Final Fantasy VII: The Story 2nd Instalment
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Five
Cloud, Red XIII and Yuffie all followed closely behind Bugenhagen as he continued to lead them through the main part of the cavern, slowly taking them upwards towards the second floor. The corridors were all empty now, with all the shops shut and doors closed, and the only light coming from fiery torches that lined the walls and cast dancing shadows just like the campfire outside. Their silhouettes moved and danced freely across the walls as they headed on.
The corridors were also eerily silent, which only enhanced the mood that had settled among them. It was an uneasy mood, for Bugenhagen and Red XIII were both so very silent as they walked along. The only sound came from Cloud and Yuffie's boots as they walked, along with the soft patter of Red XIII's paws on the rock. There was no laughter or chatter anymore, and the whole canyon was suddenly given a very different, almost scary air.
They headed round and up towards the second floor of the canyon. For a moment Cloud wondered if Bugenhagen was taking them back up to his house, but he quickly dismissed the idea as Bugenhagen went straight past the ladder and stopped in front of the strange machine he had spotted earlier. His eyes glanced over towards the locked metal door beside them, before he turned back to Bugenhagen. The old man was right by the machine now, looking back at them as they gathered around him.
"Ho Ho Hoooo," he said. "Are we all set?"
Cloud looked around at Yuffie and Red XIII. The feisty young ninja was all set, with her shuriken close to hand and her armguard fixed firmly in place. Red XIII was equally prepared, but Cloud could see the sudden anxiety that had filled the hound. His muscles were firm and ready, but his tail was twitching nervously – something that was beyond his control and reminded Cloud that, despite his maturity, Red XIII was still only a teenager at heart.
"Yeah," Cloud replied finally, turning back to Bugenhagen.
The old man nodded in reply. "Ho Ho Hoooo. Shall we go?"
Bugenhagen then turned away from Cloud and the others and faced the machine that stood behind him. Over the years many layers of dust had covered the machine, and there were even faint traces of rust forming at the edges, another sign that it had not been used for a very long time.
As they watched, Bugenhagen went right up to the machine and placed his palm firmly on the side of what at first appeared to be a blank, thin metal plate. Once his palm as in place a long line of green light slid down from underneath the plate and under Bugenhagen's hand, scanning his palm print. Once the scan was complete a loud whoosh of air wafted in from the side as the metal door suddenly slid open.
Beyond the door lay a tunnel, shrouded almost completely in darkness. They could not see more than a few metres in, or what lay beyond it. Bugenhagen stepped away from the machine and hovered in front of the door, motioning to Red XIII and the others to come closer.
"All right. Come in, come in."
Red XIII walked forward and stood beside Bugenhagen. He peered into the dark, shadowy tunnel, but no matter how hard he strained his eyes he could see no more than a few metres ahead. A soft wave of heat and light fell over him and he saw Cloud's dark figure standing next to him, a fiery torch in his hand to light the way.
Swallowing hard, Red XIII took the first step into the dark tunnel. Cloud and Yuffie were right behind him, the bright glow of the torch lighting up more of the area so they could see a little more ahead.
They had walked no further than a few paces when Red XIII suddenly realised that Bugenhagen was not following them. He stopped and turned back to the old man, who was still by the entrance. "Hey? Aren't you going with us, Grandpa?"
"What are you crazy?" Bugenhagen replied in surprise. "It's dangerous in there! I told you that! You want an old man like me to go first? I'll be right behind you."
As if to prove his point, Bugenhagen then entered the tunnel. He paused for a moment as he slid the door shut behind them, leaving it open just enough so that a crack of light from outside could be seen through the shadows. Now they were almost entirely in shadow, with only the light of the torch guiding the way.
They all remained very close together as they headed down the tunnel, Bugenhagen staying at the very back of the group just like he had promised, hovering above Red XIII's tail. Cloud held the torch up in front of him as they walked, its orange-red light lighting up the walls for a good few metres around them.
