FINAL FANTASY

PATH OF DARKNESS

Chapter Two

Mystery Road

An hour of thorough searching revealed no hint of the mans existence other then the tear in the ground where he had dragged his sword. "This is getting us no closer to Sephiroth, we should forget about this for now."

Cloud said after a while longer of searching. "I agree." Squall replied. They quickly discovered a road leading away from this old ruined city, the only road. It seemed to be made of obsidian crystal, a purple so deep it looked

black and was incredibly reflective. The rain had stopped shortly after the man had left.

The two silently began to walk the road, each wishing they had a motorcycle. For most of the day they walked with no sign of changes in the climate. No plant life, no people, no nothing. Even the lighting did'nt change after seven hours of walking. Cloud did'nt really contemplate it or think on it at all, he probably would'nt for a while. He was a very focused person, he knew his goals and he would not think of anything else until he had dealt with

the buisness at hand. In this case that was hunting Sephiroth and finding a way home.

Squall was different from Cloud in that respect, he was already brooding over it even as they walked, and walked, and walked. The change was sudden and suprising. One second they were surrounded on all sides by the wasteland

they had grown so familiar with, and the next step forward and they found themselves standing in the middle of a tropical jungle on a dirt path.

"What the?!" Squall spoke unintentionally. Cloud whirled to look behind him. More jungle. Suddenly it was hot like a tropical summer, and the sound of birds chirping reached their ears. "This...must be Sephiroth's doing."

Cloud said turning full circle.

He had planned to say impossible, but Sephiroth was skilled with illusions, though even Cloud had to admit that this was a bit above Sephiroth's standards. Squall nodded in response, the new foilage and plant life and noise would

make an ambush easy for anyone who cared to try. It truly was hot, already they were starting to sweat.

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!!!!!!!!!!" They heard the maniacal, and almost clown like laugh from ahead. Without a word they both rushed forward, but there was nothing when they arrived other than more jungle. It was eery and a little

disturbing to say the least. "Wh..who are you?" The voice of a wounded man came from further ahead. Again they rushed forth to find nothing but the jungle, though somewhere along the way the dirt road had turned

into a long scorch mark.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Squall stated calmly. Almost as if to increase that feeling a female voice from the side in the dense trees and plantlife said no pleaded "Kefka stop, this is madness." The only reply was a manical

laugh like the on earlier.

Then from the other side "Incredible things souls, they will protect you from any threat!!" A flood of voices came to their ears each one louder then the last, and each one sounded closer. "WHATS GOIN ON!?!?!?" Cloud shouted,

for a horrific wind had sprang out of nowhere and he would not be heard otherwise.

Then silence and stillness, all of it had stopped, but what was stranger was the jungle was gone. Replaced with a scorching desert with the sun blazing overhead. A single voice spoke "The crystals will be MINE!!!!" Then they both fell

unconcious for reasons unkown.

An hour passed maybe, before they woke up in the courtyard of a castle with the sun shining overhead and a pleasant breeze flowing around. "Wha? My head..." Cloud groaned standing slowly. Squall did'nt say anything or groan,

he pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

The truly strange thing about this new place was that everyone in sight was lying pale and dead on the ground. Cloud rushed over and checked one. "Poison." He said with extreme distaste.

"The road." Squall said quietly. Cloud looked up to see that the road had returned to simple dirt leading away from the castle, though he was'nt entirely certain he wanted to continue using the road. It had proven to be a most unpleasant way of

travelling, and it did'nt seem to be getting them any closer to Sephiroth for that matter. Still he did'nt have a better plan so he simply grumbled "Lets go."

Then a voilent roar broke out behind them and they whirled to see a dragon crawling over the roof of the castle. The dragon had dark scales large wings and sharp looking teeth. Both peole recognized it and asked

"Bahamut?!"

Bahamut of course made no reply but instead fired a a mighty blast of bluish energy upon them. Cloud and Squall jumped to the sides easily avoiding the attack.

"A gift to show my love for you." A disembodied voice mocked. Yet the tone suggested it was not speaking to either Cloud or Squall, but to someone else. As if to confirm this the voice continued with "Zidane, you are a powerful genome

truly worthy of my love."

Before the voice could go on Bahamut charged into the clearing flailing it tail at Squall while trying to eat Cloud.

Squall leapt up into the air holding his blade out in front of him while Cloud used the flat of his sword to knock Bahamut backwards, then he jumped further away from Bahamut and nodded to Squall who spun a full circle in the air

sending a wave of power into the ground at Bahamut's feet. The enrgy detonated in a fiery blast that knocked Bahamut into the air, which caused Cloud to smirk.

He raised his sword and swung it before him sending a massive tornado flying into Bahamut who was thrown into the horizon. Squall landed lightly on his feet before gesturing to the road and saying "After you."