Final Fantasy VII: The Story 2nd Instalment

Emerald Princess of Vernea

Chapter Twenty-One

The two dragons dropped from the sky, one after the other, folding their wings by their sides to give them more speed. Horrific screeches of delight escaped their throats, their eyes bright in their desire to kill. As they screeched they opened their jaws wide, their teeth glinting like sparkling razors in the artificial light of the arena. Through their dim vision that was their only weakness, they could see the darkened, blurred shape of the human that was their prey.

The lead dragon reached the human first. The monster, seeing its prey get closer, drew back its head, preparing to thrust it forward in a quick and deadly assault. It neared. When the monster was close enough it thrust its head forward and snapped its jaws with all its might. It longed to savour the taste of living flesh in its mouth—the sweet taste of fresh blood trickling down its throat.

But the human saw the dragon approaching and was prepared for its attack. One of the many strange balls attached to his armour and weaponry was glowing faintly, its energy steadily building up. When the dragon lunged for him, the human quickly jumped up into the air. He missed the lethal snap of the jaws and sailed harmlessly over the creature's back. The dragon, realising its prey had escaped him, screeched and pulled its body upwards, swerving away from the floor to avoid crashing into the floor of the arena.

The human had proved to be a tougher opponent than the dragons had first anticipated. The more intelligent predators of the monster world, the dragons had judged the human to be an easy target for them. But the marks of that miscalculation were evident on their bodies—deep bleeding scars on their wings and snouts, oozing layers of thick, black blood across their skin. The human was formidable, that was certain.

Cloud turned his attention to the second dragon. It was approaching him fast. Its jaws were open so wide that Cloud could see right down into its throat—the hungry red flesh that longed to taste his blood and flesh sliding down its throat. Cloud drew his sword back, the blade beginning to flicker in electric light.

When it was ready, Cloud swung his blade forward. The sword missed the dragon by a mile, but the built-up electricity fired from the blade in a single ball of electric light. The dragon only realised what was happening when the ball flew straight into its open mouth.

The dragon drew back, shrieking piercingly as the electricity licked the inside of its mouth. The sparks crackled across its teeth and pained its soft flesh. Instead of human blood trickling down its throat, its own blood flowed freely inside its mouth. Its body writhed and shuddered in agony, convulsing as the electricity travelled further into its body. As the sparks reached its heart, the dragon gave one last dying screech and began to fall.

A cheer erupted from the crowd above. Yuffie was out of her chair, jumping up and down and cheering in delight at the thrill of the battle. She yelled at Cloud, but he couldn't hear her above the cheering. The crowd had doubled in size since the start of the battle—the crowd drawn to the Battle Arena after hearing of a spectacular battle going on. Most of the seats were filled now, filled with awestruck spectators.

Cloud reached the arena wall as the dragon crashed onto the floor. A pole stuck out of the side of the wall, and Cloud quickly grabbed onto it to stop him falling. Steadying himself on its thin surface his eyes scanned the arena, searching for the remaining dragon.

"Above you, Cloud!"

Cloud looked up at the sound of Tifa's yell. The dragon was above him, diving down from the ceiling at tremendous speed. There was not enough time for him to use the Lightning materia. The dragon was much too close. Instead Cloud leapt from the bar towards the ground.

He jumped just in time. A split second after he leapt from the wall, the dragon landed right where he had been standing. The dragon had reared its body back at the last second, bring its claws forward to catch Cloud and hold him still. But Cloud had escaped from its grasp, instead digging into cold metal and solid rock. The dragon tightened its claws furiously, before it too pushed itself away from the wall and continued to dive after Cloud.

Cloud landed on the arena floor, not noticing that the dragon had landed right behind him. Before Cloud could even think about turning or moving the dragon shoved him in the middle of his back with his snout. Losing his balance, Cloud toppled over and tumbled onto the floor. His sword clanked onto the floor beside him. A sharp pain struck his leg and Cloud cried out. A dark shadow fell over him.