Even so they very nearly missed the entrance to the next floor – accessible only through a large hole in the middle of the floor. It was naturally carved, and had a thick length of rope tied to a short wooden pole that had been jammed roughly into the rock. After confirming with Bugenhagen that this was the way to go, they began the terrifying task of heading down.
Going down the hole was a much more difficult task than it first proved to be, especially since it was hard to see even with the torchlight. As Cloud held the torch out over the hole they could see another rocky ledge below. Red XIII was able to jump down easily and landed on the ledge, while Bugenhagen simply floated down through the shadows until he hovered beside the hound.
When it came to Yuffie's turn to slide down, she decided to play it safe and use the rope ladder to head down. With her fingers curled firmly around the thick sides of the rope she slid down, careful not to swing too much on the rope in case she accidentally slipped off the edge of the rock and tumbled deeper into the hole. Thankfully she reached the floor easily, and allowed Cloud to follow her.
They had to go down a number of similar levels in order to reach the bottom. Each level they went down was more terrifying than the last, for the air was becoming colder and thicker with a deeper sense of unease and apprehension.
They finally reached the bottom after climbing down a long length of rope – much longer than Red XIII had anticipated when he took the leap down and ended up falling further towards the shadows below. It was only his agile reflexes that kept him from hurting himself and landing safely.
Once they were all on the ground, they headed on towards the next area of the cavern. Bugenhagen directed them towards an open hole in the side of the wall, barely visible in the darkness. It seemed to be the only way to go, so they went through.
They were surprised to discover that it was lighter in the next room, despite being so deep inside the depths of Cosmo Canyon. The light came from the jagged walls and ceilings, where a strange, gooey substance lightly covered the walls like the trail of a snail. The substance gave off a foul smell – or maybe that came from what else was lying hidden inside the shadows of the tunnel.
Bugenhagen was leading the way now, braving the front of the line and guiding them all through. He seemed to know which way to go despite it being so dark, and the others were reassured that at least someone knew where they were going.
"Over here," the old man said, stopping next to the wall of a tunnel. He pointed towards an even darker shadowy gap where the gooey substance did not shine. "In there is a switch. It should open the door to the next chamber. Be careful, though."
Cloud nodded, and passed the torch over to Bugenhagen. He walked into the small dark crevice and began to feel around for the switch. For a while all he could feel was solid rock, but then he felt the old feel of wood and metal and began to work the switch. It was rusty, though, so he took his time.
As they all stood there in silence waiting for Cloud to finish working the switch, Yuffie suddenly felt a cold wave pass across the side of her face. It was a light touch, as though cold fingers were slowly feeling their way across her skin, heading down towards her neck. Before they could get there she jumped and cried out, flicking her shuriken out to attack whatever it was behind her.
She was even more surprised when her shuriken hit the side of the wall, hitting rock instead of flesh. She opened her eyes and stared at the point where her shuriken blade penetrated the rock, and the empty space around it. She was positive that she had felt something touch her face, and yet there was absolutely nothing there. Had she just imagined it?
"Yuffie?" said Red XIII, looking over at the girl. "What's wrong? Did you hear something?"
Yuffie turned back and shook her head. "No," she replied, rather curtly. "I just had a twitch, that's all."
With that she turned and walked away, taking a few steps away from the safety of the firelight and deeper into the shadows. Within those few steps her foot caught the edge of something lying in a heap on the ground. And as she looked down and saw what it was, her heart almost stopped beating.
It was a skeleton – a skeleton stripped down to its bones lying in a helpless heap against the wall of the tunnel. There were a few shreds of clothing left on its frail frame, and in its bony fingers was an old metal sword covered in dust and dirt. The bones were grey with age, and as she had touched the side of its leg it broke. Yuffie stared, mouth open and her hands trembling.
