Chapter Ten: The Search for Aeris

The team brought Cloud back to Gongaga and got him a bed at the inn there to rest, while the others waited on guard. Aeris decided to stay at the inn to keep an eye on Cloud while Barret and Cid decided to head over to the bar, Yuffie begging them the whole way to get her a bottle of vodka. A second Cait Sith, identical to the first, had showed up shortly after Cloud had collapsed, in fact before they even managed to get him out of the hole left by the temple. Tifa and this new Cait Sith were shopping, while Vincent decided to spend his time at the graveyard right outside of town.

Vincent sighed, his thoughts based on the more recent events. Cloud for some reason giving the black materia to Sephiroth and then falling unconscious. If Sephiroth could do that to anyone, then none could possibly stop him, making Vincent wonder if this whole journey was even worth it. Then he sighed and decided that he should have to amend for his sin… stopping Sephiroth may be the only way to actually do that.

"Vincent?" asked a feminine voice behind the gunslinger.

Vincent stayed seated, still facing the graveyard, and replied, "Hello, Tifa."

"What are you doing here?" Tifa asked, walking to his side, to which Vincent simply shrugged. "A man of few words," Tifa replied with a slight chuckle. "Umm… but I wanted to talk about last night… at Gold Saucer…"

Vincent nodded, knowing she was talking about their time on the couch of the ghost inn. With all the recent events, that was easily forgettable, but, like his father once joked, 'women never forget'… of course, he may not simply be talking about kissing. "What about it?" Vincent asked.

"I… just wanted to ask if you…" Tifa said, struggling to find the right words. "If you… really felt… that way…"

"Tifa…" Vincent muttered. He felt like he had taken advantage of Tifa, she was vulnerable over the losing Cloud to Aeris and he was too stubborn to let her deal with it herself. "I… apologize…"

"What?" Tifa asked, wondering if she just heard him right.

"Let's just… forget about it," Vincent told her, still not facing her.

"Oh…" Tifa nodded, hoping he would say just the opposite. "That's… all right," Tifa nodded. She hadn't known Vincent long, but it didn't take too long for people to figure out that he was a loner… and he probably preferred it that way.

"Teef!" they heard someone yell from behind them. Both turned and saw Yuffie stumbling their way, with a liter bottle of vodka in her hand which was missing about a quarter of its contents. "N' Vinnie! Hey Vinnie!"

"Yuffie?" Tifa giggled, seeing her underage friend drunk was bound to be pretty entertaining.

"What are you guys doin' wayyyy out 'ere?!" Yuffie exclaimed, stumbling closer to the two.

"Nothing, Yuffie," Vincent replied.

"You guys weren't makin' out or nothin' were ya?" Yuffie joked, then stumbled almost to the ground, but was caught by Tifa.

"No, Yuffie," Tifa giggled again.

"We should bring her back to the inn," Vincent told Tifa, who nodded in agreement.

"What's goin on at the inn?" Yuffie loudly asked.

"Big party, Yuffie!" Tifa exclaimed to Yuffie as though she were a child. "Do you wanna go?"

"Hell ya!" Yuffie cried, trying to do a spin, but instead fell down, though she was caught by Tifa's supportive arms. "Whooo! Par-tay!" Yuffie shouted as Tifa and Vincent started walking back towards the town. "You goin' to the party Vinnie?"

"It's Vincent," Vincent coldly replied.

"Yeah yeah," Yuffie muttered.

As they walked through the town, they came across the bar, and, upon glancing inside, Vincent saw Cid and Barret drinking merrily. Vincent sighed, remembering days long ago when he might have walked inside and joined his two teammates. But those days were long gone and nothing good can happen when Vincent loses control, who knows what kind of demons he could unleash upon the world.

They arrived at the hotel, Vincent opening the door as Tifa helped Yuffie in. There was a single door on the opposite side of the room which held the only room the inn had. Vincent helped Tifa get Yuffie inside and saw Cloud on one of the two beds, and was surprised to see that Aeris was no longer here. "I wonder where Aeris went…" Tifa murmured.

