Author's Notes

--------------------

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

Check back next weekend for chapter XI.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or post on my forum. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Happy New Year!

Luminus

Chapter X

Torn Apart

Wind whipped at Cloud's face, forcing him to squint his eyes as he leapt off the Highwind's ramp and dropped roughly ten feet into thick grass. Nanaki, Tifa, Vincent, and Tseng followed shortly thereafter, and then the Highwind straightened and lifted back into the humid air. As it turned out, the temple that Nanaki was bringing them to was located on a small island off the eastern coast. It had taken them only a few short hours to reach it using the speed of the Highwind, but the thick jungles that covered nearly every inch of the isle had stopped the airship from landing. In light of this, they had opted to jump down in a small clearing at the base of the temple while the Highwind circled the island, waiting for them to return.

Cloud looked up at the great Cetra temple, a monument to another time. It was a pyramid of sand colored stone, constructed stair-step style all the way to the top where a single doorway marked the only visible entrance. The temple was surrounded by a pit at its base that had probably held water at some point in the past. Beyond the former moat was a high wall of the same stone the temple was constructed from.

During their trip, Nanaki had told them much of the old temple in the hopes of making up for the mistrust he'd showed in them at Cosmo Canyon. It had been constructed after the wars between the Cetra and humans broke out as a place to hide the only Atma Weapon they had left, as well as the dreaded Chaos orb. The Cetra had felt that it would be better to keep this temple isolated so that the two weapons hidden inside wouldn't be lost even if Cosmo Canyon was discovered.

"Be wary." Nanaki said, stepping past them he crossed a rickety old bridge that spanned the pit and started his ascension up the temple steps. Since leaving Cosmo Canyon, he had cast the spell that disguised him as a human boy over himself once again. "My ancestors designed this temple to keep intruders out. There are a number of tricks and challenges ahead that were created to put doubt and confusion in even the most courageous of souls. Do not let your eyes believe all that they see, and do not fear what seems impossible. I will lead you safely through."

"Why didn't you mention this part earlier?" Tifa asked, obviously irked at the sudden and unexpected news.

"I did not want to worry you beforehand." Nanaki said, his voice apologetic. "If you had dwelled on it our entire way here, you may have had second thoughts about going inside."

"Well, we wouldn't be doing this if we had any other choice." Cloud said. "We don't have the option of backing out."

"Of course." Nanaki said. "I meant no disrespect. I'm just not used to dealing with outsiders; we don't completely think the same."

"It's understandable." Vincent said quietly. "I still find it somewhat difficult to understand human reasoning, and I used to be one."

"Ah, yes." Nanaki said, his tone a bit off at that strange comment. Though he'd been told in detail about all of their unique stories that led them into this during their flight, Vincent's had made him the most uncomfortable. Perhaps because his death and resurrection into what he was now was the direct result of his love for a Cetra woman.

As they reached the dark temple entrance, Nanaki reached to his left and lifted an old looking torch from its holding place on the wall and lit it with the chant of a fire spell. During their trip here Nanaki had explained to them that, while their communications devices would work inside, a security measure was in place to stop any such signals from actually entering or leaving the temple. As a result, the only way for the Highwind to stay in contact with them would be for one person to stay here at the doorway to receive messages from them, and then step inside the entrance to signal the rest of the group within the temple. Fearing that his marksmanship may not help them in the cramped confines of a temple if they ran into any danger, Tseng had volunteered to stay outside.

"Are you prepared?" Nanaki asked the others as he looked to their faces in the hopes of discovering any doubt or fear they may have. He saw none, and the three adventurers all nodded for him to proceed.

"Good luck in there." Tseng spoke up as he extended his hand to shake Cloud's. "Make sure you don't die, alright?"

"I'll try." Cloud said with a wry smile as he returned the former Turks' hand shake and then turned back to Nanaki, who gave a single nod to them and then entered the temple.

During their trek inside they found themselves surrounded by walls so plain and devoid of style that it was almost disturbing. They were heading down at a rather steep slant, which was understandable as there wasn't much room for any chambers at the top of the pyramid structure. As the light from Nanaki's torch danced across the walls, shadows and patterns began to appear that didn't seem to have any real source. They formed sinister faces and devilish scenes that put them all on edge, expecting an evil creature to hop out of the wall at any moment and drag them to hell.

Not wasting any time, the party hurried along the creepy corridor until they spotted the end of the tunnel not far ahead, marked by another dark doorway. The moment they stepped through they found themselves in the middle of madness. Despite the doorway being pitch-black, the massive chamber it had opened into was brightly lit. Just from the sheer size of the place they now found themselves in, they instantly knew that something had to be wrong; it was far larger than the temple that it was inside of. Stranger still was that they appeared to be outside; they could see the sky above them and a bright sun even though they knew they were deep within a solid stone structure. The most off-putting part of it all though was the architecture of the room. Stone stairs and archways covered in vines and moss criss-crossed the chamber in the most illogical patterns any of them had ever seen. Each set of stairs and doors seemed to lead to nowhere and were commonly constructed in angles that made them seem utterly ridiculous. There were some sideways, or unbelievably, completely upside down and hanging in the open air as if the designers had wanted to laugh at gravity in the face. One look at the awkward room was enough to give them all headaches.