In its moment of triumph, the dragon lifted its head and roared gloriously to the crowd. The piercing levels of its screech made the glass barriers of the balcony shudder violently, so much so that Dio feared they would shatter. It was piercing, even to the crowd, who covered their ears and winced at the sound. The dragon ended its roar and lowered its head, its narrow eyes falling upon Cloud.

Glancing over his shoulder, Cloud saw the dragon standing over him. Its right foot was on the back of his lower leg, the sharp claws cutting through the fabric of his trousers and into his skin. He could feel its breath—hot and thick with the stench of dead flesh—brush against his skin. Cloud slowly moved his hand towards the handle of his sword, just within arm's reach.

The dragon lunged.

Cloud swiped his sword.

Aeris leapt from her seat.

Silence fell upon the arena. There was not a single sound—not a breath, not a cough, not even a blink. Not even Yuffie, standing on her chair with her shuriken cradled loosely in her arms, made a sound. Aeris was pressed against the glass, her palms spread across them, her eyes wide as she gazed into the arena.

Tifa let out a small gasp.

In the centre of the arena stood the dragon, caught in mid-lunge, motionless. Its head was frozen in the middle of that lunge, its jaws wide and its teeth glaring, but the dragon's eyes had forever lost their vicious sparkle. Its arms were spread wide but unable to move. Not even its clawed fingers were able to twitch. Lodged in the middle of its chest was the blade of Cloud's sword, with black blood oozing steadily down the side of the blade.

Slowly, carefully, Cloud withdrew the blade from the dragon's chest. The blood stuck to the blade as he drew it out, seeming like black glue that stretched disgustingly across the metal. When the blade was free Cloud pushed himself back and stood up, his leg coming free easily from the dragon's slackened grasp.

The dragon remained frozen for a few seconds more, its lifeless eyes glaring emptily at Cloud. Then, finally, it began to fall. Its arms fell limp. Its winged crumpled up like paper against its body. Its head fell forward. The dragon landed on the arena floor at Cloud's feet, its tongue lolling limply out of its mouth.

At that moment the silence broke and the crowd erupted into cheer. Barret was out of his seat now, jumping up and cheering along with Yuffie and Cid. Red XIII nodded his head slowly, impressed by the battle. Tifa, clapping gently, turned to look at Cait Sith. She was surprised to find that the cat was no longer sat beside her, and the balcony door was open.

As the bodies of the two dragons were removed from the arena, Aeris sank back into her seat, her head low. Through the thick folds of her fringe she peered down at Cloud. Eyes closed and sword lowered, he was breathing heavily. She watched as he reluctantly headed for the slot machine, to determine the handicap for the next round.

Yes… she realised. There were still more rounds to go.

By the time the sixth round came to an end, Cloud's body was broken with exhaustion. The muscles of his arms and legs burned terribly. His lungs ached so much that it hurt to even breathe. His sword was so heavy in his hands that it was almost impossible to lift. He held it weakly in trembling hands, using all of his strength just to still the shaking.

He had had enough. He couldn't go on anymore—not right then. The far doors opened and the men began to drag away the body of the giant bird beast he had just killed. Cloud turned his head and looked up at Dio, his eyes saying the words that he just could not form in his mouth right then.

Dio nodded, understanding the look in the young man's eyes, and rose to his feet. He waved one large, muscle-bound hand at the men below. They nodded back and bowed slightly. The fight was officially over.

Cloud retreated from the scorching arena, slipping back into the cool air of the waiting room. The doors shut loudly behind him, cutting off the ecstatic cheers of the crowd. Once he was alone he let himself fall back against the doors and slid slowly to the ground. Sweat dripped profusely down his cheeks. His hands itched underneath his gloves, so he pulled them off and rubbed his hands across his face.

Cloud sat in the silence of the waiting room a few minutes more, waiting for the crowds outside to disperse. After those few minutes his breathing had returned to normal, and the beating of his heart had slowed back into its normal rhythm. He had closed his eyes, letting his head roll back against the cold door, gazing into the darkness. He almost fell asleep, to his surprise, until he remembered that the others would be waiting for him outside, eager to claim their prize.

