The Song of Eternity
Canto 3
The Return of Sephiroth
Verse 4
Reunion
They arrive in the city,
Bringing hope with them,
Finally giving others a chance.
"I totally carry this team," Keep laughed to himself as he walked into the alley where Barret and Vincent were waiting. "We're clear, no mako eyes anywhere," he informed them. They exited the alley together and walked down the street with Barret in the lead. Junon was much the same as it had been before Meteor. The only changes Sephiroth made were to build several mako reactors around the edge of the city.
"This way is usually pretty clear of SOLDIERs," Barret explained. "But with three of us it was better to send the least known target out first in case," he said to Keep.
"Target? I'm touched…" he muttered as he tightened the bindings on his right hand.
"Regardless, the longer we stay out in the open, the greater the chance we will be spotted," Vincent said quietly as several townspeople stared at them.
"Keep your pants on, we're almost there," Barret said as he walked down a side street. They came to a dark run-down factory and Barret knocked on the door. There was no response. "Where the hell are they? Someone's supposed to be at this door," he swore as he threw his hands up into the air in anger.
"Might wanna get it opened up quick there guys," Keep said as he glanced back at the street where several people were looking their way.
"Allow me," Vincent said as he stepped up to the door. He leaned back, then kicked the door open with his boot. "The door is now open," he said as he walked into the dark factory. Once they were all inside they closed the door and pushed a heavy crate in front of the door, barricading it.
"That was a little much," Barret said as he pulled a spare gun arm from his bag and attached it to his stump. "Much better," he said in relief as he felt the familiar weight. "There might be a few monsters here and there, so stay on your toes," he ordered as he led the way through the factory. "Thanks for the materia Valentine," he said to Vincent as he cast a small fire spell to light the way.
"No problem," Vincent replied as he pulled out his Death Penalty. They made their way silently through the darkness for a few minutes until Barret stopped at a ladder that led downward.
"Down here," Barret explained as he led the way down the ladder. Eventually they stopped when the ladder ended in cold concrete floor. "This way," Barret sighed as they continued to trudge onward in darkness.
"Are we almost there?" Vincent asked as he looked for a sign of life.
"Soon, it's in an old area that was used to power the Junon cannon," Barret explained.
"Should anything be down here besides a random monster or two," Keep asked as he looked into the shadows. "Any SOLDIERs or things like that?"
"Nope, this place should be totally empty," Barret said as Keep and Vincent stopped.
"What do you think dead-man?" Keep said to Vincent.
"Don't kill them. I'll take the one at 9 o'clock," Vincent said as Barret looked at them with a puzzled expression. "Now," he nodded at Keep. Vincent immediately swung his Death Penalty around and pointed it into the darkness to his left and walked forward as if chasing something. Barret watched him go, finally hearing the sounds of a scuffle. Vincent walked back to the light where Barret was with another figure in front of him at gunpoint. Finally it was light enough and Vincent returned his gun to his side. "You should be more careful Tifa," he said as he finally recognized his captive. "Where's Keep?" he asked Barret. Barret just shrugged and pointed off to the other side of the tunnel.
Sounds of metal striking metal could be heard ringing through the tunnel as Keep and his target moved into the light in battle stances. They took turns striking at each other, the opponent blocked Keep's attacks with his own sword as Keep blocked with his wrapped arm. "Keep, stop!" Vincent and Barret shouted.
"Tell him to stop then!" Keep shouted back as he dodged a slashing attack.
"Cloud, stop attacking him!" Tifa shouted at the blond haired mercenary.
They both stopped attacking each other, but did not lower their weapons. "He's a SOLDIER," Keep shouted as he kept his sword ready to strike.
"He's not a normal human," Cloud shouted to the others. They both glared at each other, each unwilling to let their guard down.
"Both of you, stand down. You are on the same side," Vincent said, finally causing both of them to sheath their weapons. The uneasily walked back to the others, keeping an eye on each other. "Keep, this is Cloud Strife," Vincent introduced them to each other.
"He's supposed to be a SOLDIER?" Keep asked as he relaxed and adjusted the bindings on his arm.
"Yes I am. What's your story?" Cloud asked as he stepped to Tifa's side.
"He was watching over where I was in suspended animation," Vincent explained.
"And the arm? You blocked my sword with your arm," Cloud said as he pointed at where Keep was adjusting his bindings.