"Stay close to me." Nanaki said, noting their unease. "It is merely an illusion to confuse any intruders."

"Well, it's a damn good one." Cloud said as his eyes darted around the dreamlike room so much that he began to feel dizzy.

"It is perfectly safe, I assure you." Nanaki said as he began to step past them. "I will show you."

As the others continued to stare at the insane room, Nanaki descended a nearby staircase and walked through the archway at the end of it, vanishing from sight the moment he did so. Seconds ticked by and there was no sight of him, causing the trio to look around for him before they heard his voice call out to their left. Cloud was the first to spot him. Nanaki had just emerged from another doorway nearly fifty yards away. To cover that much distance so quickly, especially in this twisted room, was impossible; though not quite as impossible as the way he was standing upside down, with his feet firmly planted on stairs that were descending from the sky. In a continued effort to insult gravity, the boy's clothes and hair were kept perfectly in place rather than falling downwards towards the ground, as if he was still standing in a perfectly sane position.

"You see?" Nanaki called to them. "This entire room is just a complicated mirage. The path actually goes straight ahead without ever straying. Just follow closely behind me and ignore where or how you come out, and you'll be fine."

"How strange." Vincent said calmly, though even he didn't take the first step.

"Who cares, let's just go." Said Tifa. Muttering under her breath, she added. "This place is just creepy."

"Agreed." Cloud replied. "Let's get through this fast before we all get sick."

Tifa and Cloud took the first steps, Vincent following just behind them. They went down the stairs and through the door that Nanaki had first entered and immediately found themselves standing next to the Cetra boy.

"Do not look up or down." Said the warrior as he turned and began walking again. "It will only disorient you."

With only mildly sarcastic comments, the others followed. Nanaki led them up and down steps and in and out of doors. Despite his warnings, they often noticed that they were rarely standing on what should be the ground, but they managed to keep their stomachs in tact despite this minor problem.

At last they stepped through a final archway and found themselves on a small stone walkway that was suspended over a seemingly endless abyss. The only time the path changed at all was near the center where it widened greatly to make room for a large and simple looking fountain that was built there. Nanaki began walking down the path, his eyes fixated on the exit as the others followed behind. The closer they came to the bubbling waters of the fountain, the harder the Cetra seemed to concentrate on the path itself.

"Do not look into the water." Nanaki said as he continued to avert his eyes from the fountain. "And do not listen to what you will hear."

"Why not?" Tifa asked.

Just then the air became filled with sounds. Most of them were indistinct voices, but some things were brutally clear. The words Zach had spoken to Cloud and Tifa just before he died. Rufus' rant about godhood in Icicle when he'd killed that child. The party came to a halt, the haunting sounds resounding through their minds. Even Nanaki, who knew all there was to know about this temple, stopped dead in his tracks.

"We call it the Fountain of Nightmares." Nanaki told them. "The waters are enchanted, causing them to draw upon the saddest and most terrifying memories of any who come near it and display them in the water. It's also partially connected to the lifestream, and the enchantment uses this connection to attempt to show glimpses of the most terrible futures it can envision. There's no way to tell if they're accurate visions, or merely the fountain trying to make us see our worst fears."

Silence ensued as they took in Nanaki's words and tried to ignore another round of terrible memories. They heard Vincent's screams of rage as he was locked inside his would-be eternal coffin and Tifa's agony when she learned that Nibelheim had been burned to the ground leaving no survivors.

"Come." Nanaki spoke quietly, clearly disturbed as the dying words of his mother and father echoed through the chamber.

They all walked as quickly as they could down the horrible path, very carefully avoiding eye contact with the awful Fountain of Nightmares. As they reached the rooms exit, Cloud heard a voice that was somehow familiar, but different enough that he couldn't place it. The metallic ring of a melee weapon resounded through the chamber, followed by the pained scream of a young woman and a dark fit of laughter. They did their best to ignore it and put it from their mind, knowing it was just another Cetra trick.

Wisps of green light wrapped around Aerith's small form as she sat on her knees in the middle of Bugenhagen's audience chamber, her head bowed and her hands clasped over her breasts. Though her eyes were closed, she saw more now than she ever had before. The past, the present, the future, all entwined as one endless river that flowed through time on a course that rarely seemed to make any sense.

Bugenhagen had spoken with her at length about how to properly tap into and channel the lifestream through her mind. She had always had the ability to see glimpses of things that others could not, but they were never more than tiny insights, generally only of the people who were around her. Now, with only a few short lessons from the elder Cetra, she found herself swimming through the near limitless knowledge of the lifestream, her soul truly at peace for perhaps the first time ever.

In the short time that she'd been traversing the lifestream, she had been able to locate knowledge and memories of her departed parents. Aerith took comfort in studying them to come to a greater understanding of their love for her, and the events that led to them leaving her in Icicle.

Ilfana had been one of the few survivors from the Cetra who had lived at the temple where Jenova had been sealed away. Though she had been very young at the time, she had understood the importance of keeping Holy safe, and so she had taken it and fled. Unable to properly channel the lifestream at her age, she could not locate the rest of her species. Knowing that she was on her own for now, Ilfana had decided to hide Holy away, and then try to seek out the Cetra's lost starship. Traveling to the Frozen North, she buried Holy and began her lonely quest.

