Author's Note: Sorry if things are kinda slow, but at the same time, I don't wanna rush it either.

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7, just anything outside of the game I own…Like this chocolate with caramel filling! Yummy! ^.^

Part 16

'…Selena…I have to get to her!...What the-?'

His lupine nose sniffed and snuffed the air, then he glanced down from his cliffside perch. By this time, Sigmund had finally come upon the forest where his goddess had been.

Keywords: had been.

All that was left now was a massive crater and three people; one appearing to be bound to the earth.

His ears fluctuated out of confusion and in the end, he scrambled down to investigate. Sigmund morphed to his human form as soon as his feet touched the base and he snorted with a grin. His comrades turned to look at him with surprise and Faera was on her feet, rushing to put her arms about him.

"Thank the gods! Where were you? Do you have any idea what's happened?!" she cried in a motherly fashion after she pulled away and took his face into her supple hands. Sigmund pulled out of her grasp and peered about them.

"Hey, it's great to see you guys and all, but where's Selena? She's alright, right?"

"The Goddess has gone off to fight Artemia. It's just Faera, Cloud and I." Shibuki called to him as he turned just enough to glance at his former pupil from the corner of his cat like eyes. Sigmund scowled slightly at the mere mention of Cloud's name.

"…I see…Well, instead of babysitting the human, shouldn't you be aiding Selena in battle? Apparently, I've missed a very important detail." He growled slightly, but a swift swat from Faera brought him back in line. "Ow! What?"

"Calm yourself. I know you and Cloud aren't exactly the best of friends at the moment, but Selena has ordered us to stay here with him."

"What?! Are you kidding me?! You mean to tell me the only reason we're not assisting her ladyship in battle is because of that Chocobo haired jerk?!"

"Who the hell are you callin' a Chocobo haired jerk, you mangy dog?!" Cloud snapped at him, futily pulling at his chains and grumbling all the while. By no means did he want to be there either.

Sigmund's eyes were feral at that moment, but he merely smirked.

"A mangy dog, am I? You seem to be forgetting that you're not in any position to talk. From where I'm standing, you're nothing more than a sitting Chocobo ready to be eaten."

His teeth were bared and his hair stood on end, but Shibuki got in between the two warriors in his true form. A fierce roar broke the argument.

"That is enough! Sigmund, I've known you longer than anyone and I know you're practically infatuated with our Goddess…However, I cannot allow you to kill this man, or have you forgotten what drove Selena nearly mad with grief?"

Mentor and pupil stared each other down for the longest time until Sigmund looked away.

"Trying to blame the fact the idiot nearly got himself killed on me, huh? Well, let me tell you something, oh mighty Lion Summon: as soon as you let Selena run with the bastard, that was your mistake!" he snarled back, but Shibuki merely shook his head.

"It seems you have forgotten something foolish pup. Regardless as to whether their meeting was right or wrong, Selena is still a Goddess and we are servants. It's as simple as that."

"…Servants…Right…"

Sigmund glanced around Shibuki to look at his tense quarry, then he got an idea. As much as he disliked what he was scheming, it was the end result that concerned him.

He dashed forward, a phantom-esque blur under the noon sunlight. Shibuki tensed, ready to swat down his former student, but to his utter astoundment, Sigmund shot around him and closed in on Cloud. Jowls snapped, but no blood was spilled.

Sigmund had broken Cloud's chains and tossed said man on to his back.

"SIGMUND!!!!!" Shibuki screamed at him and came lumbering towards them, but by then Sigmund had dashed away from him and was scampering up the steep cliff side.

"Why are you doing this?! Why are you helping me?!" Cloud yelled over the rush of wind, hunching over to increase wind resistance.

"Who said I was helping you? I'm helping Selena and myself!"

"What?!"

Sigmund rolled his eyes, his paws skidding slightly as his lithe body whipped around a tree and Cloud buried his face in the thick soft silver fur.

"Look, we have to get to Selena. Shibuki, Faera and I are useless when it comes to a battle with another god. But you however, may be able to help her." Sigmund explained and glanced up to see something large, red and birdlike flying over the forest canopy. "…Shit…Faera…"

"Okay, I can understand how I'll be helping Selena, so what's it got to do with you?" Cloud yelled and Sigmund laughed darkly.

"Well, you might have to die trying and hopefully, if you do die, you'll stay like that compared to last time in the Mako Reactor."

Cloud's eyes widened, then narrowed in an instant before he screamed "You know, you're a miserable son of a bitch!"

"Thanks! Now hold on to your pants and don't you dare piss in 'em!!!!!"

Back in Midgar…

The wasteland had now faded into a dingy, gloomy metropolis as Selena crossed the border. As she passed through, people, young and old, looked at her strangely. She ignored them as she pressed on.

After all, she highly doubted they were her enemy. In fact, she highly doubted they knew their livelihood was at stake.

*This is odd…I should have run into something again by now…Well, whatever…*

"PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DOOM!!!! The Great Ninja Yuffie shall punish you, you Cloud-napper!!!! Hiyah!!!!!!!"

A large shuriken whizzed at Selena, but she merely side stepped around it. Her eyes narrowed slightly as the young ninja Yuffie leapt down from her perch and caught her returning weapon. She wore a smug grin and raised a clenched fist.

