Malice- Prepare for the action... the violence... the bloodshed... the gore! MWAH HA HA HA HA!

Z.A.G. (Sigh) Right... What he said... This chapter is dedicated to my CUTE friend Hikari- Die who is finally ungrounded. lol. You must of done something bad if you were grounded THIS long.

Zombie Extermination

It didn't take long for the group to reach Midgar with the Highwind. Before they marched into the city, they made sure to check their equipment, preparing themselves for anything that might be roaming around the city. When they felt they were prepared enough, they headed into the city, following Rima's lead who known where the Liberator's base is located.

From the last time Rima was at the city, it hasn't changed at all. The city itself still seems dead. The buildings falling apart, practically all in shambles, no source of light in the entire area. Everything is quiet, not a sound of life except for the group's own breathing and footsteps. It's the most unsettling place they've been to yet. No one spoke a word, just followed the silent woman as she makes her way across valleys of destroyed buildings.

"This doesn't look like home anymore." Elena comments, more to herself than anyone else. She and Reno hadn't been back to Midgar since they fled from Vain's army. She didn't think Midgar would ever fall. It had stood up against Diamond Weapon, and even Meteor, yet it was brought down in the coarse of one night by Vain's hoard of zombies.

Reno slipped a cigarette into his mouth and lights it casually, seemingly unaffected by the sight of the destruction around him, "Relax Lena, this city was only holding by a few strings anyway. It was a city filled with poor uneducated people. With no one at leadership of Shin-Ra, it would have fallen apart itself in time."

Elena scowls towards Reno, "I'm glad you take things so lightly Reno. But this is where I grew up, it's home. Now it's destroyed."

Reno shrugs his shoulders, "I was born in the slums, that was my home." Reno steps in front of Elena and stops, "Look around you." He says waving his arms around the city, "This is no different than what the slums were like. So technically, we've only lost half of Midgar. You can't destroy the part of the city that was already falling apart."

Elena crosses her arms over her chest, her lips still set in a scowl, "Well my half of the city is destroyed. I lived on the plate my whole life Reno. Places I know, people I grew up with. All of them were on the plate. Now it's all gone."

Reno flicks his cigarette away and shoves his hands in the pockets of his jacket, "You lived an easy life. You should be glad you had something to lose. Others in the city didn't have anything worth living, except maybe their own lives."

Elena tries to think up of a comment but keeps her mouth shut, no able to say something to the last moment. Luckily the little tense atmosphere is interrupted, "Unless you wish to be left behind. I'd advise the two of you to follow us." Red XIII says, who had been waiting for the two to finish with their little conversation.

Reno shakes his head and walks passed Red XIII, leaving Elena by herself for a moment until she decides to catch up with Reno and the others. Red XIII shakes his head at both of them before following up at the rear of the group.

"Um... How much further until we reach this underground base?" Tifa suddenly asks, growing a bit unnerved from being out in the open for so long. After all, who knows when some zombies could suddenly ambush them from out of nowhere.

"It's on the other side of this building." Rima replies, pointing to the large building about ten meters in front of them.

Daisuke makes sure to stay close to the middle of the group, finding it the safest place to be. If something jumps out in front of them, Rima and Sephiroth will be in front of her. If something attacks from behind, she'll have four people behind her to keep her safe. This is not a place for her, all dark and 'Creepy' as she called it when they first walked into the city. She can just imagine zombies lurking in the darkest corners of the city.

Sephiroth remains as stoic as ever as they make their way around the building, keeping his gaze trained mostly on Rima's form. Watching every step she takes, every breath she inhales. He stops at her side as she stares at the bases complex, somewhat shocked at the surrounding area. Corpses of zombies lay all around the complex, piling on top of each other. At least twenty zombies lay motionless on the bloodstained ground. Evidently, the zombies had attacked in a large number. Now the only question is: Did anyone survive?

"This doesn't look very promising." Tifa comments a bit hesitantly.

Red XIII nods his head once, "Indeed."

"Well we ain't gunna find anything out by just standing around with our thumbs up our asses." Reno comments, growing annoyed. "Let's just walk up and-" Several moans and groans surround the group, "Knock.." Reno finishes after a moment.