Many decades of searching proved futile, but the time spent had aged her enough that she was able to delve into the lifestream more thoroughly. In doing so she had determined the rough whereabouts of her Cetra brethren in Cosmo Canyon. It was when she was on her way to find them that she was captured by the Holy Shinra Empire, which had been founded while she was away.

Professor Gast, who was given charge over Ilfana, was a kindhearted man. Although she was technically a prisoner, he treated her with the utmost respect, and the two began to have feelings for one another. As Gast's trust in Ilfana grew, she explained to him that she believed Rufus was actually the current incarnation of Jenova. Fearful of this, Professor Gast decided to escape with her and destroyed his own laboratory to fake their deaths.

Together, they had fled to the Frozen North and to the place where Ilfana had buried Holy, only to find the village of Icicle where it was hidden. Ilfana had become pregnant during their journey there, and so the couple had decided to hide here in this new village in the hopes that they would not be found. The small inn that Aerith had lived in had been constructed by them, partially as a place to dwell, and partially to cover up their excavation of the Holy orb.

It was nearly six years after Aerith was born that things went wrong. On a trip to Roram, Gast had learned that the Turks were searching for them. Apparently, Rufus had realized they were still alive. Fearing for young Aerith's safety, they made the decision to leave her in the village with Holy, and draw attention away from her by returning to the Midgar region. Though they did their best to avoid capture, the Turks eventually caught up to them.

Furious with Ilfana and Gast for tricking him, Rufus had given them over to Hojo, who had made them suffer much at the hands of his psychotic experiments before they finally died. They never once revealed Aerith's location, however, which is what kept her safe for so long. Now, as the bearer of Holy, the responsibility of destroying Rufus was in her hands. At last, she truly understood this.

Deep within the lifestream's influence, Aerith had known something was wrong just moments before the entire cave shook violently, causing her meditation to break as she braced herself with her hands on the floor. As the wisps of light faded, she looked around in the dim light of the chamber before it rocked once more.

"Elder," She said quietly, turning her head to look at the old Cetra sitting in the same spot he had been before. "Cosmo Canyon is in great danger."

"Yes, child." Bugenhagen said, the sorrow on his face also evident in his voice. "The time of the Cetra has come to an end. Jenova has found us at last."

"There are demons attacking." She said, remembering the glimpse that the lifestream had given her. "The ones Cloud told me about, created by the Empire to make people have more faith in Rufus."

"Yes, but it is what leads them that troubles me."

"The one who leads them?" Aerith repeated as she closed her eyes, drawing on her abilities as best she could to try and see what Bugenhagen was fearing. An image flashed in her mind, causing her to gasp loudly, her eyes snapping open as she realized the danger they were in. "Reno!"

"You know this creature?" Bugenhagen asked.

"Yes, but he's a man, not a creature." Aerith explained. "Well, I think he is anyway. He's one of the Emperor's closest friends. We fought him near your ship in the Frozen North. He said that Rufus gave him some of Jenova's power."

"You fought this man? What was the outcome?"

"We couldn't even scratch him." Aerith said, dropping her head as her eyes looked to the floor as if it contained the answer they needed. "We had to flee."

"It is not safe for you here, child." Bugenhagen sighed as the chamber shook again. "Even we Cetra may not be able to stop the advancement of both these false demons, and their Jenova spawned master. You must leave."

"Leave!" Aerith shouted, looking up in shock. "I can't do that; I'd be consigning you to death, elder! I have Holy with me, I can use it to stop him!"

"Holy is damaged, and we have no idea how much longer it will retain its power." Bugenhagen shook his head. "You must conserve it for when you face the Emperor. You will need its strength then."

"But I can't just leave you here." Aerith pleaded with him.

"You can, and you must." Bugenhagen said as sternly as he could while tears welled up in his eyes. "You have come so far in such a short time with me, child. Surely you have been blessed with the power to destroy Jenova and bring our long war with this evil creature to an end. I will have my warriors prepare a buggy for you to use. There are tunnels here that will take you nearly to Gonzaga, far from this battle."

"And what do I do when I get there?" Aerith asked, her voice choking with fear for her newfound kin. "My friends are at the temple, and I feel that they're in trouble as well."

"Yes, there is danger all around." Bugenhagen sighed as he lowered his head and closed his eyes. "Child, you must follow the will of the lifestream. You have been given a great power in Holy, and you are strong of spirit as well. Your magic grows stronger with the knowledge you have learned. You have the strength you require."

"What are you saying?" Aerith said, her forehead creasing in confusion. "I don't understand what you want me to do, elder."

"It is not what I wish for you to do child." Bugenhagen said, opening his eyes again and looking into hers. Reaching down, he took her hands in his and squeezed them tight. "It is what your destiny has laid out before you. You must travel to Midgar and put an end to this once and for all."

"Midgar?" Aerith's eyes widened. "Alone?"

"This is what the lifestream has told me." Bugenhagen consoled her. "You are powerful, and you will be safe. I feel that you will not be on your own in this quest, but you must begin the quest alone."