Reluctantly Cloud climbed to his feet. He groaned as he moved, feeling the muscles of his thighs ache and burn with fatigue. Those were going to be painful in the morning. He pushed the pain of his aching muscles aside for the moment and headed towards the door, where the others would be waiting for him.

He saw his companions immediately. They were gathered together outside the entrance of Dio's museum, chatting loudly about the fights. Cait was back with them now, and had said nothing about his sudden disappearance. When they saw Cloud come out of the doors they ran over to him. Cloud accepted their congratulations with a smile, hoping that the weariness he felt inside wasn't showing on his face.

The string of cheers and congratulations was broken when a large, firm hand gripped Cloud's shoulder. Cloud winced, since the hand had gripped a rather painful bruise that he had picked up during the fights, hidden underneath his shirt. He turned his head and saw Dio standing beside him, a large smile on his deeply tanned face. The man then motioned to the museum, and Cloud and the others followed him through.

They gathered inside the museum again. They watched Dio as he went to the back of the museum, walked over the red cord, and carefully lifted the glass case off the altar. He lifted the Keystone from its velvet cushion and walked back to them. He stopped in front of Cloud.

"Hmm, you did pretty well, young man!" Dio said proudly, patting Cloud on the shoulder again and making him flinch. "Good, it's a promise, so go ahead and take it. I'll give this to you, too."

Dio dropped the Keystone into Cloud's hands. Cloud looked down at it. It was much lighter than he had expected, weighing almost the same as a ball of their Materia. It was very smooth to the touch, and also incredibly cold. Whatever extraordinary powers the Keystone held must be buried deep within its surface, within the strange markings that covered its surface.

He looked up to see Dio handing a very odd-looking jacket to Cid. It was more of a vest rather than a jacket, and was made of very small, interlocking circlets of metal to create a firm but flexible shield. This also was extremely light, much to Cid's surprise.

Now that all the gifts had been given out, Dio looked around at the group gathered around him. He smiled. "Well then," he said cheerfully, bringing their attention back to him. "We shall meet again! Heh, heh, heh."

Dio then turned and walked out of the museum, chuckling as he walked out of the door. When he was gone the companions gathered around Cloud to examine the Keystone. All except Cid, who was still staring in bewilderment at the metal vest he was holding in his hands.

"So this is the Keystone?" said Red XII, leaning in to sniff the stone in Cloud's palms. It did not carry any kind of magical smell—not one that Red XIII recognised. It smelt like a rock, but it also carried a deep smell of something he could not identify.

"Looks like it," said Barret.

Vincent crossed his arms and closed his red eyes. "I would advice that we take it away from here as quickly as possible." When the others turned to look at him, he said, "If this is the key to unlocking the Temple of the Ancients, then the Shinra will also be looking for it. If they discover that it is here…" He let the sentence hang.

Everyone's eyes turned to the Keystone. Vincent was right. It was too dangerous to keep the Keystone here. The Shinra would be hunting for it. On top of that, Cloud remembered, there were suspicions of a traitor amongst them…

Cloud shook his head gently. He did not want to think of there being a traitor in the group. Hurling accusations at one another would destroy their group—he couldn't risk that. He looked around at the worried faces of the others. Were they all thinking the same? While they were watching Cloud slipped the Keystone into his pocket, ensuring that everyone watched him do it.

"Let's go."

They left the Battle Square, which was empty now that the crowds had gone. The only people who stayed behind were the desk staff, who had gone back to looking bored now that all the excitement had gone. They waved farewell as the group left.

They walked down the long set of stairs leading to the airlifts, talking about where they should go. It was beginning to get very late indeed, and no one fancied spending the night on the plane. Red XIII suggested they go to Costa del Sol—it was the closest town with a welcoming inn, since they highly doubted the people of North Corel would welcome them.

So it was decided. They would use the plane to travel along the coast to the beaches of Costa del Sol. They would spend the night in the inn there and when morning rose they would begin looking for the Temple of the Ancients.

The companions emerged from the airlifts, landing one after another in Gold Saucer Station. The Station was empty, but to their relief the doors were still open. The Gold Saucer never closed, officially, yet they often closed their gates at a certain time for safety. The others followed Cloud as he walked through the doors, apart from Cait. He stayed behind a brief moment to readjust something on his Mog.

