Chapter 5

Cloud and Squall had continued talking when they noticed how long Danis and Vincent had been gone. Cloud was the first to actually say something about it.

"Haven't Vincent and Danis been gone a little too long?"

"It has been a while since they left," Squall said. "Do you think we should look for them?"

"I'll go look for them. You stay here and keep an eye on Litta. At least then I'll know where you two are. The last thing we need is for all of us to get separated." Squall watched him leave then headed into Litta's room.

"Back again?" she asked.

"I'm supposed to keep an eye on you, that's all."

"What for?"

"Cloud is out looking for Vincent and Danis. They left a while ago and haven't come back. Cloud and I are worried so he went to go look for them. That's why I'm supposed to keep an eye on you." Litta sat up.

"I can help look."

"You should still rest. And Cloud didn't want to come back and have to go back out again to look for us. We're staying here." Litta rolled her eyes.

"So you don't think we should help him look for them?"

"I'd love to help him look for them, but he told me to stay here with you, and that's what I'm going to do." He sat down in a chair across from her.

"Oh fine."

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Danis jumped back. She got out of the way as Vincent fired off a few shots. As she backed up, she ran into something. She turned around and saw that it wasn't something, but someone.

"Cloud!" She was surprised to see him.

"What's going on?" he asked. He looked at her, then to Vincent, then to Jenova, then back to her.

"We're fighting Jenova, what's it look like we're doing!" He walked over to Vincent and pulled out his sword.

"Nice to have you here," Vincent told him.

"Let's just get this over with," Cloud replied. He ran at Jenova. Vincent waited for a clean shot and then fired. Danis fired a few shots, careful not to hit Cloud.

Jenova suddenly attacked using magic to counter. She used ice on Danis, fire on Vincent, and lightning on Cloud. They stopped attacking to catch their breath. Jenova used that time to attack them all with earthquake.

"Do either of you happen to have anything that could heal us?" Danis asked. Cloud pulled out his materia.

"I do," he said. While he was doing that, Vincent continued to attack.

"We can't give her the chance to attack us. " Danis joined him and Cloud healed them.

"You imbeciles, you cannot defeat me," Jenova said.

"We will defeat you," Danis said. Cloud and Vincent began attacking again. Cloud used his magic while Danis and Vincent continued to use their guns. "How long will it take to kill her?" Danis asked a little later.

"Who knows?" Vincent said. "She's pretty tough." Danis didn't reply. Instead she tried to dodge an attack from Jenova but she was knocked to the ground.

That's it, Danis thought. She stood up. She put her gun away and raised her arms. Cloud and Vincent watched her. Three huge pillars rose out of the ground. One was made of fire, another was water, and the last one was wind. Danis put her arms in front of her and the pillars headed straight for Jenova. She wasn't able to dodge so the pillars surrounded her. Vincent, Cloud, and Danis watched as the pillars slowly disappeared. Jenova was glowing. She was screaming as she seemed to be dissipating into thin air. When she was gone, they all breathed with relief.

"Nice work," Vincent told Danis.

"Thanks. I think we should head back to the hotel now," she replied. They got back and Cloud checked on Squall.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked Cloud.

"And what was going on outside in the distance?" Litta asked.

"Jenova's gone," Cloud told them. "Danis and Vincent were battling her when I found them, so I helped them out. How are you guys?" Neither replied for a minute.

"What kind of a question is that when you just told us Jenova's dead!" Litta cried out. Cloud said nothing but walked out. "I think you can go now," she told Squall. He left and went to sleep. Everyone else followed suit.

The next morning everyone met to talk about what to do next. Cloud voted for continuing to search for Sephiroth, and Danis agreed with him. Vincent said nothing, and no one else had any other ideas.

"I guess that settles it," Cloud said. "We're going after Sephiroth."

"Again," Litta added quietly. Only Squall heard her, but he said nothing. Cloud was still talking, but Vincent interrupted him.

"We know what you want Cloud," Vincent told him. "You don't have to keep repeating yourself." Cloud looked at Vincent.

"Well where are we heading to first?" Danis asked. "You thought you'd find him here, but we only found Jenova. So where else is there to look?" Litta knew of one place, but doubted he would be there. He's not one to hide from a battle, Litta thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Squall asked her. She looked up at him.

"It's nothing."

"You were pretty deep in thought for thinking about nothing."

"I told you, it's nothing." Litta walked out of the room. Everyone looked at Squall.

"What did you say to her?" Cloud asked.

"Nothing," Squall said. They turned their attention back to finding Sephiroth, assuming Litta would come back after a while.

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Litta walked outside and into the forest. She walked in circles, trying not to get lost and stay close to the town. She walked for close to an hour before she started thinking about Sephiroth. He wouldn't go to his island, she thought, he wants to fight us. I know he especially wants to fight Cloud. He has a grudge against him. He'll want to talk to me again too. He won't be very happy when he finds out what happened to Jenova and Ultimacia, but then again he probably already knows that.

Litta heard something above her, so she looked up. She saw Sephiroth flying over, heading away from Nibelheim. He seemed to be heading in the direction of Shin-Ra. Litta thought about telling the others, but decided to just follow Sephiroth. After running for a while, she saw the Shin-Ra building in the distance. So I was right. He is heading to Shin-Ra. But why, she wondered. She saw him fly into the building, and decided it would be best to not go in after him. She headed back to Nibelheim to tell everyone what she'd seen. When she got back, they were just beginning to wonder what had happened to her.

