Chapter 2

Litta was up before seven, when Squall came in to wake her up.

"You're already up?" Squall asked.

"I woke up early."

"Oh. I think we need to talk before we decide anything."

"About what?"

"Something Cloud told me in that note he gave you."

"Can I read the note?" Litta was curious to see what it said.

"Not yet. Does the name Sephiroth mean anything to you?" Litta thought of her dream. Should I tell him? she wondered. No, it's just a silly dream...isn't it? She didn't really know.

"It sounds familiar," was all she said.

"What about Ultimacia?"

"Not really? Should I have heard of these names?"

"Never mind that. Where are you from?"

"The first place I remember is," she remembered another dream, "Esthar," she said instead.

"What about Midgar, ever been there?"

"I don't think so." Squall didn't respond. He seemed to be deep in thought.

"Do you own any books?" That's an odd question, she thought.

"Only an old book I've had ever since I can remember. It's written in another language, and it's pretty old." She pulled out a small, black, leather-bound book.

"Can I look at that please?" She nodded her head and he took it from her hands. He flipped through the pages and looked back at Litta. "Do you have any idea what this is?"

"No," she said simply. How can I know what it is if I can't read it?

"Do you know anything about your past?"

"Not before age fifteen. Why?"

"How old are you now?"

"Seventeen. Why are you asking me all these questions?"

"Cloud would have been the best person to tell you this, but," Squall had been talking to himself, but now he addressed Litta. "But it seems that I'm the one who has to tell you now. You probably aren't ready to hear this, but there isn't much time left."

"Time left for what? What do you have to tell me?" Litta was really confused now.

"About two and a half years ago, Cloud and a few friends, not including me, set out to stop Rufus Shinra and kill Sephiroth. Rufus was using Mako energy to power the city of Midgar and it was killing the planet. Sephiroth was trying to resurrect Jenova. Eventually though, Cloud was able to defeat Sephiroth before he resurrected Jenova.

"He told me that as he was walking away from Sephiroth he saw a girl, Sephiroth's daughter, run to him. Cloud would have stayed to try to talk to her, but the cave they were in started to collapse. He was cut off from her by some rubble that fell, and Cloud was pulled out just in time by Vincent, one of his friends. Cloud later found out what had caused the cave to collapse.

"You see, I'm from another world. In my world, a sorceress tried to achieve time compression, where past, present, and future were combined into one world, a world where only she could survive. Some friends and I were chosen to stop her. When we came out of time compression, we found that she had partly succeeded in her goal. She had collided my world into Cloud's.

"Cloud and I met a little while later and exchanged stories. He also had a girl with him. He said he found her in the rubble of a mansion in Midgar. Midgar had been completely destroyed when the two worlds collided. The girl he had with him, was you. We were attacked right then, and you disappeared. We weren't able to find you again.

"Cloud later found out that you were the daughter of Sephiroth. He also found out that you had a book with you, written in an ancient language. If done properly, this book has the power to resurrect Sephiroth and Ultimacia, who could together resurrect Jenova and destroy this world. That's why Rufus is after you.

"He thinks he can bring back just Sephiroth, and then sell the book to him for a high price. He has no idea of the terror that would come from that. Neither does he know that you are the only one able to read this book and resurrect Sephiroth. If he figures that out, he'll stop at nothing to find you and force you to do that. That's why Cloud was willing to give up his life to get you out of Shin-Ra and away from Rufus."

Litta was silent for a long time. So my dreams are actually events that happened in my past. "Why can't we just burn the book and be rid of it forever?"

"I wish it were that simple. The book can't be destroyed. That's why no one must ever know who you are or the fact that you have this book in your possession."

"But surely there is a way to keep Sephiroth from ever coming back."

"As far as we know, that book is his only way back, but unfortunately only he can destroy it."

"So why don't we bring him back, have him destroy the book, and then kill him."

"Sephiroth has already beaten death once," Squall said. "When he came back, he was stronger. If you were to bring him back again, he would be even more powerful than ever, and near impossible to defeat. Plus, how would you get him to destroy the book?"

"I don't know," Litta said after a while. "I just wish this wasn't happening to me, that's all. I mean, it's not fair. I wake up in a strange city when I'm 15, and all I can remember is my name. I don't have a home so I drift from city to city." Squall listened without interrupting. "I am captured by strange people who threaten to kill me, and then take me to their boss who I've never even heard of. Then I escape but with the cost of two lives. I mean, I didn't need to know about my past, and I wish I didn't know because now it makes the future all the more complicated. Could it get any worse?"