The air cab was still there, standing exactly where they had left it. It stood silently on the tracks, shadowed slightly by the gaping mouth of the Mog tunnel. Inside, the shadows of numerous people could be seen moving around, illuminated by the electric lights that occasionally flickered on and off. Cloud glanced at it, but didn't think anything of it at the time.

The woman was still there. She held a clipboard in her hand now, and was hurriedly looking over notes that she had scribbled down roughly in pencil. She chewed the end of the pencil, concerned. When she heard Cloud and the others move towards her she turned and ran over to them. Her face was creased with worry now, and she could no longer manage her smile.

"Excuse me, sir." Her voice sounded tired and strained as she spoke. Her hair was now a mess underneath the hat, and the end of the pencil had been chewed to ribbons. "The Tram is out of order right now."

Maybe it was just the growing fatigue that was clouding Cloud's brain, but at first he could not comprehend what the woman was saying. He looked at the air cab, then at the woman, then at the air cab, and then at her. "…So?" he said.

"I'm really sorry!" the woman exclaimed. She bowed down at him, moving so suddenly that her hat nearly fell off her head. She spoke while she bowed, "I'm afraid you won't be able to leave until it's fully repaired."

Cloud sighed, shaking his head in exasperation. He ran his hand firmly through his blond hair. He tugged gently on the longer spikes that fell around his cheeks; trying to push back the gnawing headache that was beginning to grow as the night wore on. He turned to face the others, and saw that they all looked the same. Weary. Cloud shrugged. Clearly they were not leaving the Gold Saucer that night.

"What's wrong?" piped a voice, the only cheerful voice, from behind them. The others all turned to see Cait Sith bounding happily out of the door towards them. He stopped as he saw their tired, weary faces, surprised at the sudden change.

Then Cait spotted the air cab. He understood immediately. Cloud could have sworn that, for a moment, a smile flickered on the cat's face. But then again, that was probably the exhaustion playing tricks on him. Either way, it didn't really matter. They were all stuck in the Gold Saucer.

"Too bad," the cat said finally. He walked the Mog forward so that he stood beside the group. "It happens, though. I know! Let's stay at the hotel! They know me here. I'll go talk to them." Before anyone could stop him he jumped up, and bounded off through the doors and out of sight.

Cloud sighed, wondering how Cait could still be so cheerful. Behind him, the woman bowed again. "I will let you know once the repairs are completed," she said.

At first Cloud didn't say anything. He looked around at the interior of the hotel with wary eyes, wondering what kind of horrific world he had stepped into.

The hotel was located in the Ghost Square, and was built to look exactly like an old haunted house. Directly in front of the hotel was an artificial graveyard filled with ancient tombstones. Carved onto the front of these tombstones had been names, the name of all the different area of the Gold Saucer. The tombstones weren't exactly tombstones, but rather the hidden airlifts leading out of the Square.

Inside the hotel was not a comforting sight either. The main hall where they stood was tall and grand, with tables covered in dust and grime. An old grandfather clock was ticking silently by the wall, and the floorboards creaked loudly under their feet. There was a warm fire burning—apparently, for it was only artificial—with two ghosts sat comfortably in chairs around it.

Aeris had received a terrible shock when she went up to the main desk to ask about their rooms. There had been no one behind the desk when she approached, and rang the bell to call for assistance. When she touched the bell there came a deafening scream, and then a large dummy of a dead desk clerk fell down and hung in front of her, its neck tied to a rope and its head lolling in front of her. What scared her more was that the dead clerk spoke! In fright she had screamed and jumped back into Cid's arms, where he caught her.

"We don't usually get the chance to be together like this, huh?" Cait said happily, once the major shock of the haunted hotel had passed. He still sounded cheerful, even in this gloomy place. He turned to Cloud. "Cloud, how 'bout it? Can you tell us what's happened so far? I don't really know what's goin' on because I wasn't here in the beginning."

Cloud, his attention broken from the figures of the ghost, which were flickering in and out of sight like the flames of the fire, turned to find everyone looking at him. "Yeah!" he heard Cid exclaim. "I'm all for it!"