Aerith looked down, her eyes darting back and fourth in an erratic way as she thought it over. Swallowing hard, and trying her best to calm herself as the chamber shook once more causing dust to fall on their heads, she closed her eyes and focused on the will of the lifestream, letting its power and knowledge sooth and guide her.

"Alright." She said at last, her voice remarkably calm and determined. "I will fulfill my duty and use the powers that have been entrusted to me to destroy Jenova, once and for all."

The others had been gone nearly an hour. Tseng stood ever vigilant next to the temple entrance with his hands clasped behind his back in the classic Turk pose as he waited for word from the Highwind. Several times now the ship had passed close to him and signaled him just to say that everything was fine, so he thought little of it when he saw the airship in the distance, turning towards the temple again. The radio in his pocket beeped, prompting him to pull it out and flip it on, waiting for their "all's well" report to come through. Instead, though, there was a brief and unintelligible shout.

"Highwind, what was that?" Tseng said into the radio, clearly worried by the strange burst of sound.

In the distance, there was a flash to the rear of the airship. Tseng's eyes narrowed in concern as he whipped a small pair of binoculars from his coat. As he looked through them he saw a bizarre burst of light slash diagonally above the right engine, causing the hull to erupt in an extravagant blast. As smoke billowed from the damage, the ship tilted and began to rapidly fall from the air.

"Highwind!" Tseng shouted at the device again. "Do you copy!"

Just as the Highwind smashed into the island's jungle, a quiet sound came from Tseng's right. His mind had just enough time to register that it was a foot step before something cold and sharp pierced his right side, the metal of a thin sword sliding up between his ribs and through his lungs as he let out a terrible scream.

Tseng's vision went blurry as the sword was pulled out of his torso, causing him to drop to the ground in a quickly spreading pool of his own blood. He couldn't breath, and when he coughed blood sputtered from his lips to drip down his chin. His head hit the temple steps hard, causing his vision to worsen still as the back of his skull cracked. Fighting just to try and take a breath, he looked around through glassy eyes to find his attacker, his search coming to an end at a figure standing over him. Despite how badly he was hurt, and how terrible his sight had become, he was still able to recognize his killer.

"You...!" Tseng barely managed to choke out as blood dripped from his lips. "..Not you…"

The blurry figure standing over him raised the bloody sword into the air and brought it down once again. Tseng stopped thinking about the bitter irony of it all as the darkness crept up around him and drug him into death's cold embrace.

Just as before, the temple room they now found themselves in was distinctly different from the previous ones. They stood on a small platform in a circular chamber. There were twelve doors, including the one they had come through. Above each door was a plaque that numbered them one through twelve. No floor was visible, only a pit extending into darkness, but there were two large, stone rectangles floating in the air in front of them, one longer than the other. Both stones were slowly moving around a circular stone hovering at the very center of the pit.

"It's a clock." Tifa said in confusion after a moment of staring to realize what she was looking at.

"Yes." Replied Nanaki. "We must walk over the hands to reach the correct door. Only one leads out, the others would take us to dangers, and eventually back to this very spot where we would have to try again."

"So which door is it?" Vincent asked.

"The answer lies within." Nanaki said as he pointed to a series of murals painted above the doors.

The scenes laid out before them in the mural were similar to the ones found in Bugenhagen's chamber. The series of pictures depicted the Cetra's history with the Greater Demon: the battle with Jenova on Ce, the construction of their starship, the battle here on this world, sealing Jenova's soul away, the temple where Midgar now stands, the temple they were now in, and the Cetra helping the humans to rebuild the world.

"The trick is simply to add the various scenes of the story and find the sum." Nanaki explained.

"So it's seven?" Cloud asked as he counted the parts of the mural.

"Correct." Nanaki said as he reached to his left and took hold of a lever that was located there. As he pulled it, the stone hands of the clock rotated around until they were positioned as a walk path from where they stood to the seventh door. Upon a nod from Nanaki, they quickly, but carefully, moved over the stone hands and through the door.

They walked through a short hallway before emerging in another room, this one large but relatively plain. On the north wall was a row of Cetra statues. There was little else in the perfectly square chamber aside from a door on the east wall, and another on the west.

"Which way do we go?" Tifa asked.

"We go east." Nanaki simply said as he veered in that direction.

"What's through the other door?" Cloud asked as he stepped towards it out of curiosity.

"Don't go over there!" Nanaki shouted, darting quickly from where he was to grasp Cloud's arm and pull him away.

Just as he did so, the stones of the wall above the west door rippled as if they were made of water, and a monstrous head burst through as if the wall wasn't there at all. The head was enormous and grotesque, with wide jaws layered in sharp teeth, slitted nostrils and thin black eyes all connected to a long, thick neck. The strangest thing about it was its skin, which looked to be the same texture as the stones on the wall, complete with the lines of mortar that was mean to hold them in place. The creature roared, a high pitched squeal that shook the room and hurt their ears as one thin hand with long, wicked claws slashed out from another part of the wall, but not far enough to hit them where they stood. The wall creature roared once more before retracting its hand, and then its head and vanishing as if it hadn't existed in the first place.

"What the hell was that!" Tifa gasped as she continued to stare at the spot where the horrible head had come from.

