Now that the 'Up the Pagoda' Bonus Instalment is complete, I can finally get on with this second instalment. From hereon in we are moving out of Wutai and on towards the Gold Saucer. There will be a bit of originality in this chapter, since I want the Battle Square battles to be held in the next chapter. If no one has read the Bonus Instalment, which focuses on Yuffie's battles up the Pagoda in Wutai, check out my profile and you'll find it in there. Anyway, prepare for some originality in here as we finally get on with the fic!
Final Fantasy VII: The Story 2nd Instalment
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Nineteen
Cloud and his companions left Wutai as quickly as possible, heading back into the winding mountains and bridges to where they had hidden their plane. Despite leaving her behind in the village Yuffie continued to follow them. Eventually they had given up, and accepted the fact that no matter what they said, Yuffie would tag along with them anyway.
They moved briskly out of the village. They were keen to get back to the cove where they had hidden the broken down plane. The Turks had already moved on, and that meant that if they didn't get a move on, they would fall further behind the Shinra. They desperately needed to catch up to the Shinra again if they were ever going to find out where the Temple of the Ancients was.
They still had no idea where this elusive temple was. Even Aeris, who was an Ancient by birth, had no idea where it was. In fact, she had barely even heard of it, except maybe in passing tales told by her mother before her untimely death. All that seemed to exist of the temple were legends and rumours. But the Shinra seemed to believe it existed, so their one hope lied in following them.
Yuffie did not stop talking even for a second as they entered the mountains, crossing the long wooden bridges towards the cove. She droned on and on about how she would have fought Corneo on her own, despite being tied up to the face of Da-Chao. The mountain of Da-Chao was fading fast behind them, fading quickly behind the setting sun, which was now beginning to slide fast across the horizon. It would surely be dark by the time they reached the cove. As she walked, Yuffie cradled her new weapon, a Razor Ring, since her old shuriken had broken during her fight with her father in the pagoda.
The others had replaced some of their weapons as well, since the Weapon Store allowed them to purchase some new weapons once Yuffie was back in their time. Tifa had accessorised her fighting gloves by tipping the knuckles with hard studded diamonds – perfect for delivering cutting blows. Barret had been drawn to a chainsaw accessory for his gun-arm, attaching it to the front just above the gun-barrel. Vincent had even upgraded his gun to a Shortbarrel, selling the old one as payment. Cloud was probably the only one who did not change his weapon. He didn't really feel able to part with his large Buster Sword. It almost had sentimental value, and he didn't feel right in giving it up just like that.
They strolled quickly through the darkening mountains, keeping their voices low as they discussed where they should head. Aeris suggested maybe they head back to Rocket Town and ask around there, but Cid assured her that there was no one in Rocket Town who would know anything about the Temple of the Ancients. Red XIII suggested they visit Cosmo Canyon again, and ask Bugenhagen if he knew the whereabouts of the temple – if it existed. Barret suggested they go to Nibelheim and force information out of the actors there, but Cloud and Tifa quickly dismissed that idea. They didn't want to go back there if they could help it.
After much argument and discussion, they finally reached the cove where the Tiny Bronco was hidden. It was still secure at the top of the beach, the ocean surf moving in gently across the sand. As they had predicted it was almost completely dark, the mountains casting dark shadows across the beach. They could see the ocean and the lands ahead of them, but it was a strain. So they wasted no time pulling the plane back into the water, where they all climbed on and set off into the ocean.
The sky became considerably darker as they set off on their little 'boat'. The Tiny Bronco hummed quietly in the water as they sailed away from the mountains, the propellers turning and throwing up bubbles of spray onto the group. As they reached the deeper parts of the ocean they turned the engine onto full power, and sailed as quickly as they could across the ocean. They wanted to get to Cosmo Canyon before it was too dark for them to see where they were going.
They had little hope of reaching Cosmo Canyon before nighttime really set in. In fact, once Wutai slipped behind them, the sky was black and dotted with stars. All they could see was the faint grey of the ocean waves as they tilted over the edge of the plane, and the faint outline of land in the distance.
It took them an hour to reach the continent again, and another half an hour to reach the plain of rocks and grass where the mountains of Cosmo Canyon stood tall in the night. Small lights on the front of the Tiny Bronco showed them the land just ahead of them, and up in the distance they could see the fiery lights of Cosmo Canyon, standing silently like a beacon.
Unfortunately they could not get close enough to disembark. The Tiny Bronco's lights enabled them to see a few metres in front of them, but they were not able to show them the deadly rocks that lay beneath the surface of the ocean. The river was the same. Their buggy had been able to cross the river with ease, but the plane was nowhere near equipped to handle the unseen battering from jagged rocks. Cid was not prepared to let his precious plane become any more damaged than it already was, so it was impossible for them to land at Cosmo Canyon that night.
