Final Fantasy VII: The Story 2nd Instalment
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The red dragon stalked its way around the top of the hole. Its small red eyes gazed fiercely down at the companions. Cloud and the others stood mesmerised as the beast walked in a large circle, its head twisting on its long neck so that its gaze never left them. Once it completed its predatory loop it reached out a long, clawed arm and began to crawl down from the hole.
The dragon truly was a magnificent beast. It could almost be described as beautiful. The beast had a large, wide body covered in finely pressed scales that made glorious patterns across its back and neck. Muscles swelled underneath firm red skin, particularly around the powerful thigh muscles on which the beast walked. The sleek head was slightly pointed, with red horns rising up from the side of the skull. Sharp teeth filled the mouth. Its red eyes glared sharply at the group. They were intelligent eyes—a predator's eyes.
The rest of the dragon's body slid out of the hole and the creature dropped to the ground and faced the group. The sharp, curled claws of its four-fingered hands dug deep into the stone as it landed and the ground shook beneath its bulk. Its spiked tail thudded onto the floor. In the wider chamber the dragon stretched its treasured wings. They unfolded from its back and spread out until they almost filled the chamber from wall to wall. It was so majestic; Cloud and his friends could not help but feel awed by its ancient magnificence.
They were not in awe for long. The dragon, seeing its prey, lifted its head and roared. The sound of its roar shook the chamber and the group to the very core of their beings. Fear such as they had never felt before shot down their spines. Yuffie dropped her weapon in fright; Cid almost dropped his.
Cloud was the first to snap out of the dragon-fear that had gripped him. Drawing his sword, he ran forward and leaped into the air. The dragon snapped its jaws, trying to bite him in half in a single strike. Cloud, prepared for such an assault, twisted his body away from the lunging jaws and swiped his sword. The blade struck the top of the dragon's lip but did not piece the hard skin, instead scraping across the finely pressed scales as though it were diamond.
Realising his attach had failed, Cloud pressed his feet against the dragon's muzzle and jumped away as the dragon lunged again.
A bullet from below zipped through the air and caught the dragon on the underside of its jaw. Shrinking back, the dragon looked down in annoyance at the group below. They had overcome their dragon-fear now and were ready to fight. The dragon's sideward eyelids blinked, and its slithery tongue flickered inside its mouth. Very well, it would take them all on.
Turning its great girth to one side, the red dragon swung its tail with all its might across the floor. A great whoosh was heard as the thick tail swung across the chamber floor, heading straight toward the group.
Seeing the tail coming, the group of eight, plus Cloud, who had just landed after his assault, jumped up into the air. Landing on the tail for an instant, the nine used it as a platform to propel them higher up toward the dragon's most vulnerable area—its head.
Yuffie, with her lighter and more agile body, soared ahead of the others. She hurled her shuriken away from her, and it swept through the air. So fast it could barely be seen, it sliced across the front of the dragon's face, narrowly missing its unprotected eyes. The blades cut into the softer skin that surrounded the face, before flying away in a loop around the chamber.
Bullets shot through the air as Vincent and Barret teamed up to fire upon the dragon's head, also trying to aim for those exposed eyes. The dragon snaked back its head and recoiled. Bullets from Vincent's shotgun and Barret's gun-arm tore into the side of the dragon's face as it turned its head away. Dark red blood sprayed into the air, landing on their faces.
Tifa reached out and grabbed onto the dragon's horn with her glove. The hardened diamond knuckles from her new gloves provided an excellent way of breaking through the scales protecting the dragon's body. One well-aimed punch from her right arm broke the horn clean in half—the rough diamond slicing through the bone with almost perfect ease.
This new pain caused the dragon to screech and fall back, lifting the front of its body off the floor and stand on its hind legs. This provided the perfect opening for Cid and Cloud who, after leaping from the dragon's shoulders and using its thrashing tail as a propeller once more, drove their weapons into the dragon's abdomen.