"The Guardian. It attacks anyone who approaches that door." Nanaki growled, clearly annoyed at the close brush with death they'd just had. "Do not move towards it again."

"What is it guarding?" Cloud asked, his voice a bit shaken by the sudden appearance of the beast.

"Chaos." Nanaki said in a tone that demanded that the subject be dropped. "No one wishing to obtain it can do so without killing the creature, and that is no small task."

"Forget I asked." Cloud said as he straightened himself back up.

"I will." Nanaki sighed as he released Cloud's arm. "I am sorry for snapping at you. It's just very dangerous to go over there."

"So we see." Vincent said.

"Let's continue, we are almost there." Nanaki said as he walked to the east door and opened it for them.

Cloud, Tifa, and Vincent followed after him, but watched the wall above the door quite intently, worried that another monster may be hidden there as well. Fortunately, nothing occurred, and the four of them at last found themselves in a dark room, a single path up a short flight of stairs illuminated by a light that shone from somewhere up above. At the top of the stairs was a small pedestal where they could see a glowing object. Midway up the steps was a shimmering field of purple, some sort of shielding spell from the looks of it.

"The Atma Weapons were created for the sole purpose of destroying Jenova." Nanaki said as he began walking towards the field. "This barrier will read your intentions as you pass through it. Those who desire the weapon will not be allowed through unless they truly intend to use it for that very purpose."

"Then we have nothing to worry about." Cloud said as he fell in step behind Nanaki.

"Indeed." The Cetra said as he passed through the field without a problem, and came to a stop in front of the pedestal to wait for the others.

One by one, each of them passed through. Vincent hesitated slightly before trying, though, as he feared that his desire to kill Hojo more so than Rufus might hold him back, but he too was allowed to continue. The four of them stood around the pedestal, three of them staring down at the legendary weapon for the first time. Bathed in an other worldly blue glow, it appeared to be a single glove made of a shimmering black cloth, with pieces of white colored armor covering parts of it. Coming from the back of the glove were three long, sharp prongs that didn't seem to be made of anything physical. Each claw was composed of raw, humming power that was white at the center, darkening to blue on the outside.

"The Atma Claws." Nanaki announced.

"A hand to hand weapon?" Cloud asked, sounding a little disappointed. He'd been expecting an enormous broad sword.

"The Atma Weapons came in many forms. This is one of many designs we once had." Nanaki explained as he reached down and carefully lifted the weapon up in his hands. Turning towards Tifa, he extended the claws to her. "It seems they would best be suited to your fighting style."

"Me?" Tifa asked in surprise, looking to Cloud and Vincent as if to gain their approval. Neither of them seemed to have any objections, and Nanaki continued to hold them towards her. "Are you sure?"

"It would not be prudent for such a powerful weapon to be held by a fighter whose skills would not use it to its full potential."

"Well, okay." Tifa took a deep breath and bit her lower lip as she lifted the impressive looking glove from his hands. "It feels so light."

"It is the pinnacle of Cetra magic and technology. It has the ability to cut past Jenova's magical defenses, causing her damage while also lowering her ability to block more conventional weaponry."

"I'll use it with pride, then." Tifa said as she slid the glove over her right hand, feeling the power thrumming over her knuckles.

"I'm sure you will." Nanaki smiled at her as he patted her shoulder. "Now, let us return. Your friends will be waiting for us outside."

"Yeah." Cloud said as he slapped Tifa lightly on the back in a congratulatory manner.

Not being the celebratory type, Vincent stepped past them first, but he'd only taken one step when a shrill cry came from outside the Atma Claws room. The four of them looked quickly to the door, recognizing the sound from just moments earlier when they'd heard the guardian monster in the wall scream.

"Some one is here!" Nanaki gasped and darted past them; running down the steps and slamming the door open as the rest of them quickly followed him out.

The four of them flew through the door and back into the previous room, all of them skidding to a halt at what they saw there. The massive creature that lived in the wall was again extended out of its hiding place, but it was no longer an impressive display of malice. The creatures head and clawed hands hung low from the wall, laying on the ground limply with a foul smelling green ooze dripping from deep wounds all over its face.

The wall guardian was dead, and the door leading to the resting place of the doomsday weapon, Chaos, had been torn from its hinges.

With Nanaki at the lead, the party of four stormed through the broken doorway and into the room that held Chaos. It was identical to the one where they had retrieved the Atma Claws except for two important differences. One being that the violet barrier that guarded this pedestal had been utterly destroyed, with glowing pieces of the magical field laying scattered about like it were broken glass. The second difference was that the pedestal that should have contained Chaos was empty; they were too late.

"How could this have happened?" Tifa found herself wondering out loud, staring in disbelief at the spot that the Chaos orb was supposed to be.

"We must capture the thief!" Nanaki shouted, looking around the room hoping that the person was still around.

To their regret, there was no one here. Someone had managed to kill the guardian, destroy the barrier, and then escape with the orb in a matter of seconds. All of it had happened right under their noses. An impressive feat, no matter how you looked at it. Cursing in a foreign tongue, Nanaki ran back outside and into the central room. Heading straight for one of the statues on the north wall that they'd seen earlier, he pulled a panel on its chest open to reveal a hidden lever.