Vincent shrugged, then Yuffie shouted, "she must have gone out for more booze, huh, Vinnie?"

Vincent ignored her while Tifa laid Yuffie down in the bed, despite the young ninja's protests. "I think Aeris left a while ago," Vincent told Tifa, as he inspected the team's gear. "Also… her things seem to be missing…"

"What?!" Tifa exclaimed, looking over the gear with Vincent, just to make sure, then only to discover that he was right.

"What's goin' on?" Yuffie drunkenly asked, standing from the bed and stumbling her way over to them.

"I can't believe it!" Tifa exclaimed.

"I'll find the others," Vincent told Tifa, turning to leave the hotel. "You make sure Yuffie stays put."

"Where are ya goin, Vinnie?!" Yuffie shouted as he left. "Gettin' more booze?" Yuffie then looked over at Tifa, "I figured he'd start drinkin' sooner or later."

Tifa laughed at the thought of a strict, cold guy like Vincent being drunk, then told her younger friend, "I think you're gonna have a wait a while longer."

Everything is white…

What did I do? I don't remember anything…

My memory… Since when…?

If everything is a dream, don't wake me.

Cloud? A foreign voice called. Can you hear me?

Aeris…?

Suddenly the white was gone, and Cloud was standing in a foggy forest, which truly seemed to be in a fairy tale. All the trees were enormous and bright green, and the heavy fog on the ground made it seem as though it weren't real. Then, standing about five feet in front of Cloud stood Aeris.

"Aeris…" Cloud muttered, looking over her, wondering if it truly is a dream or not. "I'm… sorry about what happened…"

"Don't worry about it," Aeris told him with a smile.

"…" Cloud looked down at his boots. "I… can't help it…"

"Oh…" Aeris said, then enthusiastically replied. "Then just don't worry about it!"

"Don't worry about it…?" Cloud asked, never even considering that was an option.

"Yeah, just let me take care of it myself," Aeris told him. "So that you don't have another breakdown."

Cloud glanced around the forest, still partially certain that it is all a dream. "What is this place?"

"This forest leads to the City of the Ancients..." Aeris explained, walking around the forest, moving left, then reappearing to Cloud's right. "And is called the Sleeping Forest. It's only a matter of time before Sephiroth uses Meteor, which is why I'm going to protect the planet. Only a survivor of the Cetra, like me, can do it. The secret is just up here. At least it should be… I feel it. It feels like I'm being led by something. I'll come back when it's all over."

"Aeris?" Cloud asked as Aeris ran off. "Wait!" Cloud shouted and tried running after her, only to discover that his body wouldn't move an inch. "What's going on?!"

"Hmm…" Cloud heard a sinister voice murmur from above, and suddenly Sephiroth appeared to Cloud's right, leaning up against a tree. "She's thinking of

interfering? She will be a difficult one, don't you think?"

"You leave her alone Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted.

The sinister villain turned to him, his green eyes glowing from mako exposure, then said, "We must take care of her soon."

In an instant, Sephiroth was gone while Cloud tried to yell and scream for Aeris and tried to run after her, but to no avail, his body no longer did anything like it was supposed to.

Suddenly, Cloud sprang out of bed and instantly saw that Tifa and Barret were standing right next to his bed. "Tifa? Barret?" Cloud asked, looking around, unsure of where he was, but then realized he had more concerning matters. "Where's Aeris?!"

"Aeris?" Tifa asked, hesitant to answer. "She… left, Cloud. Everyone's out looking for her."

"She's heading to the City of the Ancients," Cloud told the two, as he sat up in the bed and put his feet on the ground.

"By herself?!" Barret exclaimed. "We gotta get there too!"

"Only the Ancients…" Cloud told them, then shook his head, deciding to correct himself. "Only… Aeris can stop meteor…"

"Then we have to go," Tifa replied. "If Sephiroth finds out what she's doing, she'll need protection."