Spear and sword cut deep into the dragon's fleshy underside, spurting out blood that covered the two as they delved their weapons further in. The Slash Lance, made in Wutai by weapon-smiths who knew the strength of their weapons, had built the tip of the spear just so that when it dug into a creature's body, the slightly jagged edges, normally invisible to the eyes, tore the victim's insides apart.
This is what happened with the dragon as Cid delved his spear deeper, and then with another sharp tug pulled it out. As Cid and Cloud jumped away from the attack site, more red blood and ooze spilled out of the thin slash marks. The two landed back on the ground and dashed apart, trying to avoid the deadly swinging tail.
Despite its growing pain and loss of blood, the dragon could not stop to tend to its wounds. Red XIII was leaping across its muzzle, his swift form a red blur in front of its eyes. Red XIII did not stop except to land a lethal scratch across the soft tissue around the dragon's eyes. He had already slashed one eye open—jelly and blood was pouring from the bloody mound that was already swelling shut. Now the dragon had only one good eye with which to see—and that was focused on striking Red XIII down. Flames filled the dragon's mouth: it was preparing a fire attack.
Seeing the danger approaching, Red XIII quickly leapt away. He landed on the nearby wall and dug his claws into the rock to find a handhold. He scraped down a good few inches before coming to a stop halfway down the wall.
Craning his neck back so that he could see, Red XIII saw the dragon facing him. The jaws were parted and Red XIII could see the flames that were burning in the back of its throat. Already he could feel the heat; in his mind's eye he could feel the flames licking at his defenceless flesh, toasting him into a charred lump. A tingle of fear crept through Red XIII. Thoughts of his grandpa flashed through his mind. He couldn't die here. Not now.
A cold draft of air swept across his nostrils, and Red XIII opened his good eye wide and glanced sharply to his right. The dragon too, sensed the cold wave and stopped its attack, also turning. Flames still burned deep in its throat, smoke snaking out of its nostrils and mouth like tendrils.
To their right, a slender figure with ice-white skin and surrounded in an arctic vapour hovered in the air. Shiva had been summoned into the fray. Knowing that the ice goddess's cold magic would be effective against the flames, Tifa had summoned the goddess in the hopes that she could save her comrade from a burning inferno.
Her cold blue eyes open, Shiva gazed upon the dragon as it stood inches away from Red XIII, who was scrabbling quickly down the wall. Shiva nodded in understanding and raised her hand, drawing the cold vapour around her into her palm to create a devastating attack.
Sensing its danger, the red dragon drew back its head, taking in a deep breath. Then it breathed out with great valour, forcing all the flames it had gathered out of its stomach and throat.
The tunnel of flames swept through the air, making the temperature of the chamber rise to almost unbearable levels. The metal of the companions' weapons heated up and glowed red—most of them had to drop them to the floor or else be burned by the heat. Aeris, standing to one side to guard the altar from attack, shielded her eyes with her arm, protecting herself from the heat.
Only Shiva seemed unconcerned as she slowly drew in the icy energy. With a great explosion of fire and heat, the flames absorbed the ice goddess into a fiery red cloud. All traces of Shiva vanished—all that could be seen was fire. The dragon raised its head and roared—revelling in its victory over the goddess.
Then a speck of white light burst through the flames. First one, then another, and then another could be seen amidst the dark red of the fire. More beams of white light pierced through the flames, until eventually the ball of fire burst apart in a sea of cold white light. In the centre of the light… was Shiva.
The ice goddess had finished gathering the energy she needed, and now the dragon, with its bleeding wounds in its chest and face, and one deep slash mark on its hide by Barret's chainsaw attachment, was open and vulnerable. The goddess lowered her arm and held out her palm. With a small, icy smile, she unleashed her attack.
The dragon could not escape. Its immense size meant that it could not turn very far in any direction. Its only escape was up, and its wings did not have the space needed to fly out of the way. Besides, attacks from Cid's spear had shredded one of its wings, leaving it completely useless.