"It's no good," said Cloud, as he looked around at the others. "We'll have to think of something else. We can't risk sinking the plane." He narrowed his eyes. He could barely see their faces in the night, their bodies' darkened silhouettes. They could see him though – the Mako glow in his eyes shimmered faintly even in the night. He sighed. "I think we should just head to the nearest inn and try coming back when it's light. I doubt the Shinra will do much at night."
The others all muttered amongst themselves. The nearest inn was probably a good few miles away, or even on the other side of the continent! Before anyone could grumble Cid turned back to his controls and slowly turned the plane away from the shore. It turned steadily, the engine continuing to hum soothingly as they began to sail out into the ocean again.
They tried to sleep as the plane drifted along. Cloud took the first watch, sitting next to the controls where Cid was piloting. The air pilot refused to let anyone else handle his precious plane, even if it meant staying up all night. The others all curled up as best they could on the back of the plane. At first it seemed an impossible task to sleep in such a small space, but pretty soon the sound of Barret's loud snoring filled the nighttime air.
They followed the coast slowly around the continent, Cid manoeuvring the plane so that they stayed a safe distance from the cliffs to avoid being caught by the rocks. The ocean was calm and peaceful, and as Cid leaned over to look into the water he could see the dark silhouettes of fish swimming beneath the surface. Seeing them made Cid's stomach rumble, but he couldn't risk letting go of the plane so he could catch one with his spear. So he suffered with his hunger, and continued to steer.
Gongaga passed them by – faint, flickering lights between the close huddle of trees keeping warm in the night. As they turned the corner of the continent and slowly headed north, a chill northern wind hit them and made Cloud shiver. He envied Vincent in his warm cloak, and Cid's thick jacket.
Aeris slept softly as the plane sailed along. She was huddled up close to Red XIII, using the warmth of his fur as a blanket to keep her warm. The hound didn't notice the chill wind passing through his fur, but when a sudden strong gust blew across the bare skin of the Ancient's arms, she woke and slowly lifted her head. We're still sailing, she thought silently to herself. She looked at Red XIII, watching as his tail twitched sleepily across the edge of the plane. The tail flickered over Barret's face as he slept. Barret's face twitched, and he pushed the tail aside, turning over and continuing to snore.
Aeris smiled. Everyone looked so peaceful. She couldn't think of anything better than this moment – all of them lying together peacefully underneath the stars. If only their situation wasn't so pressing, then they could all sit and enjoy this moment. She looked a little further along the plane and saw Cloud, staring out silently into the ocean. Aeris opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut her mouth. Cloud's eyes were closed, lost in thought. Aeris laid her head gently on Red XIII's breathing chest, and continued to watch him.
After a few minutes Aeris turned her gaze back to the north. The plane passed an embankment and opened up to reveal the next part of the continent. A bright glow caught Aeris's eye and she slowly sat up, pushing her brown hair out of her eyes.
Cloud saw it, too. It was not exactly hard to miss, for it was so bright and surrounded by many lights of numerous colours that someone would have to be blind to miss it. They were the lights of the Gold Saucer, shining brightly in the middle of the continent. The lights flared up into the sky, moving like dancers across the stars. Even from this distance they could hear the faint sounds of screams, coming from the amusement park's thrilling roller coasters and other games.
Cloud, sensing that someone was watching him, turned to look at Aeris. The young woman was looking back at him with a happy smile on her face. Despite the troubles that had occurred last time they visited the Gold Saucer, the park had been an exciting place to visit. It was also where they had picked up Cait Sith, the somewhat-bad-at-fortune-telling-machine. The cat was curled up on the top of his magical Mog, using his megaphone as a pillow. Cloud turned away from Aeris and looked at the Gold Saucer, wondering if they could rest there.
As he was looking out, something flickered and caught his eye. He looked back toward Aeris, and gazed at the cliffs that were lowering steadily beside them. At first he saw nothing, and wondered if he had just imagined seeing something. He was about to turn away again, when the movement came again. Cloud narrowed his eyes, straining to see through the darkness.
There it was again, a small light shining amidst the darkness. Cloud stared, wondering if maybe the night was just playing tricks on him. He rubbed his eyes, pushing back his own fatigue, and looked out again. The light was still there, faint but definitely visible, shining out from a patch of darkness. At first Cloud thought that it was a monster, until he realised that it was a simple electric light, coming from a small building that stood close to the edge of the small cliff.
"Cid, stop," Cloud ordered. Cid did as he was told and brought the plane slowly to a stop in the middle of the ocean. Cloud carefully stood up on the plane, causing it to rock gently beneath his feet.