"Good idea," Vincent agreed, slowly nodding his head. He gazed at Cloud from behind the long lengths of black hair that fell around his face. Cloud met the gaze of those red eyes, feeling the intensity of their stare as he waited for Cloud to explain.

"I been here since the beginnin' an' I still don't know what the hell's goin' on either," Barret snapped fiercely. He banged his fist loudly on one of the tables as he spun around to face Cloud. "Cloud, the hell's goin' on? C'mon, tell us!"

Cloud looked around at the others. Tifa, Aeris, Red XIII, Yuffie… they were all looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain what was going on. For a moment Cloud began to feel angry. Why did they always turn to him for explanations? He was as confused as they were about the whole situation. He had no idea what was going on, other than what they all already knew.

Still, the gazes of the others refused to look away, so Cloud took a deep breath and swallowed the faint, rising anger. "All right, I'll give it a shot…" he began. He took another deep breath and sighed. "Phew… We are going after Sephiroth. Sephiroth must be in search of the Promised Land."

"The Promised Land?" asked Cid, confused.

Cloud nodded. He had forgotten that Cid, being the newest of their group, had not been told everything about Sephiroth, the Ancients, and the Promised Land. "A land full of Mako energy…" he explained. "Or at least that's what the Shinra believe. I don't know if it actually exists."

"The Cetras return to the Promised Land," Aeris continued, taking over since she, as an Ancient herself, knew a little bit more about the Promised Land than Cloud. "A land that promises boundless happiness."

"Cetra?" asked Barret. "That some kinda disease?"

Aeris turned around to face him. "That's what the Ancients call themselves," she said to him. "Hey, didn't you listen to the elders at Cosmo Canyon?" Barret shifted uncomfortably where he stood, not wanting to admit that he hadn't listened to the elders at all. Aeris sighed and turned back to the others. "…You don't 'know' where the Promised Land of the Ancients is. You search and travel, until you feel it. Like you just know, '…this is the Promised Land.'"

"Aeris…" said Cloud, looking at her. "Can you feel it too?"

Aeris closed her eyes in silent thought, quietening her mind as she searched to hear the call of the Planet. She could barely hear it—the Gold Saucer was so vast and full of people and noise that the calls could barely reach her soul. But they were there, all the same. Eventually she opened her eyes and looked at Cloud. "I think so," she said finally.

"So Sephiroth is travelling the world because he's searching for the Promised Land?" said Tifa, summing up everything that Cloud and Aeris had said. She shook her head vigorously, her forehead creasing in confusion. She looked up. "Is that it?" she said.

Slowly Aeris shook her head. "That, and one other thing he's searching for," she said carefully. She looked at Cloud, knowing that he knew what she meant.

Cloud met her gaze. The look in his eyes showed that he did know what she meant, and that it filled him with the same dread as it did her. "The Black Materia…"

An ominous silence fell down upon the group. None of them had heard about the Black Materia before, but they all knew what it meant. The Black Materia… the Ultimate Destruction Magic… Thinking about it left a strange, dark chill in their hearts, making them shudder. The Black Materia was rumoured to lie inside the Temple of the Ancients… If Sephiroth was aiming to get a hold of the Black Materia, who knew what would happen to the Planet?

Cait, who had been lying on his stomach on top of the Mog, sat up. "I heard from Dio that a man in a Black Cape was lookin' for the Black Materia," he said.

The Black Caped men… They had encountered a bunch of those people in Nibelheim. They had been like walking zombies—their bodies covered in black robes to hide their faces, twitching and shuddering as though overrun by a terrible fever. Imprinted on their arms had been a number—presumably some kind of designation. There had been only two thoughts on their minds: finding Sephiroth, and joining in the Reunion.

As Cloud remembered, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. What was the Reunion that Sephiroth and the Black Caped men kept talking about? What Reunion? And what was wrong with those men?

Cloud shook his head faintly, pushing away the faint pounding and dizziness that plagued his mind. When that brief dizziness passed by he realised that Tifa was talking.