The ice blast from Shiva's Diamond Dust struck the dragon like a thousand icy daggers. The dragon shrunk back as arctic-cold icy specks stabbed it all over, melting into its flesh and freezing it to the bone. The dragon tried to roar, but no sound escaped its frozen mouth. Its remaining good eye became hard as it turned into ice. Soon the entire dragon became encased in a thick blanket of ice.
Just seconds after the dragon was frozen, the ice casing surrounding it began to break. Cracks began to appear all over the icy monument. Fearing the dragon was breaking loose; the companions raised their cooling weapons and stood ready. But there was no need, for as the ice shattered and broke apart, the body of the dragon broke with it. Frozen to the core of its being, to the point of becoming ice itself, the dragon melted into the floor, becoming a large puddle of icy water on the chamber floor.
All that remained of the magnificent but deadly creature was a single ball of red materia, lying in the middle of the puddle.
The battle over, the group gave a huge sigh of relief. Tifa dropped onto the floor, offering her thanks to the ice goddess, who had returned to the materia on her wrist. Everyone was silent for a minute, until a resounding click and a hiss made them jump. It was only Cid, acting nonchalant as he lit a cigarette. Taking in the tobacco deeply, he exhaled and sighed in content. Barret shook his fist at the man angrily, while Vincent stepped into the water to retrieve the new piece of materia.
Cloud looked around the group. They all seemed okay. Everyone was spattered with blood from the dragon, with the exception of Aeris, who was running around with a damp cloth cleaning up the blood from everyone's faces. No one seemed hard. That was good.
"Any sign of Sephiroth?" asked Cloud, bringing them all back to business.
Aeris shook her head. "He disappeared," she said.
Cloud crossed his arms and frowned in thought. So Sephiroth was gone again. Where had he gone this time? Perhaps he was still in the Temple somewhere, waiting for them to find him. Or had he gone somewhere else? What was he really up to? A throbbing pain in the back of his head made Cloud wince. He rubbed his temples hard, and the pain subsided. When he looked up he saw that the others had all moved away and were gathered around the altar. Cloud jogged over toward them.
"What is this?" said Cloud, indicating the statue of the Temple on the altar. The others looked from one to another and shrugged. They had no idea.
It was a statue of the most intricate design Cloud had ever seen. It resembled the exterior of the Temple of the Ancients in every way, except for the rope bridge that was built outside. Cloud was almost certain that the statue even had the weather damage that was on the actual Temple carved onto its surface. But that's just silly, he mused to himself. It's just a statue.
Aeris leaned over to examine the statue more closely. "…There's something written on it," she said, squinting. Running her finger over a small plaque at the statue's base, she read, "…B.l.a.c.k……M.a.t.e.r.i.a." She paused to contemplate the letters for a second. When the words finally came together, she jumped back in alarm. The expressions on the faces of the others told her that they understood as well.
This statue was the Black Materia.
"Black Materia!!" Cloud exclaimed, his eyes wide.
Nine sets of eyes fell on the minute stone statue. Was it really true? Was this stone statue the Black Materia? It did not look like any materia they had ever seen before. Normally materia came in the shape of a small orb that could be fitted into a slot on a person's weapon or armour, allowing them to utilise its hidden powers. Even the seemingly useless materia that Aeris was using as part of her hair ribbon was shaped like an orb. If this was materia, it was certainly not the normal kind.
Aeris's materia… Cloud found himself drawn away from the statue and instead was looking at Aeris, who was facing away from him. He could see the pale white orb of her materia amidst the thick locks of her brown hair as it curled around her neck and upper back. In the faint light from the torches the materia looked as though it was pulsing with unknown energy. Cloud rubbed his eyes and looked again. The materia was plain and nondescript again. What did that materia do? Cloud was about to ask Aeris about it, when she suddenly shook her head vigorously, and the orb became lost in her hair.
"Hey!" the Ancient exclaimed suddenly, catching everyone's attention. Everyone turned to look at her expectantly. She was an Ancient, after all. But Aeris didn't know what to do. Instead she looked at Cloud eagerly. "…Black Materia. What should we do, Cloud?"
