A/N: This is where things start to get oh-so complicated. A'ight. First of all, this story will be ending sooner than I thought. Like… 3 or 4 chapters or something. So… yeah. This is when I tie in evveerryyythiinnnggg from the first chapter to the previous one. So… yeah. Hard, hard stuffs. I hope I didn't leave anything out. (panick)
Disclaimer:
Reno: Say your
last words!
Author: No! You
must let me live! I'm the author who authors your parts!
Reno: Oh, oh…
so I gotta give you the WORST!
Cait: Hah, poor
Miss Author Poo Poo Head. You know, life is great as a toy…
Author: …
(takes out Cait's batteries)
Cait: …
(Meanwhile…)Reeve: (falls on
his knees) NOOOOOOO!
Cloud: FF7
doesn't-
Aeris: -belong
to Miss Author!
Cloud: (sob)
Chapter Eleven
Cannot Turn Back
"You are quite the clever one, Professor Gast."
-Hojo
Tifa embraced her friend tightly. She never thought she would see Zack ever again. However, there he was… right in front of her eyes. Zack patted the back of Tifa's head and calmed her down. The villagers watched with smiles on their faces. They were happy that everything was back to normal. Tifa finally released her embrace and stared into Zack's eyes.
"What happened back there? I thought…"
"I don't even know myself. It's like… the Lifestream decided not to accept anyone."
"What do you mean?"
Cid and Vincent furrowed their eyebrows at that. It was like how Tuck told them. There hadn't been any offerings taken for a while now. Now, they definitely knew that whoever was responsible for this was going to make it extremely worse. Without offerings, the Other World won't last any longer. And they didn't want to think about what would happen to the Lifestream then.
Zack shook his head. "I should have been offered already. I've been here far too long. I haven't helped the Other World yet."
Tifa placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. That's why we're going to find out who is under this. And then… you can finish your duty here."
The man nodded and turned to her friends. "So, where're you guys heading?"
"We don't even know anymore," Cid grunted. "We were supposed to go inside some cave but… we haven't seen anything. Just shit, shit, and more shit."
"A cave huh? Well, I recall one somewhere up in the mountains," he pointed straight ahead. There was a mountain off in the distance. It looked like it was walking distance from the village. "I believe that, right there. But, I should warn you. I heard that it's incredibly dangerous in there. I suggest you take care of that bolt I gave you."
Tifa clutched it in her fist. "Yes, I will."
Zack frowned. "Just be careful with it. Its powers are drawn out by your own determination. It has very unpredictable powers."
"Yes, I will be careful."
"We must be on our way now," Vincent spoke up. "Thank you with everything."
"Take care, Zack!"
With that, the three travelers resumed their journey to find their friends. Everyone in the village wished them luck as they departed. Zack shifted around and rubbed his forehead.
'Unpredictable… meaning… you could most likely… lose your memories… like how I did.'
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
As the small village disappeared behind the hills, the mountain was just in their reach. It looked impossible to climb, but luckily, they were determined as ever to find everyone. They were ready for whatever lies ahead of them. Tifa's eyes never gazed off of the metal bolt in her hands. Unpredictable powers it held… exactly what kind? She began to wonder how she easily handled it when it suddenly turned into a sword. It was almost like she knew what to do. In the past, she could never handle swords very well… but she definitely proved that wrong.
Suddenly, the bolt began to glow a bright blue color. Everyone stopped walking to check it out. A flash of light appeared inside Vincent's pocket. He slowly pulled out the necklace that Lucrecia had put inside before. (he doesn't know that she put it there, however) There was a metal eagle pendant tied around the chains. Vincent lifted it up as it began to pull itself towards the mountain. Tifa clutched her metal bolt and stepped forward.
"Each time we move closer to this mountain, our items seem to react."
"Yes, there must be something absolutely powerful waiting for us."
Cid's body twitched for a second. "Hey, why 'em I the only one left out? What the hell is going on here? I thought Tifa was the only one who had one of those thingamabobs."
Vincent turned around. "I had no idea this was in my pocket. Someone must have placed it there while I wasn't looking."
"Really now?" Cid reached inside all his pockets and found nothing. He snapped his fingers and sighed. "Damn. It's like this place doesn't want me to help or something," he twitched again.
Tifa walked to him. "Remember what Zack did to draw out his sword? He took it out from his back. Maybe… that's why you're all… twitchy like that."
"Shit no! I ain't gonna do something gross like that!"
"Fine, then. If you don't wanna help…" she teased.