Everyone grabs hold of his/her weapon, and looks around, trying to find any trace of the zombies around them. It sounds like their everywhere, slowly creeping up on them. It sounds like there's an army of them. Rima glances around quickly, trying to think of a way out of the mess they've gotten into. Her gaze falls on the steel doors leading to the underground base. She begins kicking at the door, "Open this damn door up now!"

The group backs up towards the doors as the zombies begin filing out of buildings. Have they learned how to ambush people? "We're gunna die, We're gunna die." Daisuke kept telling herself.

Reno glares over to Daisuke, "Stop saying that!"

There's a loud clunk noise, causing the group to turn around just in time for the steel door to open up. "Quick! Get in!" They don't have to be told twice, the group quickly runs in, leaving Rima out for a moment as she stares at the man in disbelief. Deciding it's better to ask later, she runs in, letting the man close the and lock the door behind them.

The group had gotten out of the ambush from the zombies, only to walk into another one. A few dozen men, armed with guns and swords surround them. "Whoa! Whoa! Hold it. It's alright everyone!" The man who opened the door says, pushing his way through the crowds.

Rima turns towards the man her eyes narrowing in suspicion, "Yuffie said you were dead." She says suddenly.

The man runs his hand through his black hair, letting out a tired breath, "Hey, I thought I was too. Until I woke up in Costa Del Sol's infirmary. Some people found me, a little bit after you two left I guess, and brought me to a doctor. Luckily he's good at healing. I was bedridden for two weeks. I thought about trying to catch up with the two of you, but I figured I wouldn't be able to catch up with you guys so I traveled back here. It's good to see you again, I see you guys found your friends."

Rima gives a small smile, the people all around them seemingly confused, "It's nice to know that you are alive too, Kao."

The man grins sheepishly at Rima, he glances around the group, "Where's Yuffie?" He asks, taking notice of her absence.

Rima's smile disappears at the mention of the young ninja's name, "That's why we're here. Yuffie has been captured."

"Vain got her?" Kao asks shocked.

Rima glances around the group for a second, before settling her gaze back on Kao, "No, Vain is dead, we killed him." Whispering fills the room at the comment, "The situation has changed since we... parted ways."

"How so?" Kao asks.

"Kao... Perhaps we should gather them in the conference room so General Julkowki hears this." A young woman suggests.

Kao turns to the young woman and grins, "Thanks sis, that's a good idea." He turns back to the group, "Mika's right, our leader should hear this too. Please follow me."

-

"Let me get this straight." A gruff middle-aged man says. His graying black hair is sleeked back. He has dark brown eyes. He's built like a wrestler, his arms are huge, bare to the world with his yellow vest he wears. He has an old pair of blue jeans on. Battle scars grace most of his features. He's the first one to stand up again the zombies in Midgar, the founder of The Liberators. The foul mouthed, tough as nails, Kenji Julkowki.

Kenji glances around the strange group of people that had wandered onto his base, "You're all saying you defeated Vain, the man who called these walking corpses on the planet. But our real enemy is this Dregon guy, who's been manipulating this whole god forsaken war against Vain from the start. And the only way to stop him from releasing something that you have no idea what it is that he's trying to release, is to storm his base while he's out, kill his soldiers and free your friend?"

Red XIII nods his head once, "Correct."

Kenji sits back and lets out a hearty laugh, "Oh that's rich. It's a good story folks. But I'm afraid I don't believe it. I'm old, but not too old.

Red XIII bows his head a bit, "I'm afraid you misunderstand the situation."

Kenji shakes his head, "Wrong, you are the ones who misunderstand. We have our hands full with eliminating all the zombies in this city. We can't just leave and let those jackasses take it. Just so we can go on this suicide mission of yours."

"I never said it was suicide." Red XIII cuts in.

Kenji's brows raise a bit in amusement, "My fine fuzzy friend, tell me again how many soldiers are outside of the base?"

Red XIII decides not to comment on the 'Fuzzy friend' comment, "We counted close to fifty or so."