"Come to me, quickly!" He said, motioning frantically for them to gather around. As they did so, the Cetra pulled the lever and a yellow light immediately coursed around them until they could not see out of it. Seconds later it cleared away, and they found themselves standing outside the entrance to the temple. Apparently, it had been some sort of teleportation spell that allowed them a quick departure.

"Tseng!" Cloud shouted as he spotted the former Turk's body lying on the ground, covered in lukewarm blood. Running over to him, he felt along his neck for a pulse, realizing as he did so that it was futile. There was a deep wound in his side, and another gash over his chest. Even if the wounds weren't as severe as they obviously were, he'd lost far too much blood.

"Is he dead?" Tifa asked with panic in her voice.

"Yeah." Cloud said, his voice strained as he moved his fingers away from Tseng's neck and used them to close the man's eyes. "He's gone."

"Isn't there anything you can do!" Tifa pleaded, kneeling down and looking over the man's slowly whitening flesh with tears in her eyes.

"I'm afraid he is not the only one we should be worried about." Vincent grimly said as he pointed with his gauntleted hand into the forest. A thick plume of smoke was rising from a section of crushed in trees where the tail end of the Highwind was barely visible.

"Who could have done this?" Nanaki asked in horror at what he was witnessing.

As if to answer his question, the crunch of shoes on gravel came from down the base of the steps, prompting all of them to look and see the blue suited and bald headed form of Rude stepping into view. The Shinra agent stood at foot of the temple, staring up at them through the black sun glasses covering his eyes with his hands balled into fists at his side.

"You." Cloud growled as he stood up and stepped away from Tseng's corpse, pulling the Buster Sword from its place at his side as he did so. "I'll see you dead for this."

"Really?" Rude said in a gruff monotone. "That's amusing; I came here to kill you."

"You first!" Tifa yelled, her voice shaking with rage as he stood and brought her fists up into combat stance.

"Anxious to fight?" Rude asked, raising a hairless brow. "Fine by me. The faster we finish this, the faster I can go back and help take care of the girl you left in that little city."

"What?" Nanaki barked, feeling a terrible void in his stomach at the mention of his home. "What have you done to Cosmo Canyon!"

"I haven't done anything." Rude calmly stated. "I'm sure Reno and his Mako Demons are cleaning it up well, though."

"You monster!" Nanaki snarled. "So Jenova has possessed you as well!"

"Possessed?" Rude stared at the boy quizzically. "You seem to be mistaken. Jenova is dead; it would be hard for her to possess anyone."

"What?" Vincent asked, his eyebrows quirking. "But you use the power of Jenova, as does Rufus."

"Yes." Rude nodded once. "But that doesn't mean the old demon is alive. The seals the Cetra placed around Jenova's soul to destroy her succeeded, but left a fraction of the demons power and knowledge intact."

"So you're just using its power?" Vincent growled. "And to think we believed that you were all being controlled by a demon when you're the ones doing the controlling. I had hoped that actual humans would be incapable of committing such atrocities."

"By the honor of the Warriors of the Red Moon, I shall not let you leave this place alive!" Nanaki shouted as he took one step forward and let his human disguise fade away, revealing his true form.

"A Cetra?" Rude said, emotion actually seeping into his voice for once. "So then that city is where you've been hiding all this time. Reno might actually have his work cut out for him."

"I wouldn't be worrying about him!" Cloud shouted as he suddenly flew down the steps in leaps and bounds, taking three or four at a time.

An unfocused scream encompassing his anger, and pain ripped from Cloud's lungs as he raised his Buster Sword high and brought it down towards Rude's head. With his face remaining devoid of expression, Rude snapped his right hand down and a blade handle fell from his sleeve into his grip. With another snap of his hand a long, segmented sword grew from the hilt he held, and he brought it up to deflect Cloud's attack and push the boy back in mid air. Cloud landed in a crouch on one of the steps midway up the temple, and the battle had begun.

"Tifa!" Nanaki called to her, as he nodded to the Atma Claws on her right hand. "The key to this battle lies within your hands! Lead us well!"

Nodding fast, Tifa bound down the steps, gaining speed and leaping over Cloud to come down right in front of Rude. The Turk raised his blade up to lazily swat her away, obviously not expecting much of a challenge from a fistfight. Tifa narrowly ducked his attack and jabbed hard with her right hand, sending the shimmering claws into his chest. With a loud grunt, Rude doubled over, and before he really knew what had happened she swung her body, bringing her strong left leg into the side of his neck to send him tumbling into the grass away from the temple grounds. Though he showed no physical damage from where the Atma Claws had struck him, it was clear that they had affected him.

With a guttural war cry, Nanaki charged down the steps with impressive speed, his hands pulling a pair of daggers from his sides as he went. Vincent followed quickly, reaching to the holster on his torso, he brought his materia gun out in his right hand and began firing at Rude immediately.

Rude, who had now realized just what it was that Tifa was carrying, had stood back up and dodged Vincent's magical rounds with swift movements and one deflection with his sword. Cloud and Tifa went down the steps side by side and trapped Rude between them as Vincent continued to rain shots at him. Tifa stabbed quickly at his side, intent on hitting him in the kidneys, while Cloud lowered the Buster Sword and swung up in a diagonal slash.