"Don't say that," Squall said. "It can always get worse." Suddenly, they heard footsteps in the hall. "Ssh," he commanded. Litta didn't argue. As he leaned his ear against the door, he was able to catch some of a conversation.

"I know they checked in here," a male voice said.

"How do you know for sure?" said a second voice.

"That friend of his, I think her name was-" a door was broken down covered up part of the conversation. Squall listened when he could hear them talking again.

"And you're sure there weren't any mistakes?" questioned the second voice.

"I'm positive. The authorities will just think it was a random fire. Even if they do find the bodies, they'll never suspect General Caraway was killed by Turks." Rinoa, Squall thought.

"Or his daughter too for that matter. I was amazed at how quickly she told us what she knew, though it wasn't much. Pity."

"Sir," a new voice joined in. "We only have two more rooms to check in this hotel. Would you like to do the honors?"

"Indeed I would." Squall quickly moved from the door. They would check his room first, since it was closer.

"Can you use a gun?" Squall whispered.

"A little. Why?" Litta replied.

"Here." He tossed her a gun. One door was knocked in. Theirs would be next. Will I have to kill anyone? Litta wondered. Their door burst open. Squall made the first move, killing two of the three. Litta shot and hit the third in the right shoulder. She fired again and hit his chest, but not before he shot back. His bullet just nicked the side of her head. She brought her hand to her head then brought it back down. She winced at the sight of the blood on her fingers.

"Litta, come on!" yelled Squall. She couldn't seem to make her legs work. Squall came over to her, picked her up, and placed her over his shoulder. He ran down the hall to the emergency exit. The alarm sounded as they opened the door. They were out and gone before the other Turks even reached the second floor.

"Litta, stop moving." He gently set her on the ground and sat down next to her. "Now, Curaga." She sat still and was amazed at how her wound had healed.

"How did you do that?"

"Simple magic. Don't tell me you've never used magic."

"Sorry, but no. So where are we now?" They had been running for what seemed like forever, until Squall had finally set her down just now.

"We're only an hour outside Deling City. You had pretty good aim with a gun you know."

"Thanks." She didn't feel as proud as Squall seemed to be of her. "What did Cloud say in that note?" That's all she had been thinking about.

"Here." He handed it to her.

Squall,

Her name is Litta. She is the daughter of Sephiroth. She has the book. Protect her from Rufus for me.

-Cloud

She read it over twice before looking up. "So he knew who I was." It was a statement more than a question. "How did you find out about my past?" It's sad really. They know more about my past than I do. Where did they find all of my information? she wondered.

"Everything I've told you I learned from Cloud. He researched yours and Sephiroth's histories. He wanted to find out if there was any way Sephiroth could come back again. When he found out about the book and you, he spent all of his time searching for you. I helped as much as I could. When we split up to cover more ground, Cloud was caught by Rufus Shinra. Rufus was planning to experiment on Cloud. When I found out that Cloud had been captured, I was on my way over to get him out when you bumped into me."

"So when I told you Cloud had died, what were you thinking?"

"I figured I would take you to town and didn't think farther than that. What were you planning on doing when you got to town and I left you?"

"Honestly, I had no idea what I was going to do." I'm glad you didn't leave me, though. "You said earlier that Cloud researched my history. Where did he look? Who did he talk to?"

"He talked to some of his friends, but mainly Vincent." Maybe I should take her to see Vincent. He will have a better idea of what to do than I have. "Come on, we're moving on."

"Where are we going?"

"To see Vincent." They walked for another hour in silence before they came to a city.

"What city is this?" Litta asked. She had never seen this city before.

"This is Nibelheim," Squall told her. "Cloud's hometown."

"Oh. Who are we here to see again?"

"Vincent." He started walking and said no more. They walked into a deserted part of the town, walked down some stairs underground, and ended up at a house.

"He lives underground?"

"It's a long story, but basically he just wants to be left alone. So very few people know where he lives." Squall knocked on the door and a man answered. He looked to be around 25, but Litta couldn't tell for sure.

"Hello Squall," Vincent answered. "Who is this?" He looked at Litta.

"This is Litta."

"Oh. Come in." Litta followed Squall in. The living room they walked into was not very large but had enough elbow room to still be comfortable. "Sit." Vincent motioned towards some chairs. "What do you want Squall?" He doesn't seem mad, but he doesn't waste any time in getting to the point, Litta thought.

"I need your advice."

"About what," though he had already guessed.