The rocking caused the others to wake, Cait almost falling off his Mog and into the water. Red XIII caught him just in time, catching him in his jaws and lifting him back onto the Mog. Barret, annoyed at being woken up, snapped rudely at Cloud in his usual, course language. Cloud ignored Barret and pointed out at the light. Slowly everyone turned to look, and stared at the light.
"What place is that?" asked Tifa, once they had all agreed that the light did belong to some sort of building.
Cloud shrugged his shoulders. His eyes were heavy and his legs aching, desperate to move somewhere other than across the edge of the plane. "Does it matter?" he asked, rather snappishly. "The point is it's a place to stop." He looked down at Cid. "Can we land here?"
Cid looked up from his controls. "I ain't no sailor!" he snapped back. He was tired, too. All Cloud could see of Cid was the glowing orange light of his cigarette, which moved up and down as he spoke. It was becoming impossibly hard for them to see anything. "Don't worry," Cid assured him, calming his tone. "I'll set ya down on the beach further up."
He turned the engine down to half power, and carefully steered the plane towards the thin river that separated the Corel and Forest Plains. Cloud sat back down on the plane as it moved, feeling it rock precariously as he stood. Thankfully there were no rocks for them to fear on this side of the continent, and pretty soon the soft, sandy banks of the beach appeared alongside them. Cid pulled the plane slowly towards the beach before turning off the engine, letting it float forward on its own momentum before he jumped out and began to pull the plane onto the shore.
When the plane was secure, Cid took out his cigarette out of his mouth and threw it onto the floor. "There ain't no need for all of us to go," he said, pulling his cigarette packet out from behind his goggles. "I'm gonna stay here and look after the Tiny Bronco. You investigate if you want. I'm gonna wait right here."
"If you are going, I will come with you," Red XIII said to Cloud. Cloud looked down at the hound, confused. "In this darkness it would be quite easy to get lost," he explained. "Not to mention that I can smell any monsters that come near."
Cloud nodded in agreement. It was probably best that Red XIII travelled with them. In the darkness, where they could barely see the ground in front of them, they would probably end up walking straight off the edge of the cliffs without someone to guide them. Cloud didn't fancy falling to his death, fumbling around in the dark. He looked around at the others, waiting for another volunteer to come with him and Red XIII. After a few seconds Tifa ran forward and stood by Cloud.
With their small party set, Cloud, Red XIII and Tifa left the Tiny Bronco behind and headed out towards the source of the light. The others, exhausted after a long day of hiking and fighting, clambered back onto the Tiny Bronco to wait for their return. The hut was visible from where they had landed, no more than a five-minute brisk walk in the darkness. They sat on the plane and peered out into the darkness, waiting for their friends to return.
Tifa sighed with such relief as she, Cloud and Red XIII finally reached the hut. When they started walking she had not realised just how worn out her body was. Now her legs were aching, her muscles burning, and her gloves felt like ten-ton weights on her hands. She was even feeling a little bit dizzy, since she hadn't eaten or drank anything since Rocket Town.
Cloud looked at her with concern, but did not say anything. Tifa's hair hung heavily across her face, but he could tell that she was exhausted. She looked ready to drop to the floor in a heap, and sleep until the next year. Cloud couldn't blame her. He felt the same as she did. No doubt the rest of them felt the same.
They reached the hut. It looked to be nothing more than a hut, since it was built from simple wood that was dark from years of weathering, but still standing. Cloud figured it was an emergency store, built for travellers who needed to stop and get supplies, or simply to hide from monsters. The door was ajar, so Cloud peered inside.
It was a shop. As he looked in his eyes fell on many shelves and cases that were full of weapons, armour and other handy supplies. The shopkeeper was standing at the bottom of the stairs just beyond the door, sweeping at the floor vigorously with a strong, twig brush.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Cloud waved his hand down to Red XIII, who was standing beside the door with his claws flexed, ready to fight if necessary. Seeing the signal Red XIII nodded and settled back on his haunches. He would wait for Cloud and Tifa outside the shop until he was needed. He yawned loudly and settled down on his paws, his eyes gazing up as Tifa and Cloud walked past him and entered the shop. Then he closed his eyes, keeping one ear alert for their return.
The sudden change from dark to light hurt their eyes as they entered the shop. Tifa blinked while Cloud shielded his eyes with his arm, straining to adjust them so he could see what was ahead of him. The door swung slowly shut behind them, and as it clicked closed the shopkeeper suddenly became aware of their presence and turned in surprise. He stared at the two in surprise, surprised that there would be customers out at this time of the night.
"Huh?" he asked. He rubbed his eyes and blinked as though he was dreaming, wondering if he wasn't just seeing things. Clearly he didn't get much business. When he realised he wasn't dreaming, he set his brush down by the stairs and walked over to Cloud and Tifa. "Oh, another customer. You sure picked an out of the way place, but…… But if it's the 'Keystone' you're looking for, you're too late. Don't have it."