"…" Cloud was silent for a minute, then said, "Sephiroth already knows…"

"Then why the hell are you jus sittin' around?!" Barret shouted. "We gotta get goin!"

"No," Cloud shook his head. "I might lose it again… If Sephiroth comes near me… I might…"

"Ya, ya," Barret replied. "Lissen man, people doan always understand themselves. It happens all tha damn time, but people don't jus give up when it happens, they keep livin' their lives."

"Cloud…" Tifa said, looking into her leader's eyes. "We came this far… are you really thinking of giving up now? Don't you want to settle the score with Sephiroth?"

"No…" Cloud slowly shook his head. "I don't know what could happen… If this keeps going on, I think I'll go crazy!"

"If ya give up now," Barret told him. "Then we might as well jus hand Sephiroth tha damn world. There are so many people on this planet n' your willin' to give up on all of 'em, including yoself."

"Cloud… you'll come with us, right?" Tifa pleaded.

"Come on, Tifa," Barret told her, the two leaving the inn and regrouping with the team outside.

Cloud glanced out the window, seeing the sun begin its rise up to the sky, and sighed. "… I'm afraid to find the truth…" Cloud muttered, still staring out at the skies. "But… why…?"

Cloud turned to a mirror that was in the room, and stood in front of it, studying his reflected self. The ex-SOLDIER just couldn't understand what had made him give the black materia to Sephiroth. Cloud thought maybe Sephiroth could do that to anyone, but then he remembered how it felt like he was split in two. One part watching and trying to stop himself from doing it and the other seemed… like it wanted to help Sephiroth… needed to help him.

"What am I supposed to do?" Cloud muttered. "Run away? Where… where could I go…?"

Cloud sighed and then turned to the door walking outside of the inn, where he was surprised to see the whole group was standing there, waiting. "Are you coming with us, Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"I…" Cloud sighed, he couldn't tell them all that he was giving up… could he?

"Don't cha worry, Cloud," Barret said, smacking him in the back hard enough to make Cloud stumble forward. "If ya start acting all goofy again, I'll smack ya upside the head and bring back yo normal self."

"But…" Cloud mumbled.

"If it happens," Vincent said, stepping forward. "It happens… You don't have to worry about it, Cloud."

Cloud looking into Vincent's blood red eyes, knowing that the half-demon was speaking the truth. "He's… right…" Cloud muttered, then looked over at Tifa. "He's right, isn't he?"

"Yeah, Cloud," Tifa nodded, going along with Vincent's idea. She knew that Cloud had to come along, he was their leader, after all. "Just… don't worry about it."

"Come on, Cloud!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Let's go get Aeris!"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded with a smirk. "She's heading to the City of the Ancients, through the sleeping forest."

"The City of the Ancients?" Red XIII asked. "That's on the northern continent. Some of the scientists at Cosmo Canyon studied there."

"All right!" Cid exclaimed. "Let's get in my ship and go!"

"Geez, no need to yell," Barret said, grabbing his head. "With takin' care of spike here, your yellin' ain't helpin my hangover at all."

Yuffie snuck up behind Barret and bellowed into the dark man's ear, "Let's go already!"

Barret stumbled forward, clutching his head and cursing, while the others laughed. "Ya damn lil bitch!"

Yuffie giggled and ran to the opposite side of the group before Barret could recuperate himself. "All right, that's enough," Cloud announced before Barret could do anything to the youngest member of AVALANCHE. "We have to go help Aeris."

"Yeah!" Yuffie exclaimed from the opposite side.

"Yeah, definitely," Barret agreed, still clutching his aching head. "Jus… jus no more yellin, aight?"

It took the team almost two full days to get to the northern continent. Since Cid absolutely refused to drive the ship through too deep of water, it took them a long time to find a good enough path for the pilot. Once they finally made it to the northern continent, Cid parked the ship on the nearest beach, and everyone disembarked, Yuffie instantly jumping out and puked up whatever was left in her stomach, which couldn't have been much since she had been puking during most of the trip.