Clearly concerned about the Atma Claws, Rude used his sword to swat her hand away, though the armored glove prevented him from actually injuring her. As a result of his focus on her, Cloud's attack hit him squarely in the chest, slashing through his suit and smacking hard into his ribs. Unlike the time he'd hit Reno, the Buster Sword knocked Rude flat on his back in addition to leaving a thick red welt across his chest. Though it wasn't quite the amount of damage a weapon like that should have inflicted, it was a considerable improvement over doing absolutely nothing. The Atma Claws were doing wonders at lowering his defense.

As Rude struggled to his feet, Nanaki landed at the bottom step on all fours and pounced forward with powerful legs to thrust his daggers at Rude's stomach. Flipping backwards to get to his feet, Rude caught Nanaki's jaw with a hard kick that sent the Cetra tumbling, but the attack had distracted the Turk just enough to give Tifa an opening. With a sweep of her feet, she again sent Rude to the ground, and drove the Atma Claws hard into his chest before he could manage to roll away.

Groaning, and gritting his teeth from whatever pain the energy weapon was wreaking upon him, Rude kicked his feet into the air and spun on his spine to throw his legs in a twirl that knocked all three of his opponents away from him. With the coast momentarily clear, Rude hopped back to his feet, but was greeted by the butt of Vincent's gun which hit him squarely in the jaw and sent him staggering back.

With a heavy grunt, Rude snapped his head back towards Vincent and head butted him hard in the chin. From a normal man, such an attack would have caused Vincent to fall back. Coming from Rude, it sent Vincent flying through the air until he came to a stop on one of the temple's outer walls, sending dust and rock flying while his body bounced off and smacked into the ground.

Angered at his earlier failure, Nanaki launched himself at Rude from behind. With the Turks' attention elsewhere, he was able to land a solid stab into his back, just below his rib cage. This time, the Cetra's physical weapon managed to just slightly break Rude's outer layer of skin, leaving a smudge of blood on the blade. Hissing in anger, Rude turned and grabbed Nanaki's head, lifting him in the air and flipping him over and into the ground.

As Nanaki howled in pain, Cloud shoulder-checked Rude in the side, sending him staggering into Tifa, who jabbed the Atma Claws into his stomach. Gasping, Rude swung at her with his left fist and connected to her collar bone, sending her falling head over heels into a bush. Turning, he brought his sword up to deflect Cloud's as the blond rushed him again, but this time the Buster Sword was too much. Its heavy weight broke Rude's extension sword in half, sending slivers of metal flying as the thick blade smashed hard into Rude's right shoulder.

Rude fell over, landing on his back before flipping to his feet and bouncing away several feet. Looking around quickly, he saw Cloud running for him again, and in the background Vincent and Nanaki were getting to their feet. A sound to his left indicated that Tifa was again on the move, and he knew that the battle was not going in his favor. Cursing loudly, Rude turn and ran for the jungle with blazing speed, and leapt into the tree line.

Seeing Rude flee into the jungle, the four of them stopped pursuing momentarily and gathered themselves together. They weren't sure if Rude was actually running away, or merely trying to find cover to launch a new offensive, and not knowing was enough to give them pause. Not one to wait around, Vincent reached into his long red mantle and pulled out a grenade that Jessie had given him during their trip. Pulling the pin, he hurled it into the forest without a word, and watched as the explosion sent flame, smoke, dirt, and wood flying in every direction.

Shielding their faces, the others scanned the burning foliage in search of the wretched man, but didn't see him anywhere. For a painfully long minute there was no sound, but then Rude burst back out of the trees and landed before them, and he had changed drastically. Gone was the stern looking man in the blue suit, replaced by a massive and bulky suit of armor that stood nearly twenty feet in height. The helmet, from which shown brightly glowing blue eyes, seemed rather small in proportion to the rest of the suit as it sat between enormous shoulder pads. All of the armor pieces appeared to be made out of lumps of diamonds.

This Diamond Demon let out a ferocious cry that shook the entire area and began charging towards them. Caught totally off-guard by the sudden change in appearance, the party faltered and fell back, all except for Vincent. As a monster in his own right, the sight of the diamond suit barreling down at him gave him little if any fear. Raising his gun, he began firing with precision at the thing's chest, sending chunks of diamond armor flying. Not slowed down in the slightest, the armor ran into their midst and slammed one enormous fist down, narrowly missing Nanaki, who rolled to his left just in time to avoid certain death.

"I thought you said these claws would weaken him!" Tifa screamed as she got to a safe distance and plotted a new strategy.

"They do!" Nanaki shouted as he darted further from the diamond creatures ground shaking blows. "He must have summoned all his power to create this armored shell around him!"

"Just makes him a bigger target!" Cloud shouted as he readied his sword and ran towards the beast.

Rude's diamond armor swung its right fist at the blond, but Cloud ducked low and avoided the attack. Pointing his Buster Sword up, he thrust it at the creature's wrist, causing a large slab of diamond to crumble off. Howling with demonic rage, the armor swung its other fist at Cloud, catching him on the shoulder and sending him tumbling wildly away.