"Where have you been?" Squall asked her.

"You'll find out in a little bit," she said. She had run back so she was a little out of breath. "Where is everyone?"

"Still in Cloud's room." She walked in and Squall followed her. Cloud stopped talking when she came in.

"I know where Sephiroth is," she said. "I saw him when I was out walking and he went to Shin-Ra. I don't know what he's doing there or how long he'll be there."

"Let's go," Cloud said. They left and headed to Shin-Ra. It wasn't long before they reached it, since Cloud had them walking so fast. It was apparent that Sephiroth had been there. One side of the building was almost completely destroyed, and smoke was still coming out.

"Looks like Sephiroth came and went," Vincent said.

"So what now?" Litta asked.

"Should we see what happened?" Danis asked. Everyone looked at her. "What?"

"Do you really think we should go into Shin-Ra and tell them 'Here we are so lock us up already'?" Cloud asked her.

"I don't think we're the top priority on their minds right now," Danis stated.

"She has a point," Vincent said. "I think we need to find out why Sephiroth was here to find out where he's going." They made their way to the building, still aware of what they might be getting themselves into.

"What brings you here?" Reno asked sarcastically. "Come for a rematch? Or maybe-"

"Oh shut up," Krad told him. "Who cares what they're doing here. You're the one they've beaten how many times now?"

"Watch it," Reno snapped. "At least I don't confuse pleasure with business."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Krad asked.

"I think you can figure it out, but then again, you aren't as intelligent as I am," Reno teased.

"I think we both know who's more intelligent," Krad told Reno. Reno stood up and pulled out a gun. "Shouldn't you be concentrating on your work?"

"I know what I'm supposed to do. You're the one that seems to be confused." Krad merely walked away. He walked over to the group, leaving Reno standing with a gun in his hand.

"So what does bring you here?" Krad asked them.

"Why was Sephiroth here?" Vincent asked him. Krad shrugged.

"He talked to Rufus and then blew up half the building, which you can see for yourself. If you want to know what happened, you'll have to talk to Rufus about it." He walked back to Reno and they began arguing again.

"I think we should do as he suggests and pay a visit to Rufus," Litta told them. Cloud led the way and they found the place where Rufus had set up his temporary office.

"How nice to see you all again."

"What did Sephiroth want?" Cloud asked.

"I guess we could just skip the pleasantries then. As for Sephiroth, why do you want to know?"

"He was here and talked to you, then did this. What did you two talk about?" Cloud demanded.

"I really don't see how any of that is your business," Rufus commented half to himself, half mocking Cloud.

"It may not be his or any of their business, but it is my business," Litta said. Rufus looked at her.

"Your business? My dear, just because he is your father does not mean everything he does concerns you. In fact, I think it best if I didn't tell you. I'm sure he'll tell you in due time."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked him. "I want you to tell me, now!" They all looked at her, surprised at her reaction. I don't really want to know what Sephiroth was doing here, Litta thought to herself, but Cloud does and I might be his only way of finding out.

"I see." Rufus thought about her reaction. "Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to tell. He came into my office and asked me if I knew where you where," he looked at Litta. "I said I didn't know, but I could find out. He then asked me where Danis was and I told him I didn't know that either. He asked me about Jenova, and someone he called Ultimacia, and when I couldn't answer his questions, he got very upset. You have already seen yourselves what he did after that." Rufus went back to his work.

Cloud decided to take a look around, see if there was anything there that could help him. Vincent looked with him, but they made sure to stay away from any of the Turks. Danis went off by herself, but Squall stayed with Litta.

"Why did you act like that?" he asked her.

"When?"

"Back when you were talking to Rufus. You surprised us by demanding him to tell you what Sephiroth wanted."

"I just figured I had the best chance of getting the information out. I got it mainly for Cloud, since I don't really want to know what Sephiroth is up to." Squall nodded.

"So what is Cloud looking for?" Litta asked.

"I'm not really sure," Squall answered her. "I suppose he's looking for something that might tell him where Sephiroth took off to." Litta thought for a moment, then began walking. Squall followed her. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"To see if Rufus really told us everything." He looked up when she got there.

"Forget something?" Rufus asked them.

"You told us what Sephiroth did here, and what he asked you," Litta said. "Is there anything you may have forgotten to tell us?"

"Why would you ask such a question?" he asked her back.

"Just answer us," Squall told him.

"My, my, so impatient. Even if I did forget to mention something, why would it be of any importance to you?"

"That's for us to decide. So what else did Sephiroth tell you?" Litta asked again.

"He did say a few other things, nothing overly important to me. He mentioned finding out what had happened to Jenova and the other. He also seemed very keen on finding you Litta. He mentioned checking towns like Maetar first. Those are the only other things he mentioned." Litta walked away with Squall.

"So he's apparently heading to Maetar," Squall said.

"Or Rufus is just sending us there on purpose," Litta added. "Either way, I think that's going to be our next stop." She walked over to Cloud and Vincent. Squall looked for Danis.

"Find something?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah, Rufus kept some information," Litta said, "but he told us. He claims Sephiroth mentioned heading to Maetar, so we should head there."

"He's probably just sending us into a trap," Cloud thought aloud.

"But it's our only lead at the moment," Vincent commented.

"Looks like we don't have a choice," Cloud said. "Maetar it is." Squall came over with Danis, and they left shortly after.