Chapter 6

Upon reaching Maetar, Cloud and Vincent began asking questions of everyone they met. Cloud wanted to get all the information he possibly could about where Sephiroth might be. Squall, Litta, and Danis just began looking to see if Sephiroth was still around.

"If he really was here," Danis said, "would he still be here?"

"Probably not," Litta told her, "but then again he might have never been here in the first place."

"That's why we can't let our guard down," Squall told them. They didn't find anything for a while, so they decided to split up to cover more ground. They each went off by themselves, but agreed to meet up later.

Squall headed towards the forest to see if there were any tracks. He had only been searching a short while when he heard something behind him.

"Looking for me?" He turned and stood still. Sephiroth moved too quickly for Squall to react, so Squall never knew when Sephiroth knocked him out.

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Squall woke up a while later, unsure about what had happened. He sat up. He was in a room he didn't recognize. As he got up, Sephiroth walked into the room.

"Don't strain yourself," he said.

"What do you want?" Squall asked.

"That is not your concern right now. I want to know where my daughter is, and you know that."

"What if I didn't know that?" Squall asked.

"That is not the point. The point is that you do know where she is, and I would like for you to tell me." Squall didn't have many options open to him.

"I don't know exactly where she is, so I don't know that I'll be of much help to you."

"Then tell me what you do know and I'll decide how much help you've been."

"She was in Maetar with us and we split up to look for you. That's all I know."

"I see." Squall watched Sephiroth get up and walk to the door. He stopped and spoke to Squall before leaving. "You can try to leave if you want, but I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why are you keeping me here?" Squall couldn't help but ask.

"You are just a problem that continues to get in my way. By keeping you here, I keep you out of the way. It will be easier to get rid of you separately than with your friends." He closed the door.

Squall waited a few minutes before getting up. He walked over to the door. It was locked from the outside, but that wouldn't be a problem. There was a window next to the door. Squall looked out and didn't see anything that would keep him from breaking down the door. He walked around the rest of the room to see if there was anything that would be of interest or help to him. Other than the bed Squall had woken up on, there were a few plain pieces of furniture and some books in the room.

What could keep me from getting out of here, he wondered. Guess I'll find out. He pulled out his blade, suddenly wondering why Sephiroth hadn't taken it. He attacked the door, but nothing happened. Then he was thrown away from the door. There were no marks from his sword anywhere on the door. Apparently he used some sort of magic to keep me from getting through the door, so he probably did the same to the window. Squall got up and tried the window anyways. Same result.

"Great, so how do I get out of here?" he asked himself aloud. He sat back down on the bed. "I can't just sit here and wait for him to come back and kill me. What's going to happen to the others while I'm stuck here?" He sat there, wondering how he could get out, and how long it would take for Sephiroth came back for him. He also wondered what Sephiroth was doing right then.

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Litta and Danis met up and talked a little while they waited for Squall.

"You bought a sword?" Danis asked.

"Yeah, I'm getting a little tired of just having guns on me. They're good and all, but I wanted something else that I could use in a battle."

"Like a sword," Danis commented under her breath. Litta laughed and then checked her watch again.

"Are we early or something?" Litta asked.

"No, he's just late," Danis told her. Litta continued looking around, hoping to see him walking towards them.

"So should we go looking for him?" she asked after a few more minutes.

"Why are you so worried about him?" Danis asked her. Litta looked around while she answered.

"I just think we should find him since Sephiroth might be around here."

"Is that all?" Danis continued looking at Litta.

"Yes. So are you coming with me to look?"

"All right." They headed off in the direction of the forest, since that was where he told them he was going to look. They found a few of his tracks, but lost them quickly. "Either he stopped walking, or we're just bad at finding tracks," Danis commented.

"Maybe Rufus was telling the truth, and Sephiroth really is here, and he got Squall."

"You could be right." Both Danis and Litta turned around to see who had spoken. They found themselves face to face with Sephiroth. "Perhaps I did run into Squall."

"Where is he?" Litta asked.

"Why do you need him?"

"I don't need him," Litta said.

"Good. Then you won't mind," Sephiroth said.

"Mind what?" Litta wasn't sure she liked the look on his face.

"What kind of stunt are you trying to pull Sephiroth?" Danis asked. Sephiroth looked at her for a minute before speaking again.

"I'm not trying to pull anything. I only want to be with my daughter, which many of you seem to think is a bad idea. That is what I don't understand."

"Well let me fill you in-" Danis started, but Litta interrupted her.

"Why were you looking for me?"

"You're my daughter. I will always be looking for you."

"I may be your daughter, but you are not always looking for me. Now tell me what you want." Sephiroth studied her face, which was a face that demanded answers.

"I have some questions for you that I would like you to answer for me."

"What kind of questions?"

"I would prefer to speak to you in private," he said looking at Danis.

"She'll be staying," Litta told him. "If that's a problem, then I guess you can leave."

"Very well then." Sephiroth quickly knocked Danis out, then turned to Litta. "I said I wanted to talk in private. So if you'll please come with me."

"I'm not just going to leave Danis lying here in the forest, unconscious."

"I will speak with you now, and I will not be hindered by one of your friends."

"I don't care what you want; I'm not leaving Danis here. If you want to talk to me, let me at least bring Danis somewhere and I'll meet you back here when I'm done."

"I'll be waiting then." Litta picked Danis up and carried her away. She went to the hotel and put Danis in a room. She wrote a quick note and then headed back out to Sephiroth. She wondered about trying to find Cloud and Vincent, but figured that making Sephiroth wait any longer wouldn't be such a good idea.

