Chapter 4

"What was that?" Danis asked. She was answered by Ultimacia appearing in the clearing before them.

"I was hoping I would run into you again," Ultimacia told Squall. "I wanted to be the one to destroy you."

"I feel the same way," he answered back. She glared at him.

"You'll regret those words." She raised her arm and a lightning bolt hit him. Litta fired at Ultimacia, but she blocked the bullet. She hit Litta with a fire ball. "Do not interfere with things that do not concern you," she warned Litta. Danis had moved off to the side, behind Ultimacia, so far without detection.

"Squall, are you okay?" Litta asked.

"I'm fine. We have to be careful though. She's pretty powerful."

"So I noticed." He pulled out his sword.

"I wish I had my magic," he said. "Reno took it when he brought me to Shin-Ra."

"Fools. You think simple magic spells will help you defeat me? I cannot be defeated again, not by the likes of you," she said mostly to Squall.

"Wanna bet?" Litta asked. Ultimacia didn't know what she meant. Danis was behind her and now fired a whole round of shots off at her. The first few hit before Ultimacia blocked the rest. Danis came back over to Litta.

"So what now?" Litta looked at Squall.

"Last time I had the use of magic," he said.

"I have magic," Litta told him.

"I forgot. You'll be the one using that then. Danis and I will be the ones using physical attacks I guess." They turned back to face Ultimacia. Litta used fire, but it backfired and hit Danis. "Oh, you'll probably have to cast dispel first. It looks like she's already cast reflect."

"Sorry," Litta told Danis.

"That's okay. So are we going to kill her or what?" Danis fired some shots, but Ultimacia blocked them. Squall used the distraction to attack Ultimacia. It hit her dead on.

"You think you can get rid of me this easily?" she mocked them. Danis fired a few more shots. Squall attacked and Litta used Tornado. The combined attack did a lot of damage, but it also angered her. Ultimacia used Demi on all of them. Danis fell to the ground. Squall continued attacking while Litta healed Danis. Then Danis continually fired her guns. Ultimacia stopped them, and she began changing.

"Look out you guys," Squall warned. When they could attack again, Ultimacia didn't appear to have changed, but something was different.

"You will not survive this battle," she told them calmly. They knew she was serious, but so were they. They all attacked at the same time.

Danis fired a few more shots, but Ultimacia shot them back at her. Squall had run up to attack but she had reflected it. Litta used Ice, but Ultimacia countered with Poison. Litta didn't know what Ultimacia had used though, so she kept attacking. Litta healed everyone up again, aware that her Cure's were running low. Squall attacked again, hitting her dead on. Ultimacia fell back, but got back up. She seemed weaker though. Danis fired some shots, and a few hit.

"Looks like she's about ready to quit," Litta commented.

"Yeah, but don't let your guard down. It's when she's weakest that she's the deadliest," Squall told them. Just as he said that, Ultimacia used Holy on them. Litta almost passed out, and so did Danis. Litta healed Danis to keep her from passing out.

"Save your magic until the end," Squall told her. Litta listened to him. She used Earthquake while Squall and Danis attacked. That did it. Ultimacia began glowing. She screamed.

"You'll pay for this!" She began to slowly fade away, but she used Ultima before she was completely gone. Danis blacked out, and Squall collapsed. Litta was barely conscious, but used her magic on Danis and Squall. When Squall looked at Litta, she had passed out.

"I think she's poisoned," he said. "We need to get her to a town." Danis followed him as he carried Litta. Neither had any potions left, so they hurried. They reached Esthar a short while later.

They checked into a hotel and Squall left to get some potions. On his way out he met Cloud and Vincent.

"Squall!" Cloud looked surprised. "What happened? How did you get away from Shin-Ra?" Squall told him as much as he knew.

"You'll have to ask Litta about the rest. Do either of you have an antidote on you? Litta's been poisoned." Vincent handed him one, along with a potion, then they followed Squall up to Litta's room.

"What happened to her?" Cloud asked. After Squall gave Litta the antidote and potion, he told them. "So Ultimacia's gone?"

"That's what it looks like," Squall said.

"Now we just need to find Jenova and Sephiroth," Vincent pointed out.

"We've beaten them before, we can do it again," Cloud said confidently.

"Sephiroth isn't going to be easy to defeat," Litta told them. Cloud and Vincent looked at her, surprised that she was awake so soon. "He's not going to be easy to find either."

"We know that," Vincent said. "But we will fight him no matter what." Now Danis spoke up.

"So let's go after him!"

"I think you three should rest after your battle with Ultimacia," Cloud told them. "We can leave tomorrow." Danis sat down. Squall, Cloud, and Vincent left the room.