Yet nothing scared her more as to what happened next. As she stood there staring at the seemingly lifeless skeleton, it suddenly twitched and lifted up its head to look at her. Yuffie's entire body began to tremble as those empty black sockets that once held eyes turned and gazed up at her, its lifeless grin leering up at her.
Yuffie turned away, a loud scream escaping her breathless lungs as she ran back towards Red XIII and the others. Bugenhagen and Red XIII stared as the girl skidded to a stop beside them, her face pale even in the firelight.
"All right, this place is WAY creepy!" Yuffie shouted, her voice trembling. "I've had enough! I say we go back right now."
"Go back if you want to," said Cloud from the crevice, his fingers working through the last bits of the switch. "But you'll be on your own in the dark."
Yuffie glared angrily at him, but she had no time to yell her reply. Cloud finished pulling the switch, and a loud grating noise echoed throughout the tunnels. At the same time the cold chill in the air turned even colder, making everyone shiver.
Laughter then began to ring throughout the tunnels. Eerie, deathly laughter, filled with mockery and hatred. Cloud looked ahead into the crevice as a white figure suddenly emerged from behind the wall. A thin white face with red eyes glared at him before bursting out of the wall, passing right through Cloud's face and shoulders and out into the tunnels.
There were more of the ghastly looking creatures floating around the tunnel, each of them laughing at the terrified group below as they flew around in the air. Yuffie was screaming, while Red XIII snarled and snapped his jaws at any of them that dared to come near. He managed to lock his jaws around one of them, but was shocked when his teeth passed right through the flesh. In response the ghostly figure turned and laughed, before flying off with its comrades into the tunnel.
Bugenhagen was the only one unafraid of the strange creatures. He walked on with the torch up towards the top of the tunnel, where a large door had opened up in the side of the wall. He looked up at the quickly scattering ghosts, watching as they began to fly off down the other tunnels away from them.
"Ho Ho Hoooo," he laughed. "Everyone here's a ghost of the Gi tribe. Killed in a certain battle."
Red XIII stopped snapping his jaws at the empty air, and looked over at his grandfather. "A certain battle…?" he asked. There was a question buzzing under the tip of his tongue, but Bugenhagen was talking again and he didn't dare ask it.
"The vengeful spirits of the Gi didn't disappear, and couldn't return to the Lifestream…" the old man said. He motioned them all towards the door. "We still have far to go. Ho Ho Hoooo." He then walked boldly through the open door, forcing the others to follow him if they wanted to remain in the safety of the firelight. Red XIII followed almost reluctantly, wondering about what Bugenhagen was up to.
The next area was similar to the first, although there were many hazardous drops leading to deeper parts of the cavern. So the group stayed in a single line, with Bugenhagen holding up the torch at the front to light the way. With the light they could see a little over the edge of the paths, which rapidly turned into shadow. Cloud even dropped a rock down, but he could not hear it land.
They were very glad to have Bugenhagen with them at that point, for he was able to warn them of all the hidden traps within the cave. One in particular was just ahead. A slippery, oily substance had been thickly laid across the floor near the end of the path, heading right towards a series of sharp metal spikes waiting at the end of the path. Without Bugenhagen's guidance, they would have stepped on the oil and skidded right to their deaths.
So they carefully made their way around the substance, listening to the disappointed laughs of the Gi ghosts as they headed up towards the next area.
There was another cave door at the top of the next area, and Bugenhagen stopped again. He turned and waited for the others to catch up to him, and waved towards the door.
"As you can see, this cave leads to the back of Cosmo Canyon," he explained. He turned to the door and floated a little towards it, letting the firelight create more dancing shadows around it. "It was unfortunate that the Gi were larger than us. If they attacked through here, we wouldn't have stood a chance."
"……" Red XIII mumbled thoughtfully.
Bugenhagen looked down at the hound's serious face, before turning back to the door. "Let's move on," he said, and headed through the door.
The others followed him through, now very aware of the increasing sense of hatred that filled every tunnel. They were sure that they were coming close to the source of all the hatred now, and thinking of what it could be made their hearts skip a beat.