"Okay, so what do you want to ask me?" she asked when she got back.

"How have you been?"

"I know that's not what you wanted to ask me."

"I still would like to know how you've been doing. If you don't want to answer, then I'll move on. Do you know where I can find either Ultimacia or Jenova?"

"I'm afraid I don't," she replied.

"Are you sure?" Sephiroth eyed her while she answered.

"I don't know where they are," she said clearly. She looked him straight in the eyes as she spoke.

"I see. You haven't heard any news from anywhere?"

"Afraid not." He seemed to be thinking, and she was doing some thinking of her own. "What do you know about the lifestream?" she asked him. He looked up at her, looking almost surprised but she couldn't quite tell.

"Why do you ask?"

"Don't answer my question with a question of your own," she told him. "Tell me what you know about the lifestream."

"There aren't many who know much about the lifestream," he told her.

"Stop evading my question!" She was starting to get ticked off.

"Then tell me why you want to know." I guess I don't have a choice.

"I found out more about my past, but I still have a lot of questions. I heard something about the lifestream. I want to know exactly what that has to do with me and my past."

"You were on a trip with me," Sephiroth began telling her. "I was doing some work and brought you along. We were in Mideel when it happened. I told you to wait outside a shop while I talked to someone inside. You got tired of waiting and wandered off. When I came out again, I saw you in one of the stores on the second story. You were near the edge of the platform when a small earthquake hit. I couldn't get to you in time, and you fell into a large crack in the ground. The crack was deep enough that some of the lifestream began to seep through it. I pulled you out, but you were in a coma for a week."

"But what is the lifestream?" Litta asked.

"It is said to be the life force of the planet. That is where Mako energy comes from. Supposedly if we continue to drain Mako energy out of the planet as Shin-Ra was doing, the planet will die." She wanted to ask if he believed that, since it seemed like he didn't, but she decided not to. Instead she asked, "Where are we?"

"We're not too far from the city." He continued walking. She began wondering how Danis was doing; then where Squall could be. When she thought more about Squall and what Sephiroth had said earlier, she looked again at Sephiroth. Maybe he did do something to Squall. "What are you thinking about?" he asked her.

"Just wondering about Squall. What did you do to him?" she asked.

"I told you before you wouldn't mind."

"What wouldn't I mind?" Litta asked, her voice getting louder.

"There's no need to raise your voice. In fact, we're quite close." As he said that, Litta saw a small house, more like a shack, a short distance away.

"What is that place?" Sephiroth made no comment, just continued walking towards it. She followed him hoping to find Squall inside. When Sephiroth opened the door, he pushed her in first. She soon saw why.

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Squall had given up trying to get out of the house. I'll just have to wait for Sephiroth to come back. When he does, I'll be ready for him. He heard voices, and knew Sephiroth was coming. He stood by the door, ready to attack the minute he walked in.

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When the door did open, Squall attacked, but he couldn't stop in time when he saw who he was really attacking.

"You really should start using your eyes more Squall," Sephiroth commented. Squall said nothing, nor did Litta. Sephiroth caught Litta when she fell backwards from the force of Squall's attack. He carried her over to the bed. "You ought to be more careful," he said to Squall.

"Shut up! You planned it so I would hit her instead of you, and you're her father!" Squall looked about ready to attack again.

"Are you sure you want to try to attack me again? Would you be able to stop if I moved?" Squall hesitated.

"Squall, just get out of here," Litta said quietly. Squall looked at her. "That's right, I told you to leave."

"You want me to leave you with him?" Squall nodded to Sephiroth. Litta nodded.

"I need to talk to him. And he is my father. I can deal with him." Squall stood there without moving.

"I suggest you take this chance to leave while you still can," Sephiroth said. "You won't get another one." Squall looked from Litta to Sephiroth.

"I won't leave you with him," he said. Litta sighed.

"He's made his choice," Sephiroth said. "Unfortunately it was the wrong one. Now he's going to have to die."

"No!" Litta screamed. Squall readied his blade.

"Fool," Sephiroth muttered. Litta tried to sit up, but fell back against the bed. Sephiroth stood and faced Squall. He raised his hand and a lightning bolt struck Squall. The bolt caused the house to catch fire.

"You idiot," Squall yelled. Sephiroth just disappeared. Squall walked over to Litta. "Guess it's time for us to leave too." He picked her up and carried her out.

"Take me back to the hotel, I want to check on Danis," Litta told him. He did so. When they got there, Danis was awake.

"What did I miss?" she asked them.

"Just a small fight with Sephiroth," Squall answered. Danis groaned and looked at Litta.

"What happened to you?" she asked her.

"Sephiroth planned it so Squall would attack me instead of him," she said. "That's when Squall and Sephiroth had a small fight. Sephiroth used lightning to attack Squall, which caught the house on fire. Then he left, and so did we."

"Have you seen either Cloud or Vincent?" Squall asked. Danis shook her head.

"I just woke up. You two are the first people I've seen," she said. The door opened and Cloud and Vincent walked in. "Now I see four people."

"What did we miss?" Cloud asked. Squall told them what happened to him, Litta filling in the details he didn't know. "So he was here, he left, and now he's gone again!"

"Not quite." Everyone looked and saw Sephiroth standing in the doorway. He walked into the room. Cloud pulled out his sword, Squall his, and Vincent a gun. "I assure you, you won't be needing those." Sephiroth smiled.