"That's not counting whatever many are inside the complex." Kenji points out. "If you add up all my men here, you have maybe thirty, almost half of them have little to no battle experience. This mission of yours is not only impossible to accomplish, but it's also suicide to my men."

"But ya have to try!" Daisuke cuts in.

"I do not have to do any such thing. I will not endanger the few survivors that are here, so we can save one person."

"But if we don't help her, it could be the end of the world!" Tifa tries persuading.

"Miss, have you looked outside? It is the end of the world!" Kenji replies a matter-of-factly, "We're just trying to get our city back so we can live out the rest of our lives in peace."

Sephiroth kept himself out of the argument, leaning against the wall, at the side of the room. He watches as Reno slams his fist on the table, "You dumbass! Even if you do get rid of all the zombies, how long do you think you will be safe? If this jackass isn't stopped, you'll never be safe again."

"I won't risk losing my comrades." Kenji crosses his arms. His decision seemingly final. Reno shakes his head, his anger rising, "Risking your comrades is sometimes the only way to achieve peace. You're not the only one who looses your men. Everyone of us, have lost a comrade, our family, or a friend, most of us have lost all of them!"

Elena bites her bottom lips and reaches out to put a hand down on Reno's shoulder, "Reno..."

Kenji's eyes seem to brighten at the mention of Reno's name, "Ah... Reno of the TURKs are you?" Reno sits back down on his seat, "I knew I recognized you from somewhere. Yes... you fled from battle the night Midgar was taken. You left us all to fend for ourselves. Now your asking us to fight for you?"

Reno scowls, his eyes narrowing in anger, "That battle was lost before it begun. Live to fight another day, TURK motto."

Kenji lets out a sour laugh, "Yes, flee and leave everyone to die. Great motto you have there. That battle was indeed lost before it begun, I'll give you that. But what's the difference in this battle than that one?"

"Our defenses." Rima says suddenly, having been quiet for the majority of the conversation. "Back than you didn't have any real fighters with you. Everyone of us can take a number of soldiers on our own."

Kenji shrugs uncaringly, "Then why ask for our help if your fully capable of taking care of so many soldiers?"

Rima closes her eyes, trying to keep her temper in check. This man is grating on her nerves, and it's beginning to drive her over the edge, "We can't take on a whole army on our own. Some of us won't be fighting, we need to slip into the base and get our comrade."

"Ah, so now we're losing the 'better defenses' as you call them. Tell me, what makes you think I believe that any one of you can take on several men on your own? What if I say I think your just saying that to try and convince me to help you?" Kenija comments, a smirk crossing his lips, obviously feeling he won the argument.

Slowly, a smirk of Rima's own crosses over her lips. "Than I'd have to think that you are blind. Or have you not realized who's in this room?" Kenji raises an eyebrow at Rima, giving her a look that clearly tells her he doesn't understand. Rima shrugs her head over to the wall where the stoic swordsman is standing, "Did you not realize that you're in the company of Sephiroth? The legendary general from SOLDIER."

The room falls silent. Sephiroth ignores all the gasps and stares directed towards him, "I'd prefer if you'd stop starring at me, unless you wish to lose your eyes." Sephiroth warns.

Kenji struggles to keep his composure, obviously shocked to find out that, not only Sephiroth is alive, but he's in the same room as him, "Erm... uh yes.. That's just one man. One man can only do so much. The rest of you however are questionable. And like I said before. I have my hands full with the zombies in this city. If you haven't noticed, the zombies have learned to ambush in large numbers. Are supplies are dwindling down. We can't go out to get fresh supplies without being attacked. They stand out there, waiting for us to come out. Who knows how many are left out there."

'He's just making excuses now.' Rima thinks angrily. She tries to get control of her anger, but she let her fury get the bet of her. Her hands grip the edge of the table, shattering the wood in her hands. Everyone around the table stands up in shock and backs away from Rima.

'Uh-oh..' Kao thinks to himself.

Rima blinks a few times as her eyes turn crimson. Her fangs grow in length and sharpen as her hair turns black. She scrapes her claws on the surface of the table leaving scratches across it. Rima stands up from her seat, "Open the door."

