Sephiroth arrived back at Nibelheim for some food; he did not have long but if he did not eat enough he would pass out in mid-flight.
"Any news?" Barrett asked. Everyone had come over and were staying in the manor, just in the hope that they found Tifa. Sephiroth shook head; he was freezing cold. Yuffie threw a blanket they had been warming over a fire while Lucrecia came from the kitchen with a drink that Sephiroth needed to drink every hour in order to keep his energy levels sky high so that he could continue to search for Tifa. After less than two and a half minutes Sephiroth sprinted back out of the door and jumped before shooting off into the stormy clouds.
"They have been out there for hours" Yuffie sighed "Cloud will be freezing by now, he has not returned once"
"I have asked Sephiroth to send Cloud back for a rest" Vincent informed the ninja "Once Cloud returns I will go out while he rests"
"I should be out there" Barrett argued, he had said this many times but Vincent forbade him from going out, hence it being an argument.
"You are not as strong as Cloud, Sephiroth or I, this weather would kill you" Vincent repeated for the eight time.
"Stop saying that!" Barrett ordered but he knew Vincent would shrug his order off. A light blasted along the window of the manor as Cloud pulled in. One of the town's folk ran over with fuel for the motorcycle.
"Any news?" he shouted over the wind as he filled the tank. Cloud shook his head; he was too cold for words. Cloud stumbled up the path before passing out when he left the freezing outside into the sweltering manor. Barrett caught him and carried him up to the bedroom while Vincent disappeared out of the door and into the pitch-black day.
Sephiroth landed in the forest of the Ancients; it had been the last place anyone had seen her. When he saw that the chocobo was not tethered to the tree he took off into the rain clouds. Sephiroth was doing ever decreasing circles around the continent; He knew that he would come across her sooner or later. He could feel his energies draining continuously as he flew in a massive circle.
Vincent bounded from tree to tree and took great leaps across short distances but even his enhanced vision was incredibly impaired by the storm. He looked up and, momentarily, picked up Sephiroth's figure as it shot through the sky but a second later it had vanished. Vincent continued to bound and leap.
Cloud groaned, he tried getting to his feet but was drained of energy.
"You are far too tired to go back out there" Lucrecia informed him as she came over with the drink she had created for Sephiroth also. Cloud had only been back once which was how he knew of Lucrecia and that everybody had come to the mansion.
"How long have I been out?" he enquired
"Three hours" Lucrecia told him as she fed him the drink through a straw.
"Anything?" he asked her. Lucrecia shook her head
"Sephiroth's getting impatient" Lucrecia informed Cloud "He has been back twice, he should be back soon, the problem is we are running out of items to make this drink and so you will have to pick up the search once you have rested properly"
"Can't we try something else to keep us awake?" Cloud begged
"No" Lucrecia shook her head "Your bodies will start rejecting it if you carry on for too long without a rest, I am amazed any of you have lasted this long, now go back to sleep" Cloud tried clambering out of his bed but fell of the edge instead. Lucrecia helped him back into it slowly
"Go to sleep Cloud, you will need your energy to take over when Vincent gets back" Lucrecia ordered. Cloud was thinking of arguing but was interrupted by the bang of the front doors; Sephiroth was back. Again he was draped in a hot towel as he drank his drink.
"Anything?" Yuffie asked as she took one of his hands
"Nothing" Sephiroth whispered; the cold was affecting his voice after fourteen hours of almost constant flying. He almost fainted with energy loss but ignored it and used Cure 3 on himself. Lucrecia came down the stairs to meet him again
"Where are you up to now?" Lucrecia asked her son.
"Barely in between Nibelheim and the Gold Saucer, I should finish on this next run" Sephiroth reported
"I don't think you will survive one more round" Yuffie told him as she hugged him to try and warm him up but Sephiroth felt cold inside; it was his fault Tifa was out there. Sephiroth used more Cure 3's until his energy levels maxed out. Sephiroth went back to the door and flew away.
"I'm really glad we have Sephiroth" Cid commented as he closed the front doors "When he first came back I did not want to trust him because of everything he did but I'm glad he is here 'cos without him we would never find Tifa, that's one good son you have there" Cid told Lucrecia who beamed "Very tough and never gives up"
"Just like his father" Lucrecia told Cid who nodded.
Two and a half hours later Vincent crashed through the front doors sopping wet and dragging Sephiroth who was splattered with mud and was bleeding tremendously. Lucrecia cried out as she saw the state Sephiroth was in.
"What the hell happened?" Barrett growled as he came running over
"He must have passed out" Vincent guessed "How long has he been without his drink?"
"Over two and a half hours" Lucrecia told Vincent. Sephiroth was laid flat on the floor while Vincent and Lucrecia used cure on him to heal his wounds.
"Where was he?" Yuffie asked Vincent who was wiping his face with a towel
"Near the mountain, I spotted him as I was coming back, he hit the cliff at a hell of a speed" Vincent told them.
"Let's get him to bed" Cid said picking up Sephiroth by his arms while Vincent lifted him by his feet and Barrett took the strain of his torso.
"Heave bastard for someone so slim" Barrett commented as they carried him up the stairs and into his room. They stripped him down to his boxers before sliding him under the blanket.
"He's freezing" Yuffie cried out as she touched his skin.
"Get some blankets and as many candles as you can carry" Vincent ordered to Cid who nodded and sprinted down the stairs into the dining room.
"What's wrong?" Yuffie asked Vincent who was hurrying around the room throwing everything he could over Sephiroth. By the time Cid returned with candles Sephiroth was covered by more than twenty jumpers, four coats and six extra blankets, Vincent even shoved pillows under the blanket around Sephiroth. Yuffie slid under the blanket and hugged Sephiroth close to add some extra heat. Vincent closed the door and the room began to heat up very quickly. Cid placed the candles around the bed on chairs; after all he did not want the bed catching fire as that would be too hot. Lucrecia shuffled into the room carrying chocolate for her son. Vincent nodded
"Good idea" Vincent declared. Slowly they fed it to Sephiroth who did not seem to want to swallow and so Vincent was forced to put it in a dish and melt it with fire 3 before pouring it down his son's throat; without even letting it cool down.
They all waited anxiously to see if the colour returned to his cheeks but he remained a dull grey, his lips a deep blue. Vincent and the others left the room, all except for Yuffie who had fallen asleep under the sweltering covers.
"What is going on?" Cloud managed to groan as he stumbled out of his bedroom and crashed into the banister, the only reason he did not go head first over them was because Vincent managed to catch him.
"Sephiroth crashed" Vincent informed him "It would seem that he has hypothermia"
"We've got trouble!" Nanaki announced as he stared out of the windows. The rain had now turned to snow and the outer temperature was plummeting.
Tifa lay on her side in a pool of ice-cold water as the snow began to fall. It had been hours since she had passed out and was now slipping into the realm of the dead, if she were to remain outside for much longer she would die. Swiftly she was buried by the snow and, less than three minutes later; there was nothing to be seen of the martial artist.