"Thanks for takin' the long way," Yuffie puffed after heaving up the remains in her stomach. "Old man…" Yuffie managed to finish before her stomach seemed to suddenly get better.

"Old man?!" Cid exclaimed, taking out a cigarette and quickly lighting it. "Lousy little-"

"Cut it out," Cloud instantly said, already heading north bound, looking towards a forest in the distance with binoculars. "I think that's the sleeping forest…"

"Screw that!" Yuffie cried out. "I'm tired! And it looks like it's gonna get dark soon."

"Let's just keep going," Cloud told the group. "We'll stop once it gets too dark."

"In the forest?" Vincent asked, stepping closer to the group, putting away his freshly cleaned revolver. "More monsters will come out at night…"

"Then we'll continue on and get into the city of the ancients by night!" Cloud exclaimed, causing all others in his group to respond with a frown.

"You kiddin' me?!" Cid shouted. "We don't even know where the damn place is!"

"Cloud we all want to save Aeris," Tifa told her friend, trying to find the nicest way to say what needed to be said. "But… if we show up there completely worn out, we wouldn't be able to help Aeris at all."

"There's something over there!" Yuffie exclaimed with binoculars in her hand, jumping up and down and pointing northbound. "It looks like it's right before the forest!"

"We'll head there," Vincent told the group, although speaking mostly to Cloud. "Then we'll figure out everything else."

"Yeah," Cloud reluctantly nodded. "All right. Let's get going then."

It didn't take them long to reach the structure which the people residing there called Bone Village. Which was strange, since it didn't even seem like a village; there was only one actual building, which was an inn, some stands for weapons dealers, a number of tents, and several people, most of whom were digging.

"What is this place?" Cloud asked one of the people as he entered the village.

"Bone Village," answered an older man. "It's a great digging site… but that's about all there is to it."

"Did you see a young woman go through here?" Cloud asked the man.

"Yep," the old man nodded, taking out a cigarette and lighting it. "Some other fella too…"

"Long, silver hair?" Tifa asked.

"Yes ma'am," the man nodded.

"Then we have to hurry out of here," Cloud told his group. "Let's hurry through the woods, then we might be able to make it to the City of the Ancient before it gets too dark."

"Hmm… you wanna get through the forest, eh?" the man interrupted. "Then you'll need the Lunar Harp."

"The Lunar Harp?" Cloud asked. "What's that?"

"The forest is protected, see?" the old man said, pointing to the woods. "The young woman who showed up here had the harp and unlocked the forest, then she buried the harp somewhere here… said it was to protect herself."

"She… buried the harp?" Cloud asked, understanding that Aeris was trying to protect herself. "The other man… the one with long silver hair, he had to dig it up then, right?"

"Actually… for some odd reason, he managed to get right through," the man said with a grin. "Must have been one tough son of a bitch…"

"Great…" Cloud sighed, crossing his arms. "You… didn't happen to know where she buried it, did you?"

"Yeah, as a matter o' fact I do," the man said. "Buried it up there on that ledge, it might take a coupla hours for yous guys to find it. Some of my men can take care of it within an hour… for a price."

"You cheap-!" Barret exclaimed. "We gotta hurry through those woods ta save that woman ya saw!"

"Oh!" the man exclaimed. "In that case you should definitely hire my men!"

"Why would we even need to get a harp to get into the forest anyways?!" Yuffie exclaimed.

The old man shrugged, "Couldn't tell ya… but ya do."

"Sounds like bullshit if I ever heard it," Cid told the old man.

"Oh yeah?" the old man chuckled. "Then what's stoppin' ya? Go for it."

"Fine," Cid exclaimed, walking up to the forest. Cid stepped closer and just as he neared the first tree, a barrier suddenly shined, preventing anything from going through it. "What the hell?!"

"Told ya," the old man told the cocky pilot.

"How much?" Cloud sighed as Cid cursed that the old man was right.

"Hmm…" the old man thought. "Fifteen hundred."