One brave soul runs out of the room and heads towards the door that leads to the surface. Kenji stares at Rima, shock written all across his face, "What the hell are you?"

"The one who's going to kill those zombies. Than you and the others are coming with us to Mideel." Rima says before dashing out the door. She soars through the halls like a bat out of hell. By the time she reaches the door the man who ran out of the conference room, is beginning to open the door.

"Um..." Daisuke trails off, confused as to what just happened, "Should we like... ya know, help?"

Sephiroth walks over to the table and sits down in the seat Rima was occupying, "She can take care of herself."

-

The door is shut behind Rima as she steps outside of the base. Glancing around, she doesn't see anything, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Rima chants as she walks away form the steel door. Several moans and groans surround the area. The vampire stops where she is and waits, pulling a pair of daggers out of her trench coat. The zombies begin to filter out of the buildings, like they had done when she first arrived with everyone. Slowly, a smirk plays across Rima's face, "Now every last one of you are going to die."

Rima bolts out of her position, charging towards the zombies. Within a blink of an eye she has one zombie dropped to the ground, it's head rolling a few feet away from it's body. Without loosing her momentum, Rima leaps into the middle of a group of zombies. They quickly close in on her. The vampire swings around on her heel, back kicking several zombies with her other foot.

One of the zombies manages to get his hands on her, from behind. Rima turns the daggers around in her hands, so the blade is pointed down to the ground. She drives the daggers into the zombie's ribs. Turning around, she grabs a hold of the zombie's arms and spins him around, knocking several zombies off their feet. The sound of ripping flesh s heard as the zombie's arms tear out of his shoulders. Rima whacks another zombie away with the zombie-arm in her hands.

Tossing the arm off to the side, Rima flexes her claws. She lunges at another zombie, thrusting her claw through the zombie's ribcage, grabbing hold of the decaying heart inside. Squeezing the muscle in her hand, she crushes the heart, she can feel the blood literally explode out of the heart inside the zombie's chest. The zombie gives one final groan before it collapses to the ground.

The vampire woman quickly, leaps out of the group of zombies, landing on a pile of rubble. As the zombies begin staggering up the rubble, Rima grabs a thick wire sticking out of the remains of the building. She pulls it out, the end of the wire has concrete around it. The dark woman swings her substitute club at the zombies' heads as they climb up towards her. The dull cracking sounds of the zombies' skull breaking fills the night.

'This is taking too long.' Rima thinks to herself as she swings at another zombie. Rima glances around, trying to come up with a way to kill them quicker. Rima's gaze lands on an abandoned gas station. "Hmm... OW!" Rima shouts in pain as a zombie sinks his teeth into her forearm. Angered, Rima grabs the back of the zombie's neck and literally rips him off of her arm. Rima picks him up off the ground, her eyes blazing in anger, "Careful what you try and eat. They may bite back." She says. To prove her point she reaches out with her fangs and bite off the zombie's throat. Spitting the chunk of flesh off to the side, Rima twists the zombie's neck, a dull crack following, signaling that she successfully broke the neck.

Tossing the corpse down at the other zombies, Rima leaps off the mountain of rubble and heads over to the gas station. The zombies slowly follow her. Rima quickly looks around the gas pumps. A wicked smile plays across her face as she finds what she's looking for.

-

Kenji shakes his head for what seems like the tenth time since Rima had rushed off. He still couldn't believe there's someone stupid enough to try and take on a whole nest of zombies. He still doesn't think she stands a chance, especially if a 'certain something' happens to find her. Kenji shakes his head again. Nope, he can't believe how stupid kids are these days.

"Stop doin' that!" Daisuke snaps, having been watching him for the last ten minutes. "It's annoyin'!"

The founder of The Liberators runs his hand through his hair, "Do you think it's wise for you to let your comrade fight alone?"

"Rima?" Tifa replies, "Oh she can take care of herself. She prefers fighting alone anyway."

Kenji crosses his arms over his chest, his lips pressed in a fine line, "If you say so."