Deep inside the dark depths of the next tunnels, the sleeping creature slowly stirred as it heard the sound of faint footsteps enter the cavern. With it came the equally faint scent of meat – living, breathing meat that could mean only one thing, and that was fresh prey. Slowly the creature opened up a few of its many tiny black eyes and peered out through the shadows towards the ground below.
Through the many twists and turns of the old white web that hung on all sides of the cavern, the creature could see its prey. There were four of them in all – an elderly man, a much younger man and a younger girl, as well as a dog. Although it did not care for the old man, the creature knew right away that the other two were perfect prey. Although something about the dog made it uneasy, its scent recalling some faint memory of many years passed.
Its mind awakening with the smell of food, the creature began to uncurl its eight stick-like legs. Each of its joints faintly cracked as they unfolded and stretched out, the sharp claws of its feet grasping onto the non-sticky parts of the web that it had made its home. Eight legs attached to a small rounded body began to move steadily across the ceiling.
Down below, Cloud and the others had just reached the edge of the web. It spread over four different tunnels and left its remains all along the walls, as well as the remains of a few of its unfortunate victims that were caught and snatched up.
Unable to go further because of the web, Cloud stepped forward and placed one finger on one of the silver strings. Strangely enough it seemed to shimmer at his touch, the entire web shaking every so slightly. It was also incredibly sticky, he discovered, stretching slightly as he pulled his hand away before flicking back into place again.
"Can we get through?" asked Red XIII.
Cloud did not answer him, and instead decided to try something a little more forceful. He drew his sword from behind him and held it up above his head. He then brought it down hard, the blade hitting the sticky edges and cutting through. The strings were tougher than he thought, and it took a few more strong pushes to get the blade right through the string.
The moment the blade sliced through the web, a gentle ringing sound began to echo throughout the tunnel. Cloud froze, his blade still stuck in the edges of the web. Everyone around him froze as well, listening as the faint ringing vibrated across the web and up into the tunnel, like a warning bell.
Up in the recesses of the tunnel, the creature stirred a little more. It turned its body slowly towards the sound of the ringing, using its more accurate hearing to guide it towards the web that had been disturbed by its prey. Its small but deadly jaws clicked loudly in response to the ringing, beginning to quicken its pace before its prey could figure out what was going on.
"I don't like the sound of that clicking," Bugenhagen commented, still holding the torch up so they could all see around them.
Red XIII lifted his head suddenly as he caught a foul scent on the air, and he began to growl deep within his throat. Yuffie looked round and round, until finally she lifted up her head and cried out, pointing to the top of the web.
All at once everyone turned and looked up, and there, on the top of the web, was the creature. A gigantic spider at least four times their size, standing perched on the other side of the web against the ceiling. Its jaws clicked hungrily as it opened all eight of its eyes on the group, sticky saliva dripping from its mouth.
"Cloud!" Red XIII shouted to him. "Get away from there!"
Cloud tugged hard on his sword, trying to pull it free of the web. It wouldn't budge, and as he looked down he saw that the ends of the web had melted to form a firm sticky coating around his blade, solidifying to hold the blade completely in place. No matter how hard he tugged and twisted the blade, the new coating just wouldn't let go and his sword was stuck.
Above him, the spider slowly stuck two of its legs through one of the small holes of the web, supporting itself before it stuck its body through the gap. Lastly it brought its legs out so that it was fully on their side of the web. Its eight eyes moved around from one person to another, from Bugenhagen to Red XIII to Yuffie, before finally settling its gaze on Cloud at the bottom of the web. It then began to move slowly downwards, its jaws clicking even more hungrily.
Cloud continued to pull on his sword, determined to get it free of the web. He could hear the spider's jaws clicking above him, one after another; preparing to make its rapid pounce that would end his life. He then had an idea, and snapped his head around to Red XIII.