Finally Cloud's eyes adjusted to the light, and he could see the shopkeeper clearly. "Keystone?" he asked, tilting his head. He had never heard of the item before. He glanced at Tifa, who shrugged, and then walked off to one side of the shop to examine some of the items.
Again the shop owner seemed surprised and scratched his head in bewilderment. "What? You didn't come here for that?" he asked. Cloud shook his head in reply. The shop owner tried to explain, keeping one eye on Tifa as she set about examining a pair of leather gloves at the back of the shop. "The 'Keystone' is the key that unlocks the gate to a very old temple somewhere. You're not going to believe your ears, but I heard it was the Temple of the Ancients!"
That statement caught Cloud off guard, and he almost staggered back in shock. Tifa, also surprised to hear the mentioning of the temple, dropped the case she was holding onto the ground. It landed with a loud thud, but thankfully did not break. She blushed and picked up. The shop owner walked over to her and took the box from her, accepting Tifa's embarrassed apology for being so careless.
"The Temple of the Ancients…" Cloud muttered quietly to himself, thinking hard. Could it really be possible that out of all the places they could have stopped, they had stumbled on the one place that knew something about the Temple of the Ancients? It certainly appeared so.
The shop owner put the box back on the shelf and looked at Cloud. He saw the young man's serious expression and laughed loudly. "Don't take it seriously!" he advised. "It's just a legend!"
Cloud caught Tifa's gaze, and knew what she was thinking. The shop owner clearly didn't believe in the Temple of the Ancients, but he was beginning to think that it was more than just a legend. The Shinra were heading there, which meant that Sephiroth was heading there as well. "Where is the Keystone?" he asked curiously.
The shop owner seemed to hesitate for a second, an anxious look in his eyes. "I sold it already," he replied finally. He scratched the back of his head, and looked rather sheepishly at Cloud. "Yeah well, to tell the truth, I didn't want to sell it but… That guy had a way about him that made you feel like it may not be a good idea NOT to sell it to him…"
Hearing that, Cloud's first thought was that he was talking about Sephiroth. He quickly changed his mind, because he realised that Sephiroth was not the type of person to wait to be sold an item that he wanted. Especially if it was something as obviously important as the Keystone. No, Sephiroth would simply have killed the shop owner the moment he entered the shop, and then, with the owner lying in a pool of his own blood, Sephiroth would have taken the Keystone for his own.
Looking at Tifa again, he saw her mouth the word 'Shinra' silently. Cloud shook his head. It wouldn't have been the Shinra either. Like Sephiroth, if the Shinra wanted something, they would not wait around and bargain. They would take it, by force if necessary. Just as Palmer was prepared to steal the Tiny Bronco if Cid did not give it up willingly to the Shinra. So if the Shinra didn't buy it…
"Who did you sell it to?" Cloud asked, out of ideas.
"The manager of the Gold Saucer," the shop owner replied. He didn't notice Cloud sigh with relief under his breath, and carried on talking. "Think his name was 'Dio'. Said he was going to put it in his museum, then he took off out of here."
That was all the information that Cloud needed. He nodded his head at Tifa, who bowed politely to the shop owner and then headed for the door. She opened the door, letting a cold breeze blow through the door. Red XIII opened his eyes and looked up at her as she came out. Cloud was about to follow Tifa, when he suddenly stopped and looked back at the shop owner, another question in his mind.
"Where is the Temple?" he asked, just out of curiosity. He didn't really expect an answer, but it didn't hurt just to ask.
As Cloud expected, the shop owner rolled his eyes at Cloud. "Come on… it's only a legend," he insisted. He found it hard to believe that Cloud was taking the legend so seriously, since half the time legends turned out not to be true. "But if it were true, that sure would be something, huh? Now that you mention it, I have heard of something called Ultimate Destruction Magic that was supposed to be hidden somewhere in the Temple of the Ancients."
"Ultimate Destruction Magic…?" Cloud repeated, his hand grasping the wooden frame of the door. Somehow those words left a dark feeling in the pit of his stomach, and sent a faint chill down his spine, but it could have been the wind and his hunger. He shook his head, and quickly headed out of the door, leaving the shop owner's desperate protest behind him.
"Come on! I told you not to take it seriously!"
Emerald: Yay, another chapter. Finally we are getting onto the bit that inspired me to start writing this novel again. Last time I tried to write it, I stopped at Shinra Headquarters (rescuing Aeris) because I was getting bored. Then, I got this one flash of an image during the Gold Saucer Battle Square fights, and I started writing it again.
Cloud: You do realise that you've had that image burning in your mind for over a year and you're only JUST getting to that bit?
Emerald: YES! I will write that bit even if it kills me!
Cloud: Bear in mind people this inner clip she had lasted about two seconds…