Sephiroth slips out of his seat, and heads out of the conference room, deciding to look around the base to pass the time. Stepping out of the conference room, his attention is caught by two men conversing amongst themselves. It's not who they were that got his attention, but 'who' they are talking about.

"Did you here?" The one man says.

"What?"

"A woman ran out saying she was going to kill all the zombies! Dude, she most have lost it."

"Who knows? Maybe she can."

"Ha! Don't make me laugh, besides. The zombies aren't the real threat. They're nothing compared to that other thing. Geez... that thing is the size of a building!"

"I think you're over exaggerating a bit."

"Have you ever seen it? It almost killed my group, not to mention myself, the last time we went out. The thing is unstoppable!"

Sephiroth snorts in disbelief, deciding that the two men were just speaking nonsense. One thought continued to nagger him though, 'What if they aren't speaking nonsense?'

-

Rima cackles to herself as the zombies reach her 'firing zone.' Was she ever happy to find out that the gas tanks still had gas within them. Turning the pump on, she squeezes the handle, letting out a stream of gasoline heading towards the zombies. With her free hand she pulls out a lighter and lights the stream of gasoline; making the gasoline pump a flamethrower. The flames engulf the zombies. Their dieing moans and groans filling Rima's ears. To the vampire, their dieing moans are like music to her ears.

The decaying flesh of the zombies are easily engulfed in flames. It doesn't take much time to make the zombies into several large piles of ashes. Rima's flamethrower brightening the night sky in Midgar. The foul odor of burning flesh fills Rima's senses, but she pays it little attention. She continues to laugh merrily as the zombies drop one by one until all that is left is their ashes and their stench.

Rima turning the pump off. She raises the tip of the pump to her mouth and blows out the small flame. Glancing around she can't help but smirk triumphantly, "Well, if I knew I was going to have a barbeque, I would have brought some friends."

Dusting her hands off in victory, Rima begins heading out of the gas station, walking through the steaming piles of ashes. "And that's why you never pick a fight with a vampire. You're likely to get burned."

Rrrmmmp!

Rima stops, her brows raising a bit in surprise from the sudden tremor. Rrmmmp! Rima widens her stance to keep her balance from the sudden small quake. 'Must be some tremors from an earthquake' Rima thinks to herself. Rrmmmp! Rima lowers her gaze to a small puddle in the street. Watching the surface of the water ripples from the small tremors in the ground. 'Some bombs maybe...' Rrmmmp! Rima directs her gaze towards a building as it begins to crumble. Slowly, Rima's eyes widen as something comes out from behind the building. "What the fuck is that..."

Out of the ruins of Midgar, a 'monster of a monster' steps out. Easily standing two stories tall, the creature towers over its enemies. Standing on four muscular legs, it has black eyes. It has two tails whipping around behind it. It's gray flesh is covered with open wounds. Some parts of the creature look as if they were stitched together with wires, as if this creature was constructed by someone. Rima doesn't have to think long to come up with the answer to that question. There's only one man crazy enough to build such a monster. The creature has one large horn bulging out of its skull, it's fangs drip with saliva as it opens its mouth to lick the air with its snakelike tongue.

Rima feels like an insect that's about to be crossed by a boot as she gazes at the monstrous creature. "This... could be a problem." Normally, when Rima turns into a vampire, she fights hand-to-hand combat, opting not to use her sniper rifle. In this case, Rima decides to change her fighting strategy. After all, she wants to live rather than being squished like an ant by the creature.

Luckily for Rima, the beast seems unaware of her presence. Reaching behind her, Rima grabs hold of her sniper rifle. Looking through the rifle's scope, Rima aims her shot at the beast's left eye, hoping that a shot in the eye will kill it. If it doesn't, at least it will be blinded in one eye. Just as the creature glances towards the vampire, Rima fires her weapon. The shot echoes throughout the quiet night.

For a brief second there's silence before the creature lets loose an earsplitting shriek, blood pouring down the side of it's face. Recovering from it's momentary stunned state from the pain, it charges towards Rima, it's massive form shaking the city around him. Rima knows better to stay around to see what kind of damage the creature is actually capable of. With her vampire speed, she dashes towards the nearest building, intending to hide from the creature until another opportunity to attack presents itself.