"I'm not sure what to do with her."

"Hmmm. So this is Sephiroth's daughter. You don't really resemble him." Litta made no reply. "Do you remember your father?"

"Not really," Litta answered.

"Do you remember any of your past?"

"Not really," she answered again.

"Hmmm. Squall, come with me. Litta, we will be back." Squall followed Vincent into another room. Litta listened by the door.

"Squall, tell me everything that's happened." Squall recited all the events that had occurred since he had met Litta. "So now you are wondering what to do. I'm not sure, but you might try researching about the book. See if you can get Litta to remember her past as well. That is where I would start."

"But I don't think she wants to remember her past. How can I make her talk about it? If she can't remember, then what will we do?"

Litta was tired of listening. She bolted out the door, ran up the steps, and kept running until she came to a forest. Now I'm lost. I don't want to go back though. Then I have to deal with my past and my father and everything that is in my past. Is it worth figuring out if all it will do is possibly cost other people their lives? What if Squall were to die for me like Cloud? No, that won't happen. If I stay away from him and Vincent, then nothing will hurt them.

She walked for hours in no specific direction, across the train tracks, until she came to a town. More like the remains of what used to be a town. It had obviously been destroyed for years. She walked around until she came to a nice estate. It looked to have been a mansion. Suddenly, she had a flash back to her dream.

This must be Midgar, she thought. And this must be the mansion from my dream, maybe even where I grew up. But wouldn't that mean that Sephiroth, my father, would have lived here too? Wouldn't he have been moving around to stay away from Cloud? I don't understand. None of this makes any sense. Who has all the answers? That book. Maybe, but wait, I can't read it. It can't hurt to look at it though.

She took out the book and flipped through the pages. The more she looked at the words though, the more she began to realize that she could read some of the writing. In fact, she could read most of it. She began reading out loud, but stopped halfway through. The ground had begun to shake and the sky looked like it would storm. Lightning started flashing and the clouds began to swirl above her. What's going on, she thought.

Suddenly, a figure started descending from the sky. It was limp at first, but slowly began moving. As it stopped just above the ground in the middle of the mansion ruins, she realized that the figure was actually a man. The man was tall, and had long white hair. Could it be, she wondered. Is that really Sephiroth? Is that really, my father? She didn't know what to think. As quickly as the storm had come, it disappeared. The clouds went away and the lightning subsided. The man stood standing, looking straight at her.

"Come to me," the voice commanded. She was afraid to go near it, but even more afraid to disobey. Her legs moved towards the man, carrying her with them. Before she realized it, she was standing in front of him. "Litta." He reached out his hand to her. She took a step backwards.

"W-who are you?" she sputtered.

"You don't know?" She shook her head. "I am your father, Sephiroth."

"But, you can't be. You're dead!"

"As you can see, I am very much alive, thanks to you. If you would continue reading, you will resurrect someone else."

"I don't want to continue reading the book."

"Read!" It was a command, but she threw the book at his feet instead.

"I don't have to listen to you! I won't!" She started to run away, but Sephiroth held out his hand and she couldn't move. "Why can't I move?" Slowly, Sephiroth turned her around to face him. "How are you doing this?"

"Soon you will be able to do much more advanced magic than this." Litta wasn't sure she wanted to find out what that meant. "But first, I need to go find Cloud. I'll be back for you later." He slowly lifted off the ground and flew off in the direction of Nibelheim. What have I done, she thought. That's where I left Squall and Vincent. She sat down and tried to think. While she was sitting, she didn't notice two figures approach.

"Litta!" It was Squall. "What just happened? I thought I saw Sephiroth. Why did you leave Vincent's? How did you end up here?"

"I don't know, I don't know. I just ran because I didn't want to hear the two of you talking about my past anymore. I ran and ended up here. It looked exactly like the mansion in my dream, so I started walking around.

"Then I started looking at that book and I could read it. I started to read it out loud, but not that much. Only it was too late and Sephiroth came out of the sky. He told me to read the rest of the book but I wouldn't. I tried to run but I couldn't. He said he had to go find Cloud and said he'd be back for me later. I don't know what to do now. I'm sorry." She could barely hold back the tears, but had just enough strength to.

Squall put his arm around her and said, "I didn't mean to yell at you. I was just worried. I know you didn't know what you were doing. Don't worry, we'll figure something out." He looked up at Vincent.

"We should leave before he comes back," Vincent said. "He won't be happy when he finds out Cloud is dead." Squall agreed. He helped Litta up and they left Midgar.