"Red XIII!" he shouted back to the hound. "Give me your Fire materia!"
For a moment Red XIII just stared, unable to catch on to what Cloud was thinking. He suddenly felt a tug as Yuffie snatched the green ball of materia from his headband and hurled it towards Cloud. Cloud caught it in his hand and turned back to his sword, pulling out the Lightning materia and slotting in the Fire materia. He activated it instantly and jumped back away from the blade.
As the materia glowed, a single fiery spark ignited at the blade's tip. Within a second that spark exploded and enlarged, a coating of pure flame spreading across the blade. It touched the sticky substance of the web and that also ignited, immediately spreading from the sword to the rest of the web.
The spider didn't have a chance to react. With its poor sight all it could see was a sudden red blur before the flames rose up and engulfed it, its body bursting into flames. The spider screeched loudly, until the flames silenced its screech.
By the time the flames faded, there was nothing left of the spider. There was nothing left of the web, either, both of them completely destroyed by the flames. All that was left was a few dusty remains of the spider's body, crumbling to dust on the floor. Cloud's sword was now free, lying on the pile of dust. Cloud picked it up, taking out the Fire materia and throwing it back to Red XIII.
"Well, that was… interesting…" Red XIII said, walking over to the edges of the tunnel and looking up to where the web had been.
Yuffie fell down onto her knees, her hands falling limp at her sides. "I don't like this place anymore," she groaned. "Materia or not, I want to leave. Can we go back?"
"Not yet," Bugenhagen told her. "We still have a little way to go yet. Follow me."
With that the old man headed on through the tunnel, the torch lighting up the dark sides of the walls. Red XIII and Cloud followed closely behind, while Yuffie slowly climbed to her feet and shuffled on after them, muttering moodily under her breath.
Bugenhagen came to a stop again at the very top of the cavern, beside yet another cave door leading into darkness.
"This warrior went through the cave alone," he said, looking through the door. "Fighting attackers one after another…"
"Grandpa…" Red XIII said, the question burning underneath his tongue. "That warrior…"
Bugenhagen looked down at Red XIII's face. He still looked like the earnest young Nanaki he had always known, but now there were traces of fear and anxiety in his face. He smiled faintly.
"Ho Ho Hoooo. We're almost there," he said.
They went on through the next tunnel, and entered what they presumed to be the final cavern. It was a much larger cavern, and all around them were large chunks of rock and stalagmites, as well as stalactites hanging down from the ceiling. There were also a number of open pits filled with burning hot lava, creating giant clouds of steam that filled the cavern. There was also a foul stench hanging in the air.
At the very head of the cavern, on the far wall, there was a giant carving. It was built in the shape of a face or a battle mask, glaring out silently at the rest of the cavern with angry eyes.
Bugenhagen was the first to enter the cavern, and from the moment he passed underneath the door he felt the change in the air. All the anxiety, all the hatred… all of it was centred in this very cave. There were many Gi tribe ghosts roaming this cave, hiding in corners like more spiders waiting to attack. Yet, what scared him the most was the giant rocky mask blocking the cave's exit.
"What is this…?" he asked, stopping in the centre of the cave and looking up. His hand was shaking as he held the torch, sensing the anger coming from the statue.
Red XIII walked up behind him, also sensing the hatred coming from the statue. "Grandpa, is he…?"
"After death… The ghosts of the Gi… Like stagnant air… This… can't be!"
At that moment, the eyes of the statue suddenly lit up into a fierce and angry red. Like dark red pupils they darted around until they locked eyes with the group standing in the middle of the cavern. Then the ghostly tongue licked out from the open mouth of the statue, and a low growl rumbled deep within it.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORESS
Sorry about the wait for this chapter – I had a quick break to refuel my passion. I may change a few things about the next boss – purely because I can't fully remember what the boss looks like. If anyone knows a site or anything that has pictures of all the bosses from FF7, could they send me the link? I would really appreciate it.