What Rima had not expected, it one of the creature's long tails to whip around, knocking her into the nearest building. Without a moment to loose, Rima gets back to her feet and dashes into the building just as the creature drops one of it's massive feet down at her. Rima stands in the middle of the building, trying to get her bearings. This creature is certainly a new challenge for her.

Finally collecting herself, Rima raises her hand to her mouth, wiping the blood that dripping from her split lip. She most have bitten her lip with her fangs when she hit the wall. She listens to the creature as it walks around the building, obviously trying to find her. Suddenly it roars, growling frustrated. The building shakes violently as the creature outside begins to smash into it.

Rima knows the building won't last long. She quickly runs towards the back of the building, wanting to leave through the back exit, and try to get into another building. All she has to do is be patient and attack at the right moment. She had managed to blind the creature in one eye already; now all she has to do it get the other eye than the creature will be fighting blinded. It seems that just as she leaves the building, the ceiling caves in behind her.

Sprinting to the nearest building, Rima decides to get to the roof of the building, climbing the many stairs. Once up on the roof, Rima takes a moment to catch her breath, calming herself so she won't still be shaky when she fires another shot at the creature. Closing her eyes, Rima takes a deep breath, the only sound reaching the vampire's ears is the sound of the creature pounding into the rubble that a few moments ago was Rima's hiding place.

The building she's standing on stops shaking as the creature stops pounding into the fallen building, feeling that it killed anything that could have been in the building. Rima raises her rifle up to look through the scope once more. She remains as still as possible as she aims for the creatures right eye. Without hesitation Rima fires her rifle. The sound of the blast causing the creature to turn its head, making Rima's shot miss it's target, instead hitting the creature in the forehead.

The creature doesn't seem affected by the bullet at all. Glancing up to the roof of the building Rima is standing on, it finds it's prey. It growls for a few moments before it begins charging towards the building. Rima doesn't have time to climb down the building this time, the creature is going to plow straight through the building.

In a moment of desperation, Rima leaps forward, off the roof, as the creature rams through the building. The vampire lands on the creatures back, her momentum causing her to start sliding off the creature. With her free hand she pulls out a dagger and jams it into the creature hide. Rima just hangs in the air with one arm as she puts her sniper rifle away. With her other hand free now, she pulls out another dagger and begins climbing up the creatures side, leaving bloody holes in her wake.

The creature begins to kick it's back feet, trying to throw Rima off, but the vampire holds on tight, refusing to be kicked off. Reaching the creature's back, Rima kneels down for better balance. There's a sudden whipping sound behind her causing her to look over her shoulder. One of the creature's tails swings towards her, Rima merely ducks under it, letting the dangerous tail pass over her. She straightens back up after the tail passes over her, that proved to be a mistake. Rima only realized it just as she felt her self being knocked off the creatures back by it's other tail.

For a few moments, everything around Rima turns black when she collides into a building, not even realizing that she was falling towards the ground. She hit the ground hard, making whatever had decided to make her a vampire for not getting any bones broken from the ground. Rima stands up, but everything around her spins; apparently she hit her head as well. She stumbles back; rubbing her temples, until she leaning against the building. She's only faintly aware of the whole area shaking as the creature begins to charge at her.

'Damn...' Rima thinks to herself as she glances up towards the charging creature. She so dazed that the creature and everything around it seems fuzzy. 'Can't get out of the way this time.' She stared, her expression emotionless, as the creature lowers it's head until it's horn is pointing at her as it charges at her. Rima stands at her spot, trying to think of something that would help her at the moment.

It came out of nowhere it seemed. One moment she was standing there, watching as her end nearing her; the next, she finds herself being pushed, or rather hurled out of the way. When she manage to sit back up she saw the last person she expected standing in front of her.

Sephiroth stood there as cool and confident as ever, the eerie black wing stretching out to it's full length. Rima sits there in awe as Sephiroth's form begins to glow as he raises his hands into the air, his eyes seemingly locked on to the creature as it emerges from the ruins of another building.