Cid twitched his eye and reached his arm back. He groaned as his hand actually disappeared inside his back. His face turned red as he suddenly pulled out a yellow sword, just like Zack's. Vincent and Tifa blinked and stepped away. It was disgusting the first time they saw it, but… he just made it worse. Cid chucked the sword on the ground and held his stomach.
"DAMMIT! That frickin' hurt!"
"Well, now you know what to do next time!" Tifa smiled nervously.
He bowed his head and muttered incoherent words under his breath. Vincent helped him up and nodded at the mountain.
"Now, we're ready."
Tifa nodded. "Right. Let's go."
"Heehe… I could feel the Lifestream getting angrier and angrier each second! It's been several years since an offering has been sacrificed. Thanks to me, the population here will dramatically increase, therefore creating complete chaos. Chaos… I love that word…"
Gast turned away from him. He had been reciting that over and over for the last hour or so. Gast had already completed his tough work on the human DNA and still, his colleague hadn't noticed anything at all. They were about to commence Stage three, but he had to make sure everything was ready. Once Stage three commences, there was no other way to help Yuffie. Although her DNA was still in tact, her heart will not anymore. Gast just needed Hojo to leave the room so they he won't notice anything suspicious. However, Hojo wanted to watch his creation complete itself before his very eyes.
Hojo leaned towards the tube and grinned. "Is Stage two accomplished?"
"Y-Yes, sir. However, I believe we should rest before we enter Stage three."
"Why is that?" Hojo was starting to get suspicious.
Gast waved his hands side-to-side. "N-No, it's not like that. You see, this creature might still be exhausted from the first two stages. If it doesn't regain its strength, it might not be able to wipe out everyone in the mountains."
"Hm. That is true, indeed… however…" Hojo stepped up to his colleague and forcefully grabbed his collar. "Since when have you found the need to wipe out everyone?"
"W-What?"
"Before, you kept complaining about how this was crazy. Don't try to fool around with me. I know what you've been trying to do."
"B-But sir!"
"You are quite the clever one, Professor Gast."
He lifted Gast off from the ground and chucked him across the room. He hit against the wall extremely hard, causing him to black out instantly. Hojo laughed for a few moments and slammed his hand against the test tube.
"Don't you worry, my precious creature… Uncle Gast will not interfere with us anymore. But, he made my work hard now…" he switched on a few switches on the control panel, making the chemicals in the tube to change into a bright yellow color. Small red particles sprinkled out from Yuffie's black fur. "There. No more of that bad human DNA on you," he grinned. "Stage three commences… NOW."
Several footsteps approached the red headed Turks slowly. His nightstick was out in front, ready for any surprise attacks. Streaks of pure silver hair fell on his face as a figure in black crouched down in front of him.
"Never thought I'd see you here, again," a deep voice said.
Reno leaned against the wall of the cave. "Sephiroth… what the hell are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you that question," Sephiroth stood up and turned to the cave. "…of course. You're still trying to figure out what I did, huh?"
"I already know what you did! You sent all those AVALANCHE guys straight to the Lifestream! And I'm going to do something about that!"
"My, how persistent. However, I doubt you'll know how to do so."
"What then? You're going to help me or something?"
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at that. "I don't know how to, as well."
"…uhm… okay… then… why are you here?"
"As soon as I sent them away, I had a strong feeling that they had chances of escaping. The look from those two… was different from the others," he turned to Reno. "You and your other associates think you can save them?"
Reno stood up to his feet. "I don't know! There's something inside this damn cave and we can't find it anywhere!"
Sephiroth turned and entered the cave. "If you can change that attitude of yours, I might be of some help."
"Y-You! You'll probably make it even worse! I can't trust you!"
"If what I sensed before is true, I must see it before my very eyes. And besides, this is not how I wanted it to be in the first place." (Chap. 3, hint hint)
The Turks shook his head. He could tell that this was some kind of trick. Why else would he be back here? But for now, there was no choice. Perhaps he knew a way to help.
"Fine. But first, I need to make sure my friends are alright."
With that said, Reno and Cait Sith followed Sephiroth into the dark cave.
"Are you sure you're alright, Aeris?"
"For the bajillionith time, I am, Nanaki," she giggled.
"I'm just making sure."
Nanaki knew that Aeris' memories were very important to her. And after what happened, she hadn't talked about her experience inside the house. He knew that there was something bothering her. Nanaki really wanted to help whatever was troubling her. Perhaps, it was the fact that she almost remembered Cloud's name? Now that he thought of it, Aeris had been awfully clingy to him ever since they met. Maybe, parts of her memory had truly returned…?