"Fine," Cloud growled, taking the money out of his wallet and slamming it into the man's hand. "Just hurry up."

"I'll get it to ya within an hour," the old man replied, turning towards a tent.

"Great…" Cloud mumbled. "Now we have to wait even longer…"

"Just relax," Tifa told her angry leader. "Come on, they might have some new equipment here."

"Yeah, all right, but be sure to stay close by, we'll meet inside of the inn," Cloud announced to his group. "The minute we get that harp, we're leaving. I doubt Sephiroth will show Aeris any mercy, so we need to get there as fast as possible to protect her."

"We'll need to hurry through that forest," Barret told the leader. "It'll get pretty dangerous if it gets too dark."

"Then we'll need to book it," Cloud coldly replied, turning around and heading inside of the inn to wait for the old man.

Barret grumbled something for being ignored and wandered off, while Vincent, Tifa, Yuffie, and Cid walked over to the weapons dealer. Vincent glanced over the weapons and saw a double-barreled shotgun on the counter with four materia slots on it. This gun would easily overpower any of his current weapons (except the gun he got from Reno) and since there is a good chance that they'll face Sephiroth, he would need it.

"How much for the shotgun?" Vincent asked.

"Oh, nice eye," the man behind the counter said. "That baby could blast down a damn tree."

"How much?" Vincent asked again, never one for small talk.

"Twenty-five hundred, no less," the dealer said, then thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "…And I'll throw in fifty shells for an extra two hundred."

Vincent didn't say anything and instead just took out his handgun and revolver. "Do you have any shells for these? It's a nine millimeter and forty five caliber."

"Yeah…" the man said, taking up a large tacklebox from beneath the counter, opening it to reveal a wide variety of different shells. "How about the shotgun, and fifty shells for each weapon for… twenty-nine hundred."

Vincent nodded, taking out his wallet and handed the man the exact amount of gil. He then strapped his shotgun on his back, underneath his cape, and put the ammo away, then turned back, noticing Tifa looking at a pair of gloves. She paid the man then took the gloves, selling her old ones to the man and putting on the gloves swinging them through the air at an invisible opponent.

"Damn," grumbled Cid as he took out a cigarette and lit it. "No spears, huh?"

"Nope, sorry sir," the dealer said, turning his attention to Yuffie, who was looking at a shuriken.

"Damn kids…" Cid grumbled to Vincent. "Hell to this, lets go get some drinks, eh Vince?"

Vincent raised an eyebrow at the pilot, "We may be fighting Sephiroth once we get to the Ancient capital."

"All the better reason to drink!" Cid exclaimed, then laughed heartily, slapping the gunman on his back. Vincent ignored the pilot's gesture, simply walking a few feet away from him. "Oh come on, Vince, I'm just kiddin' around."

"Ok," Vincent replied, walking off towards the inn.

"Come on," Tifa said, following the gunslinger. "Let's go wait with Cloud…"

"What's gotten into him?" Yuffie asked, drawing Tifa back to Yuffie and Cid. "He's so… like obsessed!"

"He's just worried," Cid told the young ninja. "He's pussy whipped."

Yuffie giggled at Cid's words while Tifa put her hands on her hips. "Pussy whipped, Cid?" Tifa asked defiantly, with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah!" Cid exclaimed, staring at the younger woman. "Oh come on… don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

Tifa rolled her eyes and turned to Yuffie, "Come on, Yuf. Lets go play some cards or something."

"Ok!" Yuffie exclaimed, quickly following Tifa into the inn.

"Women…" Cid muttered shaking his head.

"Hey…" the man behind the counter mumbled, looking around his counter. "What happened to that shuriken…?"

Cid chuckled, knowing exactly what had happened to it, and then followed the two women into the inn.

Within an hour, just as the old man promised, he returned to the inn with a small harp in his hand. The harp, in fact, didn't even seem like a real harp, but a small model of one, making Cloud question it. "Are you kidding me?" Cloud asked, outraged at the small object. "That's the Lunar Harp?"