"Alright, so what'd ya do with Cloud?! Tifa told me everything and I'm gonna make you pay for taking Cloud and the kids!"

Selena cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms in a comical manner.

"Tifa did, did she? Did she also tell you that she's being controlled by Artemia? She's using you, Yuffie."

Yuffie childishly stomped her foot and shook her head.

"Lies! All lies! There's no way Tifa would do such a thing!" She yelled, but a solemn, deep masculine voice brought her in line.

"That would explain her strange behavior."

From behind Selena, a man with a tattered crimson cloak and long shaggy raven hair stepped forth. He began approaching…

Closer…

Closer…

Closer…Until he walked past Selena and paused to step in front of her.

"Ack, what are you doing Vincent?!" Yuffie yelled at him, waving her arms about.

Without taking his blood red eyes off from Yuffie, Vincent called back to Selena "…Selena…Go ahead. I'll take care of things here."

The Goddess's eyes widened with surprise.

"So…You know what's going on?"

"I hear things here and there…Now get going, but be careful. I don't know if the others are on your side or Tifa's, so use caution."

Selena gave a small nod and dashed ahead.

She now knew what was awaiting her now: the recent friends she had acquired had either been turned against her or fighting to protect her. Either way, this could not hope to end happily.

Friend against friend…That in itself was wrong.

"What the hell Vincent?!" Yuffie yelled at him as she tried to punch him, but he merely held back the hyper girl with his hand on her head. Arms and fists flailed, but missed their target.

"…Yuffie…"

"Yeah?" she growled. She pulled out of his grasp and was glaring at him now.

"Yuffie, we have to find the others and try to stop them. If Selena dies, we all do. We have to help her."

"But-but-but she kidnapped Cloud and the kids! Tifa said-"

"Yuffie, Tifa's not herself. The Tifa I know is not the type of woman to turn people against another person. Something's wrong." He explained as he pushed past her. Yuffie tilted her head in a confused manner and shamefully rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh…So she lied to us? But I don't get it!" she cried out of frustration and Vincent paused to gaze up at the darkening sky.

"…She didn't do it on purpose. Someone made her do it…Someone Selena has come to take care of, which is all the more reason we have to get to the others. Now stop babbling and let's go." Vincent sighed and ran off.

"Oi! Wait for me, Vinny!!!!"

Moments later…

Selena had reached the center of the city intact, but her suspicions were still high. Ever since she ran into Vincent and Yuffie, she could feel her stomach begin to tie itself in knots with each step that brought her closer to Artemia.

What the hell was taking Yumiko so long?

Suddenly, a beastly yell caught her attention and she dodged out of the way as bullets whizzed by. People ran screaming at the sound, while the young goddess hid around the corner of an alley. She panted and tried to calm her racing heart, glancing cautiously around the corner.

More bullets whizzed followed by a bearish yell.

"Where's my lil' Marlene?! Give her back!" yelled the enraged Barret, aiming his gunning arm at her hiding spot. Another round was fired and Selena cringed as the bullets collided with the bricks of the graying building.

"Barret…Barret, stop! I didn't take Marlene or Denzel!" she yelled to him, but his reply was merely a snort.

"A likely story! To think we welcomed ya, and then you turn around and stab us in the back!"

"Barret, you're not thinking straight! If you'll just listen to me-"

"Enough! Where's Marlene?! I won't ask again!"

Selena sighed and shook her head. His protective fatherly instinct was inhibiting his rationality…It kind of reminded her of her own father. The way he had tried to protect her from Artemia's furious bouts before she left for the mortal world and even after she had returned. But her father wasn't here at the moment.

"Barret, Marlene and Denzel are with Artemia. Look, if you let me go, I will bring them back safely." She tried to reason, but another round was fired.

"To hell I'll let you go! For all I know, you could run off!" he snarled.

"Hey, buddy, didn't your mother teach you not to shoot at pretty ladies?" said a slightly familiar voice. It was male, with a tinge of amusement in the tone. She peered around the corner again to see a red head. The same red head she met back in Healin Lodge.

"Reno?" she questioned herself and tilted her head. At his side, was a bald man adjusting his black leather gloves. Reno tilted his head towards her and gave her the 'V' sign.

"Yo', how's it shakin' babe?" he mused toward her and Selena blushed. "Hey, sorry about what happened back at the lodge. No hard feelin's right?"

Selena crept out of her hiding spot and shook her head with a small smile.

"S'alright. I can't really blame you for all that…Look, I can't stick around for too long. There's something I have to take care of."

Reno gave a nod and waved her off.

"Then get a move on, yo! Oh and give that bitch hell for us!"

She gave the two Turks one last glance and dashed off. Meanwhile, Reno and his partner, Rude, turned to face Barret.

"Well, looks like we're gonna have one hell of a time, huh Rude?"

Rude, however, looked at him with a cocked eyebrow before mumbling "should we run now?"

Both Turks eyed Barret's gunning arm warily and started backing away slowly.

"Ah, good point. I've got a plan…you stay here and hold him off and I'll…RUN AWAY!!!!!"

Bullets whizzed as the two partners in crime hot footed away from the scene.

Author Note #2: Between you and me, I seriously have nothing against any character of the game, so if there's something that I've written that you don't like, I didn't write it because I have a personal vendetta or something like that. It's just how everything worked out in my mind.