"I know why you're so anxious to meet Sephiroth," Litta told Danis. "But once he's defeated, what will you do?"

"I hadn't thought of that. I'll probably just find a job somewhere. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering."

"What about you?"

"Me? I just want to find out about my past."

"Have you ever thought it might be better if you didn't know about your past?"

"That may be, but I will go crazy if I never find out about my past. Even if it's not pleasant, I have to know." Danis said nothing. She fell asleep not long after. Litta on the other hand wasn't ready to sleep yet.

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Squall finished telling Cloud and Vincent about the battle with Ultimacia. Cloud began pacing around their room, Vincent sat still.

"So where will we find Jenova or Sephiroth?" Cloud was thinking aloud. No one interrupted him. "Maybe he's back in Nibelheim, at the Shin-Ra mansion. We should head there first." He finally looked at Vincent and Squall. "In the morning, we need to head to Nibelheim."

"We heard," Vincent said.

"You were thinking out loud again," Squall explained.

"Stop me next time and tell me so I don't make a fool of myself." Squall just laughed. He fell asleep shortly, but he was the only one. "Still not big on sleeping?" Cloud asked Vincent.

"Not especially." Cloud just left Vincent in the room. He went to check on Litta. He found her awake, sitting up on the bed.

"What brings you here?" she asked him.

"I thought I'd check up on you."

"Since you're here, feel like answering some questions?"

"I'd rather wait until you're fully rested."

"The last time you told me that I was kidnapped in the middle of the night," she told him. He thought about that.

"So what kinds of questions?"

"I think you know. I want you to tell me everything you know about my past. I found out about my mothers and I've known about my father. But that's where things get fuzzy. I've had dreams and been told things by Sephiroth, but I don't know what's real."

"Well, I'll tell you what I know, even if you already know it, just in case. I'll start with the beginning I guess. You grew up in Midgar with your foster mother, and Sephiroth if he was ever there. He was usually gone, being in Soldier and doing other things. Your mother worked so you could go to school, but she always planned on telling you about who she was in relation to you. Sephiroth told her not to, and when he found out she was going to anyways, he poisoned her. You were there when she died. Sephiroth raised you for a time after that, and you grew close to him. He left you again when he raised Jenova and summoned Meteor. I won't go into those details because that's a whole other story. Just before he left though, he took you on a trip with him to another city. While there you had some type of encounter with the lifestream.

"You were there when he battled us, me and a few other friends. When I killed him, I saw you run out of the shadows. I tried to get to you, but Vincent pulled me back to get out of the cave before it completely collapsed. When we reached the top, I waited until Meteor was gone before heading back to Midgar to see what was left of it. I found the remains of a mansion on one of the sectors, and that's where I found you. I think you know what happened from there."

"Yes, but what about that book from Sephiroth? When did that come into play?"

"Sephiroth made that book himself. He read lots of books so he knew a lot of things. For instance, he knew there was another world than ours. That world was Squall's world. He knew there was another powerful person there, and that was Ultimacia. When he decided to raise Jenova and create those events, he made that book. He wanted to have a plan that could bring him back if he died. Because of his knowledge, he allowed it to be able to bring back Ultimacia as well. That way if he couldn't raise Jenova by himself, he could use Ultimacia to help him. As to why only you can read it, he taught you the language of the book when you were very young. It's because you were so young that you didn't remember it. He knew that you would remember it eventually, but wanted to make sure that you wouldn't teach anyone else the language."

"So that's my past?"

"Just about everything I can think of. All the more recent stuff you know about."

"You mentioned something about the lifestream before. What is that?"

"You should rest now. We're heading to Nibelheim in the morning." He left her room and went to sleep himself. Litta thought about what questions she still had left, but she ended up falling asleep. Vincent was the only one awake after that.

Everyone woke up late the next morning, but they headed to Nibelheim all the same. Danis and Litta walked in the middle of the group. Cloud and Vincent walked in front of them, while Squall walked behind them. About half way there Danis heard something.

"I think we're being followed," she whispered to Litta.

"I know, I heard it too. It's got to be either Reno or Krad, but I'm not sure which one." A few minutes passed before he made another sound. A bullet shot out and hit Vincent. They stopped as he fell to the ground. They looked around but saw no one. Another shot.

They looked at each other and saw Cloud fall. When Litta and Danis turned around at another gun shot, Squall was sinking down. Litta cast Reflect just before a bullet aimed at her was fired.

"Breaking the law now are we?" said a voice from the shadows. They watched as Krad emerged from behind a tree.

"What do you want Krad?" Litta asked.

"That's none of your business," he told her. He cast Dispel and fired at Litta. She hadn't been expecting it so she couldn't move fast enough. Danis was left standing alone.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"You sound angry. Is something wrong?"