The creature glanced around for a moment until it spot them, immediately it charged at them, hell bent on killing both of them. A large bright sphere of energy forms above Sephiroth's hands; the beautiful sphere reflecting off of Rima's unblinking eyes. The creature opens it's mouth and roars as it nears.

A smirk appears on Sephiroth expressionless face before he hurls the his sphere at the charging beast. The creature's roar is muffled out, as a deafening explosion erupts upon impact. Chunks of flesh falls from the sky as blood rains down on them, coloring the ground in crimson. The wing on Sephiroth's back disappears as it retracts into his back.

The swordsman turns around to stare down at Rima. For a moment, both are silent as they merely gaze at each other. Rima is the first one to break the silence, with a scowl, Rima says, "I would have taken care of it."

Sephiroth crosses his arms, his expressionless mask pasted back onto his face, "That maybe, but I got the job done quicker."

Rima gets up from her position. She closes her eyes and inhales a deep breath; her vampire features disappear, leaving only the normal looking Rima. Well, as normal as one can look when you're Rima. "Well thanks I guess." Rima says sourly before brushing pass Sephiroth, wanting to head back to the base to report the news to the leader of the Liberators.

Sephiroth knew it would be a long time before he'd get an opportunity like this. Rima and himself, alone. He needed answers to his questions, to calm his crazed mind. He quickly reaches out and grabs, Rima's arm, "Wait." He more or less commands.

Rima turns around to face him, crossing her arms over her chest, she waits for him to speak. Sephiroth takes a moment to think of what he should say. He has to be careful on how he asks his question. He must be calm and smooth. Of course, not everything works out like someone wants them to, "Did you have sex with Valentine?" The words came out of his mouth before he even registered them. When he did, he didn't falter, he remains calm, making it seem as if that's what he wanted to say.

"Wh-what?" Rima's arms fall to her sides as she stands there, apparently surprised by the question.

'Her surprise signals that she had.' That little annoying voice in Sephiroth's head decides to makes itself present.

Sephiroth's brows furrow in anger, growing annoyed with his own thoughts, now isn't the time to be arguing with himself, "You heard me." He states, not meaning to sound as harsh as he did.

Rima's surprised expression quickly turns into a glare, "Why the hell would you think something like that? And what's makes you think it's any of your damn business?" Sephiroth doesn't say or do anything. He just stands there waiting. The female gunslinger rolls her amber eyes, "No I haven't. There, can we go back now?"

"Then what happened back in Icicle Inn?" Sephiroth asks, ignoring Rima's question.

"Icicle Inn..." Rima trails off as the memory of that night not too long ago flashes through her mind. She quickly shakes herself out of her reverie, "That's none of your damn business!" Rima replies in annoyance.

Sephiroth scowls a bit, "Answer me."

Rima crosses her arms, "Why the hell should I report everything that transpires between Vincent and I?"

Sephiroth's eyes narrow in suspicion, "So now you're on first name basis."

Rima lets out an audible breath. She closes her eyes in an attempt to calm herself before she loses it again. Without a word she turns around and begins walking away. "Are you going to answer?" Sephiroth calls after her.

"No." Rima says flatly.

Sephiroth glances to the ground, his eyes scanning it for a moment as he thinks to himself. Closing his eyes, he raises his head, "Are you in love with him?" Opening his eyes, he watches as Rima stops, as if she's going to reply. Instead, she does the opposite, she begins walking again, without answering his question.

That's it ladies and gentlemen! Guess what! Guess What! Today is officially Cry Of Eternity 's one year anniversary! That's right! It's been exactly one year since I first posted this fic. It certainly has had it's ups and downs. On more than one occasions I thought about giving up on this fic. But Hikari-Die got my ass back into gear every time. And that's why I dedicate this chapter to her, because without her, I probably wouldn't have been able to get this far.

So what are Cloud and Vincent up to? Will the rest of the group be able to get the help they need? Will Yuffie be saved? Has Dregon found the last piece of the talisman? Find out in the next chapter in Cry Of Eternity! TTNC! Review!