"Yessir," the old man said with a cigarette in his mouth.

Yuffie instantly started laughing at the sight of it, "That's no harp! It's a toy!"

"Call it what you want. I call it the Lunar Harp."

"How is this little toy supposed to unlock the forest?" Cid asked.

The old man shrugged, "I dunno… the music from this thing takes down the barrier. Also, be sure to leave the harp on this side of the barrier."

"Yeah, whatever," Cloud said taking the tiny harp out of the old man's hand. "Let's just go." The team followed Cloud up to the forest. Cloud took out the harp and sighed, "Now what do I do with this…?"

"Hold it up to the barrier," Vincent told the ex-SOLDIER.

Cloud, not caring at this point for details, instantly did as the gunman said, and suddenly they heard a sound emit from the tiny harp. Quickly, the sound got louder and louder, the majestic music suddenly filling the entire village, then began to get quieter as quickly as it had gotten louder. The music was gone and, Cloud quickly discovered, as was the barrier. Cloud laid the harp on the ground and charged into the forest, not waiting for his teammates to follow, although they instantly did.

Cloud was amazed by the forest, instantly knowing that this was the place where he'd seen Aeris and Sephiroth in his dream. He was amazed, but knew that he would have to hurry to the City of the Ancients to help Aeris. He felt almost as though he had to, almost as though something was making him go to the city, but for the time being he didn't care about any of that, all he cared about was getting there.

Tifa looked around at the forest in utter amazement. There was a light fog that made the entire place seem as though it belonged in a child's fairy tale. Of course, it probably would have been much more beautiful had it not been so dark, so that she could look around in amazement at the bright green colors. Of course, she didn't have much time to look around, as Cloud hastily made his way through the forest, not seeming to care whether the others were behind him or not.

"Cloud!" Tifa called as Cloud charged through the forest. "Slow down!"

"We can't slow down!" Cloud shouted at his team from the distance. "Sephiroth might all ready be at the City of the Ancients! We need to hurry and save Aeris!"

"Cloud," Vincent spoke, already at Cloud's side. "It won't do Aeris any good if we run through the forest and show up at the city breathless and too tired to fight. Besides, we can't go this fast, we might get separated."

"Vince is right," Cid told his leader as the rest of the team started to catch up. "We can't go too fast."

"But Aeris-!" Cloud then stopped himself and sighed, regaining control of himself, despite how much he felt he needed to hurry. "Fine… but we're at least jogging. If not for Aeris, then for ourselves, we can't stay in these woods too late or else the beasts'll start hunting."

"That's fine," Tifa nodded, then hurried along with the group.

Thankfully, the forest wasn't too large and any beasts that got in their way were easily taken care of by Cloud as they all jogged through the forest. Tifa was beginning to worry about Cloud, she could see how he would be so worried about Aeris but something about him just seemed so different. She, too, was deeply worried about her dear friend, but Cloud seemed almost like he was losing it. She was worried that, should they arrive in the city too late, that Cloud might go crazy.

Vincent noticed the same thing. Vincent understood why Cloud was acting so strange, however, it was concerning how Cloud seriously seemed to be out of his own control. Vincent knew that this could be a hard situation for the young leader, should they face the worst and he knew that he wouldn't be able to help him. Vincent couldn't save himself from losing a loved one, how was he supposed guide another?

Cloud charged through the woods and any beast that would get in his way would quickly be slashed apart with Cloud's mighty sword, which he held over his shoulder, prepared for use. Cloud would slowly start running faster and faster, slowly enough so that the group wouldn't notice and instead just try to keep up. He felt so compelled to get there, he had to get there. He didn't care about him or his teammates getting tired, he just knew that he absolutely had to get there in time.

Soon enough, there were less and less trees and the ground became harder and harder, eventually becoming nothing but rock. They ran to the first true opening they saw since entering the forest, which turned out to be at the edge of a cliff, and looked ahead. The moon was beginning to rise into the sky, which showed them the mysterious ancient city. There were a number of strange large seashells surrounding the area, the ground was not unlike the ground they now stood on, except there was even less vegetation, there wasn't a hint of green anywhere down there.