Anyway, he was just glad that Cloud was found. Now, he had to find the rest. But, what were the chances of finding them before this 'mad scientist' got out of control? It was only a matter of time before his dream could actually come true…
Barret twirled his dagger around. "Hey, we're almost to the mountain!"
"Stop messing around with that thing! What if you poke someone's eye out?" Aeris quickly snatched the dagger out from his hands and sighed. "You're like a child."
Just then, the dagger began to glow a red color. Nanaki's necklace did as well. They began to shake as they pulled Aeris and Nanaki toward the mountain.
"W-What's going on?" Aeris asked worriedly.
"I don't know… I think they sense something really powerful coming in that direction…"
"Why's my dagger reacting?" Barret shrugged his shoulders.
Cloud gripped his shaking arm tightly. "We mustn't stop for anything. It's now or never."
Everyone nodded. It was now official. No more stops, no more sidetracking, and no more second thoughts. It was now or never. As they made it to the top of the hill, their destination was no more than fifty feet away from them. The fresh breeze seemed to calm everyone down a little. However, that never ceased the tension that was now filling the air. The bright glows of the dagger and necklace never faded away. They were definitely getting stronger each time they stepped closer.
'Yuffie… everyone… I'm going to find you…'
"Heeeyyy!"
Everyone's attention turned to the sudden noise. Off in the distance, they could see three small figures standing near the mountain.
"Hey! It's Tifa, Cid, and Vin!" Barret yelled. He waved his huge arms in the air. "YOU GUYS!"
The friends soon reunited right in front of the mountain. They greeted each other with hugs and various conversations. However, Aeris remained near Cloud. She was happy that she could see her 'friends' again. But… she would be even happier if she actually remembered them. Tifa was the first to greet her.
"Aeris! It's been a very long time! It's nice to see you again!"
"M-Me too…" she remembered seeing an image of her before… but no scenes with her whatsoever. Only Cloud.
"Aeris!" Cid made his way through his friends. "There you are! Y'know, I thought the first person I would see would be you, but ya'see… it was Vin, so… yeah. Glad to see you're still doing great."
Vincent sighed at his friend's comment. He turned to Aeris and bowed his head. "I, too, am glad you are doing fine."
"You could be more original than that!" Cid teased.
"N-No, it's okay. I'm… pleased to meet everyone." '…again…'
"Where were you guys anyway? We thought you were somewhere in this mountain!" Barret suddenly blurted out.
"We thought so, too," Tifa replied. "I'm glad you guys made it easier for us."
"We're the ones to tease!" Cloud joked.
"EVERYONE!" Nanaki stomped his paw on the ground. "We still have more things to deal with."
Vincent crossed his arms. "Yes, we shouldn't celebrate just yet. Yuffie's still in trouble, let alone the whole Lifestream."
"Hey, wait…" Nanaki started. "You guys know the troubles of the Lifestream?"
"Huh dur, wolf-dog," Cid responded. "All the women here lost their memories. People said that some kind of evil dude started taking over it."
"And that that evil 'dude' was some kind of mad scientist."
"What?"
"A mad scientist…" Vincent's red eyes glowed at that. "There's only one I know of… and that's Hojo."
"Yes, of course…" Cloud slapped his forehead. "It was right underneath our noses!"
"Wow, we're so slow," Barret added.
Nanaki shook his head. "So, as soon as we go through this mountain and into that cave… he should be there?"
"I would sure damn hope so," Cid growled.
"Well, one way to find out." Aeris began walking toward the mountain. Her face showed no signs of worry.
Everyone else nodded in agreement and followed her close behind.
A/N: End of chapter eleven! Yay! Everyone loves reunions! Oh yeah! I'm going to give you an extra after this. I was originally going to put that into the story but… I didn't want it to end all goofy like that. Hehe. Oh, and... next chapter... we're going to hear from someone we haven't heard in a VERY long time. (hint hint) Hope you enjoyed and please tell me how you thought of it!
EXTRA:After the whole gang meets up with their friends and so on and so forth.
Cid: So, where
were you guys anyway! We've been looking for you for frickin'
days!
Barret: I should
say the same thing, too.
Tifa: Hey, you
know what I just realized?
Cloud: What?
Tifa: Why didn't
we just call each other on the PHS so we would know where everyone
was?
Everyone: …
Aeris: ?