As Vincent continued to fire at it with varied rounds of magic, the armor turned its attention towards Tifa who held the Atma Claws. With a roar, it leaned its head forward. Bright beams of blue light erupted from its eyes and flew towards the voluptuous fighter. Working swiftly despite the unexpected form of attack, Tifa slammed her left palm into the ground and cast a variation of her gray magic's stone spell, causing a pillar of rock to jut from the ground. The beams hit the pillar and exploded, sending the girl tumbling to her rear, but she was still alive, and that was the important thing. Tifa scrambled up and ran as another blast narrowly missed her head.

Not pleased with the armor's new means of assault, Vincent took careful aim and fired an electrical round that hit the suit's glowing left eye. The armor reared back, clawing at its face as the right side of its helmet exploded, revealing nothing but swirling darkness inside of it. Nanaki and Tifa took the opportunity and darted towards the diamond armor. Leaping up, Tifa hooked her hand on one of its shelled knees and used it to swing up higher. Latching onto the monsters chest, she began to pummel into the armor with her right hand, sending shards of diamond flying as the Atma Claws tore into it.

As the demon shuddered from the energy-sapping effect of the weapon, Nanaki raised his hands into the air, his eyes closed as he chanted furiously. Tifa leapt off and rolled to the ground as Nanaki's spell sent a bolt of ice and fire crashing into the armors abdomen. As the two high powered spells hit, they reacted violently to each other due to their opposite natures. The explosion of flame and frost that followed shattered the suits breast plate completely and sent the whole beast crashing to the ground.

Finally climbing to his feet after he'd been knocked aside, Cloud cast a quick healing spell on himself to dull the pain of his broken ribs and plunged back into the battle with a staggering run that slowly subsided as his healing spell took full effect. With a running leap, he slashed the armor across its side while landing on a sliver of the armor remaining from its shattered chest. Raising the Buster Sword high, he brought it crashing down into the swirling black mist that resided within the armor. Not knowing if a physical blade would do any damage to something like that, he channeled a quick Thundaga spell through his weapon that sent electrical currents ripping through the armors frame. Howling again, the suit pulled itself to its feet and swung at Cloud, who avoided the blow only because he had lost his footing and fell to the ground, where he lay on his side in a painful heap.

Shouting a command at Vincent, Tifa ran towards him as she set her jaw and narrowed her eyes. As she reached the red cloaked assassin, he dropped his hands down for her to step in, and used his ungodly strength to hurl her towards the armor. With a loud battle scream, Tifa flew straight into the hole in the armors chest, swinging the Atma Claws into the black mist inside before exploding out the back of the armor with a solid kick to its weakened structure. Tifa flew into a tree, badly scraping and bruising her shoulder, but she came down on her feet and turned to look at the armor as she squinted her eyes in pain.

With one more howl, the armored suit exploded into a wave of blue and black energy. The party shielded their eyes and dug their feet into the ground as a powerful wave rushed past them. As it cleared, they looked up to see the diamond armor laying in a crumbled heap, now only a shattered shell. In a final display, the armor erupted into a cloud of diamond dust that obscured their vision as it slowly floated to the ground.

With the battle over, Nanaki ran towards Cloud and Tifa to help his injured friends, but was stopped short as a heavy fist flew from the edge of the dust cloud and hit him in the gut, sending him falling to the ground. With an angered scream, Rude flew from the edges of the dust cloud, back to his normal self, though in much worse condition. His suit was ripped and torn all over, his skin covered in cuts and gashes oozing red blood, and even his sun glasses were cracked, though his eyes were still mostly hidden behind them.

Not seeming very shocked by the Turk's reemergence, Vincent raised his gun once more and pulled the trigger. The fire based round hit Rude in the left shoulder and blew straight through his flesh and out the other side, leaving a singed and ragged hole in its wake. Rude screamed in pain, but continued to run at Nanaki. Annoyed at himself for dropping his guard, the Cetra warrior hopped back to his feet and greeted Rude with a punch to his gut. Rude staggered, but swung again with his good arm, hitting Nanaki in the right jaw.

Letting loose an animal growl, Nanaki gained a bounce in his step as he brought his fist into Rude's neck. The Turk stumbled, grasping at his throat as he choked. Not fully deterred, Rude swung his weight around and kicked Nanaki in the side. Nanaki fell to the ground, but bounded back up quickly, and ran back at his opponent, who appeared to have used the last reserves of his power, leaving him very vulnerable, and very much mortal. With one last powerful swing, Nanaki cracked Rude right in his nose, and the Turk fell over backwards, collapsing into a heap on the ground.

Battered and bruised, the party watched the unmoving figure as he lay on the ground, but it appeared that this time the battle was truly over. Rolling onto his back, Rude took a ragged breath and coughed up blood.

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way." Rude said through gasping breaths as he stared through his shattered sun glasses into the mid afternoon sky. "I can't die here. Not like this."

"Yes." Vincent said as he slowly walked over to the broken man and stood over him. "You can."

Aiming his materia gun at Rude's chest, Vincent rapidly squeezed the trigger. As five loud shots echoed through the darkening sky, Rude groaned and his head fell limply to the ground.