.k.a. Pretty Boy." Sephiroth shoots Daisuke a deadly glare, while Tenskai laughs at the nickname. Daisuke takes a breath, "And everyone, this is Tenskai, ...mumble mumble."

"What was that?" Tifa asks, not hearing the last part.

Daisuke's face heats up, "I said he's my boyfriend!" Tifa laughs at Daisuke's embarrassed face. Daisuke scoffs and crosses his arms.

"You have a boyfriend!?" Cloud asks in disbelief.

Daisuke turns to Cloud and raises an eyebrow, "Yea what of it, blondie?"

Cloud scratches the back of his head, giving a nervous chuckle, "Well... I was under the impression you had a thing for Sephiroth.."

"What...." Daisuke replies.

Tifa nods her head in agreement, "I thought the same."

"As did I" Red XIII admits.

Daisuke nearly chokes on her laugh. "You guys thought that I.... Eww... no offense... but Pretty Boy is too girlie for me."

Sephiroth raises an eyebrow, "Girlie?" From her spot, Rima gives a small amused smile.

Tenskai shakes his head, "Well then... It's time for me to go to bed..." He says suddenly. He walks to the entrance of the tent before turning back around and face Daisuke. Tenskai grins, "You coming?"

Daisuke covers her inflamed face with both her hands shaking her head, "Not tonight, I have too much to do." She manages to says, as embarrassing as it was. Almost the entire group raises an eyebrow at the small exchange of words. Tenskai shrugs his shoulders and leaves the tent. Once she thinks her face is no longer red, Daisuke removes her hands from her face, to see, not only her father staring at her, but AVALANCHE as well, "What!? A girl can have some fun too, can't she!?"

The tent is filled with silence as everyone stares at Daisuke. A cough brings everyone out of their trance, as they turn to Vincent, "As interesting as that may seem. I believe I may have found what we are looking for." Vincent walks over to Cloud and hands the book he has to him, pointing to a section of the book out to Cloud.

Cloud glances at the section that Vincent pointed to. "Eternity's Talisman?" Cloud reads the title out loud. He glances up to Vincent who nods his head, telling him to continue. Cloud glances back down in the book, reading the informing about the piece.

"Though it's only a theory that this artifact is real. Facts about its significance has been gathered from Wutai. The talisman is said to be part of an old Wutainease ritual, that only the royal family knows. It's said that it's a piece to a complex puzzle in order to release a power not known to this world, that can wreak havoc all across the globe, if used incorrectly. Through questioning royal families in Wutai through the years, it has been found out that the ritual, Helos Summonai, which has some sort of relation to the more known ritual Le Cas Vo Gollost, which is believed that it raises the dead, can be performed when all the pieces are brought together. Though it has not been proven yet, it's said that the Eternity Talisman can only work in the ritual when the lesser of the rituals, Le Cas Vo Gollost, has already been performed and that, one who's not dead or alive, can use the talisman."

If there's any further information written down, Cloud can't read it, through the ages the ink has diminished off the pages. Cloud closes the book as he places a hand on his chin while he thinks, "So what does this mean?" Cloud asks

"Isn't it obvious?" Sephiroth asks, speaking for the first time, since the Mythril Caves. The group turn to him questioningly. Sephiroth rolls his eyes, "Dregon is searching for this talisman and plans on using it. It said that Le Cas Vo Gollost had to be performed in order to perform this ritual, which means, he's been using Vain... or Jenova, whichever one it is."

Reno's brows lower in thought. "One who's not dead or alive, can use the talisman." Reno repeats the part in the book, "What the hell does that mean?"

Vincent closes his eyes and lower his head in thought, "An undead, in other words a zombie. Vain killed Dregon and brought him back, making him an undead. Dregon must of known about Vain's upcoming betrayal."

"So this means..." Tifa trails off.

Red XIII nods his head, understanding what Tifa was going to say, "It means that, everything that's happened so far.... Dregon had planned out..."

Heeheeeheee.... I so evil! Well y'all... that's it for now. Sorry for the lack of updating, but again, School sucks, slowing things down. I have a three day weekend coming up, and although I work Saturday and Sunday, Monday I'm free so I can try to update then. But anyways, I hope y'all liked this chapter, it was hard for me to get back into the mood of things, don't know if this was a good chapter or not, but that's what I have y'all for. So tell me how it is and review... TTNC!