"What's the big deal? He's got a gun for an arm," he pointed at Barret. "Dead-man has," he paused as he looked at Vincent. "I don't even know what the deal is with his arm. So my arm is a little metal, live with it," he said angrily.
"Getting little too serious here people," Barret said, trying to brighten the situation. "Let's get to the base, we'll go over everything there," Barret said as he led the way down the tunnel. He led the way, followed closely by Vincent and Keep, with Cloud and Tifa a little bit back. As they walked Barret and Vincent talked to Keep.
"Anything else you need to fill us in on?" Vincent asked him, meaning the arm.
"I'll show it once. When we get to wherever we are going. You of all people should know that it's a sore subject," he said to the two of them before walking faster and staying a couple feet away from the others.
The tunnel finally ended at a ladder that went skyward. Cloud and Tifa went up first, followed by Vincent, Keep, and Barret. The ladder opened up into a room with a few tables, a couple dozen chairs, and a familiar stuffed moogle and cat. "Barret and Vincent? What a surprise," the cat said.
"What the hell is that?" Keep asked Vincent as he stared at Cait Sith.
"Introductions later foo," Barret said as he went to the door. "You three, find the ninja and the dog and get in here!" he shouted at some figures outside the room.
"Sit down, we'll go through the introductions for him once they get in here," Cloud said as he gestured at Keep. Red XIII, Yuffie, Reno, Rude, and Elena came into the room together, surprised to see Vincent. "Okay, now that we're all here, we need to fill him in," he pointed at Keep.
"Just tell me who you are, I know what I'm here for," Keep said as recognized some descriptions from wanted posters.
"Cloud Strife, leader of AVALANCHE. I was experimented on, that's where the mako eyes came from," Cloud introduced himself. He looked the same as he did from before the Meteor incident, with the exception of a few new scars on his face.
"Tifa Lockheart-Strife," Tifa said to Keep. She wore the same clothes as always, but a huge scar could be seen at the top of her tank top, running from shoulder to shoulder.
"Reeve. Or Cait Sith, whatever you want. I'm not really a cat, I'm just controlling it from Midgar. I really work in the old Shinra building," the cat said from atop the moogle. There were several spots where it appeared that the moogle had been ripped open and sewn together again.
"Nanaki, or Red XIII." Nanaki was larger than he was after Meteor. His body was covered in dozens of battle scars as well. Vincent noticed he walked with a limp when he came in the room.
"Yuffie Kisaragi," the ninja greeted Keep cheerfully. She had grown into a woman over the last six years, abandoning her old attire for black pants and a black top, fitting for a ninja.
"I'm Elena. They're Reno and Rude," Elena spoke for the three Turks. They still wore the same blue suits a before Meteor, even though they were dirty and ripped in some places.
"Cid Highwind is out somewhere with what we pass off for an airship and you've already met Vincent and Barret," Cloud continued. "Your turn," he directed to Keep.
"Call me Keep. I apparently lost my memory when Meteor almost hit Midgar. After the incident I started a bar and woke him up a couple days ago," he gestured at Vincent. "Then we had to fight some SOLDIERs who burnt the bar down. And then we came here I guess," he shrugged. "Then SOLDIER boy there and I got into a scuffle," he explained. He then turned to Cloud and took a knife from his side. "Here you go Strife," he said with anger as he sliced through the bindings around his right arm.
Cloud and the others stared as the bindings fell away, revealing a forearm made of three metal rods, ending in a humanlike metal hand. There was a soft glow of energy in between the three metal rods, almost like the lifestream. "No idea what it means or how I got it, so if you ever hear of someone with something like this, fill me in," he explained. He then pulled some more black cloth from his bag and rewrapped the arm until it was impossible to see his secret.
"Back to business at hand," Vincent continued, feeling angry at the others for staring even though he had as well. "I kept one of each materia in the event of something like this happening," Vincent explained as he pulled out a pouch and emptied it onto the table. "So I suggest we start working on a plan to take out Sephiroth and his forces. I am back and will help as well as I can, but I prefer to work alone. Chaos is becoming too strong for me to control," Vincent admitted.
Cloud nodded in understanding, realizing why Vincent went into suspended animation. "What about you? Are you staying here and helping or what?" Cloud asked Keep.
"Can't go back to Midgar. Don't know anyone else. Being hunted by SOLDIERs. What do you think?" Keep replied sarcastically. "I won't kill anyone though, so keep that in mind on missions," he explained to the others.
"How about robots?" Cloud smiled.