"You just shot all my friends! Of course there's something wrong!" she screamed. He said nothing. He stepped over Litta and picked up Danis. He threw her over his shoulder and carried her away. "Put me down!"

"Stop fussing," he told her quietly. After a while of screaming without getting a response, she calmed down. They reached Shin-Ra and he brought her to a cell.

"Did I lose my room?"

"Only Turks get rooms. Unless you're saying that you want to be a Turk, you get a cell. Rufus will be in to see you eventually." He shut the door on her. This seems familiar. Only this time I'm going to have to get myself out of this. Rufus came in a few hours later.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting," he said. He looked around, but didn't see anyone. He poked his head out the door. "Krad! Are you sure this is the room she's in?" he called out. When Krad said yes, Rufus walked back in. Suddenly, Danis kicked the back of his head and he fell to the ground. Danis closed the door and left the building.

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Litta moved very slowly. She saw Squall first so she healed him. Next she healed Cloud and Vincent. Squall looked up at her. He didn't have any potions, nor did the other two.

"You're going to have to heal yourself," he told her. She did, but the pain was awful. It had been so long since she'd experienced it that it was almost unbearable.

"Where's Danis?" Cloud asked.

"Krad took her," Litta said. Vincent and Cloud walked over to her and Squall. "After he shot me."

"We're going to have to get her back,' Cloud said.

"Litta can't," Squall said. "She's in too much pain."

"You can stay here with Litta while we get Danis," Vincent suggested.

"Okay." Cloud and Vincent walked off.

"You could have gone," Litta told him. "I can handle myself."

"You can barely talk. You had to gasp for breath between your sentences. I think someone needs to watch you, and that ended up being me." Litta didn't reply. She just curled up in a ball to try to relieve the pain.

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Cloud and Vincent arrived at Shin-Ra. Nothing was happening, so they assumed Danis hadn't escaped. They walked in the front door, and into the elevators.

"Where do you think she is?" Vincent asked.

"She's probably in a cell." They reached the floor and didn't see anyone. They couldn't hear anyone either. "Danis!" Cloud called out. No answer.

"Maybe she's somewhere else." They searched a few of the floors, but there didn't seem to be anyone in the whole building, not even any guards.

"They might have taken her somewhere else," Vincent told Cloud.

"Or maybe we're just waiting for you," said a voice. Reno came out from hiding. "I wondered how long it would take you to leave the building. It took longer than I'd thought. Did you get lost or something?" Cloud pulled out his sword in response.

"No, but I'll make sure your mind never finds its way back to your body." He ran at Reno. Vincent let Cloud make the first move, and watched for the first part of the battle. Reno dodging and shooting. Cloud blocking and attacking. Eventually he sent one well-aimed bullet into Reno.

"You'll pay for this." He left them and went back Shin-Ra.

"Leave him Cloud. We have to find Danis." They didn't have to wait long though. A little while later Danis ran into them.

"What are you guys doing here? How did you heal yourselves?" she asked.

"How did you get out of Shin-Ra?" Cloud asked in return.

"Let's leave the questions till later and get back to Squall and Litta," Vincent said. They made their way back and found Litta in the exact same spot. Squall wasn't far away.

"So where to?" he asked Cloud and Vincent.

"Let's continue to Nibelheim. I still have business to look into there," Cloud answered. Squall picked up Litta and followed everyone. They reached Nibelheim that evening. Squall put Litta in bed and joined the others.

"So what are we doing here Cloud?" Danis asked.

"I am hoping to find or find information about Sephiroth. Or Jenova," he added.

"And if he is here? Will you fight him?" Cloud nodded.

"I'll do whatever it takes to get rid of Sephiroth," he said.

"We'll all help you," Vincent told him. Squall left to check on Litta while the others continued talking. She was still on the bed, but she wasn't breathing as hard.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm doing better. What were you all talking about in there?"

"Just Sephiroth and Jenova. Cloud is intent on finding out where Sephiroth is. He plans on finding him here."

"That's not surprising. Where else would you start a search for Sephiroth than here, except maybe Midgar of course. So is Danis in there?"

"Yes. She's still talking with Cloud and Vincent." Litta said no more, so Squall went back to talk to the others. Eventually they stopped talking and Danis left. Vincent followed her out.

"Why are you following me?" Danis asked. Vincent didn't reply immediately.

"Just keeping an eye on you, that's all." Danis continued walking, ignoring Vincent's presence. She had been thinking for quite a while and quite deeply when she ran into something. She looked up and was so shocked she couldn't move.

"Irresponsible child. You shall learn to show respect to those who deserve it." Danis backed up towards Vincent.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked him.

"Yes. That's Jenova."