"I don't even know what the Black Cape is… How many men with Black Capes and number tattoos are there?"

"…You know, of course…" Red XIII answered hesitantly, his voice soft, almost to the point of a whisper. "My tattoo is number 13." He nodded his head to the black tattoo burned onto his left shoulder, with the numerals 'XIII', marking 13.

Cloud lowered his hand from his head and looked over at the hound. "How did you get that tattoo?" he asked Red XIII curiously.

Red XIII looked down at the deep, blackened mark of the numerals. "…Hojo put it on me," he said with a snarl, curling his furry lip in a sign of disgust. "Everything else is just war scars, but the number was done by Hojo."

Tifa gasped. "So there are at least 13?" she exclaimed in horror.

"You know…" Aeris said, her voice seeming as hesitant as Red XIII's. "…I think Hojo did something to those men in the Black Capes. But I don't know what it has to do with Sephiroth though… That's why I think we should just go after Sephiroth himself."

"Yeah, me too!" said Barret, once again banging his gun-arm on the edge of the table, making Yuffie jump and the holographic ghosts flinch in their seats. "It's all just too damn confusing."

"And…" Aeris began. Her voice suddenly seemed to choke and she halted, unable to speak any more. She turned pale, but only Cloud noticed. "I'm sorry, forget it!" she cried out suddenly. "I think I'm tired. I'm going to bed now." Before anyone could stop her, Aeris suddenly ran past the group and darted up the creaking stairs to the bedrooms. She ran to the room assigned to her and threw open the door, running inside and slamming it shut behind her.

When the echo of the slamming door faded, the others all looked at one another in surprise, completely taken aback by Aeris's sudden departure. "What was that, all of a sudden?" Cait Sith exclaimed, voicing everyone's thoughts.

Yuffie was outraged. "What? That's it? I'm goin' to bed!" At first everyone thought she was just reciting Aeris's departure, until she too began to run up the stairs towards the bedrooms. The group below watched as Yuffie also ran into one of the bedrooms, also throwing open the door and slamming it shut.

Cait looked back at the others in dismay. This conversation had suddenly taken a turn for the worse, and he didn't know how. "Is that all?" he asked, disappointed. "How 'bout the Black Materia?"

Cloud shook his head. "You wouldn't understand even if I told you," he said caustically. He had had enough of this conversation as well. It was late, he was tired, and the pounding in his head just seemed to increase as the conversation went on.

"Now all we gotta do is take action!" Barret shouted loudly, making Cloud cringe. Did he have to be so loud? Barret, however, didn't seem to notice as he continued to shout, "We're startin' tomorrow!" Then he ran up the stairs, his big, heavy boots creating loud thuds to join in the chorus of never-ending creaks.

When Barret had disappeared up the stairs, Red XIII walked slowly over to Cloud. "Cloud…" he said quietly, a concerned look on his face. "I'm number 13. Am I going to go mad, too?" Cloud looked at Red XIII, unable to answer.

"I don't know what Hojo did to you, but you've been all right so far, right?" said Tifa.

"But…"

"Be strong," Tifa advised him.

"But, I…"

Tifa lost her temper. "Stop it, Red XIII! Be strong!" Red XIII fell silent and shrank back, his eyes turning away to avoid Tifa's angry stare.

Cloud stared at Tifa in surprise. He had never seen Tifa act like this before. She looked really, really angry with Red XIII. This wasn't like her. "Tifa?" he asked.

But Tifa didn't hear him. "You're not the only one who's worried!"

At the other end of the room, Cait Sith rocked gently back and forth on top of his Mog. "I don't know what's goin' on, but we're in a bad situation…" he muttered, mostly to himself.

Seeing that the productiveness of the conversation was over, Vincent turned to Cid, who was sat behind him. "Hey Cid, let's go back to our rooms." He stopped and blinked, gazing upon the chair.

"…zzzz…zzzz…"

Cid was already asleep.

Cloud: -throttling Emerald-After all that time of waiting and writing, you didn't even include that one little bit you had planned to put in! What was the point in all that daydreaming then, you baka?

Emerald: X.X