Hello to all. Yea, I know this took absolutely FOREVER to type up and everything. Testing is coming up soon and everything is just crazy. But it isn't like anyone else is reading my own stuff except me, right? So yeah, I got a few new ideas. Here we go.

Disclaimer: FFVIII and anything involving the contents of the game does not belong to me and are not my original ideas. Only people like Shade and Harper are mine.

Chapter 12

It was raining cats and dogs outside the cabin that night. They had been traveling about a week's time from the burnt village (they wanted to get to the temple the back way so Shinra wouldn't spot them) when they came across another small town that had already been trashed by Shinra. Yuffie and Harper came down sick the day before, so they all figured they could use a break.

Shade tossed and turned in his bedroll. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he sleep? Maybe it was because Harper was sick, or just the fact he had nearly died more times in the past few weeks than he had his entire life. But he didn't think that was it. He just couldn't put his finger on it…

Shade listened to the fall of rain on the roof. He thought about his dream the other night. It was still dim in his mind, but he remembered it was more of a nightmare than anything. Shade shifted from his stomach position onto his back. The floor was hard and cold. But he had to admit it was better than sleeping in the cold and rain outside.

Shade let his head fall to the side so as to look at Harper. She seemed to be sleeping pretty peacefully. Well, that puts a light on things. She hadn't been sleeping too well the past few days since the village. Neither had he.

"Can't sleep?"

Shade jumped at the voice. He sighed with relief when he saw it had only been Cloud.

"Nah. I just have a lot on my mind." he said getting up and walking over to the counter to get some coffee.

"Don't we all?" Cloud chuckled.

Shade sighed "I suppose you're right…what are you doing up?"

"Me? Oh I never sleep." He joked.

"Yes you do. I've seen you asleep." Said Shade, bewildered.

"I was kidding."

"Oh, sorry…"

"What's the matter? Is everything ok?" Cloud asked Shade seriously

"Yeah, I'm just having bad dreams…"

"Bad dreams? What kind of bad dreams?"

"I'm not too sure, but I'm sure they'll pass. They always do" Shade said, not wanting to draw attention to unexplained dreams.

"I suppose…"

"Don't worry yourself about it. It's nothing too important."

"Are you sure? Or are you just saying that because you don't want to be bothered about it." Cloud said

"Both, but I'm pretty sure." Shade replied with a cheesy grin.

"Hey," said Cloud, pointing at Shade's chest, "what's that?"

Shade followed Cloud's finger to find that he was pointing straight at his mother's amulet...his amulet. "Oh, that, just some necklace that belonged to my mother. It was all she had when she died."

"No, not the necklace itself. That thing on it."

"What thing?" asked Shade.

"The thing that's glowing in the middle…"said Cloud

"Oh, that? It just happens on an off" Shade lied. "It does that all the time. Why you ask?"

Cloud shrugged, "It just looked familiar, the glowing of it I mean."

"Familiar? How? When have you seen it before?" Shade asked, a little too quickly.

"Well, there was this girl I met when we were fighting Shinra and Sephiroth, her name was Aries. Over time…I don't know; she meant a lot to me, even though I never really showed it. Well, anyway, Aries had been probably the last Ancient at that time. And she owned something that kind of glowed like that."

"Ohh, I see. I understand. Well I doubt this would be the same thing, since I've had this since I was born. It's all I have of my family. Is there a possibility of there being more than one?"

"Not unless your mother or someone in your family was an Ancient. Only Ancients could use those gem things. When Sephiroth killed her, it fell into the water. We didn't see it after that. But if there are more than one…your mother, or someone she knew, must have been an Ancient. But from what I know there are none left." Said Cloud.

"Well, from what I know, I don't think my mother knew any ancients. But if the Shinra believes they can get the Power of the Ancients, they would need an Ancient. But Shinra and Avalanche both know there are none left. So what's Shinra going to do? Make one?" Shade knew right them he said too much.

"Shade…..that's exactly…what they'll do…." Cloud said, his eyes widening with every word. "If they find a way….an Ancient….SEPHIROTH!"

"Sir" said Rude. "They're on they're way to the Temple of the Ancients. She's with them."

"Good, by the time they get there, our forces will be ready to arrest them." Said Rufus "Then we can use young Harper to find our power…"

"Are you sure she's an Ancient? And are you positive she'll go along? What if she doesn't?" asked Reno

"Sephiroth said someone would be joining Avalanche to lead them to the Temple, so it must be her. Sephiroth will make her do what we need her to do, since he can't do it himself."

"Sir…if you don't mind my asking…why can't any of us do it? Why can't Sephiroth do it? Why do we need her?" asked Scarlet.

"Because only an Ancient can find a remove that power from inside the Temple. None of you are Ancients. Sephiroth is, so he can provide us with a location…but, since he isn't fully human yet, he can't remove it. That's why we need the girl."

"And are you sure it's this girl, Harper?" asked Reno.

"Would you like to challenge Sephiroth's information?" asked Scarlet?

"No, no. I just don't feel like I should trust him…he killed your father didn't he?"

"He did, which put me where I am today. But there's no way Sephiroth can go against us. He has no reason too. He's no longer human, and doesn't need the power is has, and since he's not fully dead either he isn't all knowing. All he wants is to find the Promise Land, and we want the Mako energy from it. It's a win for both of us…So don't worry about it any longer, just follow orders. Got it?" said Rufus.

"Yes sir"