"Is… that it?" Yuffie asked, looking down over the edge.

"Yes," Vincent responded looking down at the city without much interest, as usual.

"How do you know?" Cid asked.

"This isn't my first time here…" Vincent answered, casually glancing over the area once more. "…hasn't changed much…"

"Why were you here before?" Tifa asked, curious about the gunman's past life.

"We can talk as much as we want later," Cloud rudely interrupted. "We have to get down there and save Aeris!"

Although the group didn't like how Cloud kept rushing them, they all knew that he was right. Especially now that it was getting rapidly darker, they knew they would have to get there and possibly find shelter. The team walked over to the edge, where they found a fairly thin trail which lead down to the city. It wasn't too thin, but they all had to go down single file and, at some points, be particularly careful, especially for Barret and Cait Sith, since they held the bags.

Once they reached the entrance to the city, there were three separate ways that they could travel: straight, left, and right. Cloud stood forward, he suddenly didn't feel one bit compelled to go anywhere, he felt like he was in just the right place, despite the fact that they don't know where Aeris was. For some reason, however, Cloud felt that they wouldn't be able to find her or Sephiroth here, though Cloud shook his head, trying to get rid of such thoughts. Cloud turned to the group, all of whom, besides Vincent, was curiously looking around.

"It's so quiet…" Yuffie murmured, slowly looking around the strange surrounding, almost frighteningly. It was understandable, with the moonlight the whole place seemed so surreal and haunting… like an abandoned town. "I… I don't think anyone's here…"

Everyone was quiet, all thinking that the worst must have all ready happened, but knew they couldn't give up now. "Well les find out," Barret replied, trying to keep the team's hopes up.

"We'll split up into three groups," Cloud announced, then sighed, never liking to split up the group, especially now, since Sephiroth was sure to be in the area. "Red XIII, Yuffie, and Cait Sith, you guys go right, Barret, Cid, and Tifa go left, Vincent and I will go straight. We'll meet right here in a few minutes, if you guys find anything, call me, sound good?"

The team agreed and did as their leader said, all going their separate paths. Cloud and Vincent headed straight ahead, towards a large seashell, which was next to a small pool of water. "What are these things?" Cloud asked as he headed towards a small opening in the shell.

"Homes…" Vincent answered, faithfully following his leader.

"The ancients lived in these…?" Cloud asked just before he stepped inside, glancing at the gunslinger, who nodded back at him.

Cloud walked inside, and was surprised to see that there was a spiral walkway along the edge of the seashell, which led upwards. Cloud followed the walkway up to the top, where it appeared as though it should go on, but didn't. However, after all the years the walkway must have stood, Cloud was surprised that any of it still stood.

"No sign of Aeris..." Cloud muttered, confirming his thoughts.

"Perhaps the others found something," Vincent told the leader, trying to give him some words of encouragement. "Let's head back."

Cloud stepped to the edge of the walkway and looked down, noticing that there seemed to be no bottom to the shell. He felt something strange then… but decided to ignore it for now, there was no way he could get down there anyways. "Yeah," Cloud nodded, then followed Vincent down the steps.

They were the first to return, which wasn't surprising, since they didn't have much to explore, however, Vincent knew that neither of the others had much to explore either. Within fifteen minutes, the whole team had reunited, none finding any sign of Aeris or Sephiroth.

"So… what now?" Tifa asked, she held her arms close to her chest, as it was starting to get cold as more stars appeared in the sky.

"We'll rest here…" Cloud answered, crossing his arms and thinking, having no idea what to do from here. "Then… I guess we'll have to figure out what to do in the morning."

"There was one of those seashell thingies over there that had some beds!" Yuffie exclaimed, pointing down the right path.

"Let's go," Cloud nodded as Yuffie led the group.

There's another chapter.

Thanks for all the reviews guys and keep them coming!