Now Cloud felt all eyes turn to him as everyone waited for his decision. Cloud looked at the floor. Sephiroth was planning to injure, and perhaps destroy, the Planet. Cloud had no doubt that he was planning to use the Black Materia to do it. If that was the case, then there was no way they could leave the Black Materia here where Sephiroth could get it.
Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Take it."
He stepped up to the statue. There was nothing holding the statue in place—and it did not look like there were any traps or anything. He found this rather odd, but thought nothing serious about it until he took hold of the statue and tried to lift it.
The statue itself did not move. However, as Cloud tugged on it, an immense tremor shook the Temple. The walls shook and trembled, sending clouds of dust and sand falling from the ceiling. A terrible groaning sound echoed against the walls as though something was screaming in pain. A ripping sound from the hidden depths below them roared up to them—it sounded as though the very Temple was being ripped apart by its roots. Alarmed, Cloud released the statue, and the tremors stopped. He turned to Aeris and shrugged, clueless.
"Wait a minute," said the Ancient. "I'll ask!"
Aeris closed her eyes for a moment, her heart calling out to the many spirits that were drifting throughout the Temple. Upon asking her question, she received a sudden flurry of answers—most of them inaudible. Frowning, she tried to ask the spirits to calm down and explain their answers. With some effort she was able to hear one particular spirit, although her words were still drowned out by the noise surrounding her. Aeris ran a little ways away from her friends, trying to hear the spirit's words better.
"I don't understand……" said Aeris. She moved to another spot, aware all the while that the others were watching her closely. Now she could hear the spirit, but what she was saying shocked even Aeris. "What? Really!?" Thanking the spirit for the information, Aeris ran back to Cloud, her face anxious. "They said that the Temple itself is the Black Materia," she told him.
Cloud tilted his head to one side, confused. "What do they mean?"
Aeris did not seem to hear him. She was walking steadily around the altar, her staff in her hands, looking up at the walls around her. She eyed the murals and the huge stone blocks that made the walls, and the smaller bricks that made the floor, mesmerised by what she had learned. "So, this whole building is the Black Materia?"
"This huge temple?" said Cloud, shocked. He looked at the ancient walls around him. "This is the Black Materia? Then no one could take it."
Done with her earthly inspection, Aeris came to a stop beside the altar. "Hmm, it's pretty hard," she said. She gestured to the statue resting on the altar. "You see this is a model of the Temple of the Ancients. And inside it is a device, which gets smaller and smaller each time you solve a puzzle. As the model becomes smaller, you become smaller, too. Until it's small enough to fit in the palm of your hand."
"So, if we solve the puzzles, the Black Materia will get smaller and smaller and we can take it out?" asked Cloud.
"Yes, but there's one thing…" Aeris paused, her brow creasing in worry. "You can only answer the puzzles inside the Temple. So, anyone who solves the puzzle will be crushed by the Temple."
"I see…" Cloud came over to stand next to Aeris and looked down at the intricate model, which seemed so small compared to him. "The Ancients didn't want dangerous magic to be taken out of the Temple so easily…" He folded his arms.
"Guess stuff this dangerous is best left alone," said Cid, throwing his used cigarette on the floor and stamping it out. He was about to pull out another cigarette, but a glare from Yuffie made him put the packet back beneath his goggles and pay attention to the matter at hand.
Tifa, knotting her fingers together anxiously, took a step back away from the altar. "Let's just leave it, okay?" she asked quietly. No one could see her hands trembling.
Now that she knew that she was standing inside the Black Materia, she did not feel the peace and comfortableness she had felt before. That was all gone now. Instead she felt the deadly power of the Black Materia, wrapping around her heart like tendrils searching for prey. It made her uncomfortable, and she wanted nothing more than to run away from the Temple and never come back.
"No," said Cloud, shaking his head firmly. "We've got to think of a way to get it out. Because Sephiroth has got lots of different flunkies. It's nothing to him to throw their lives away to get the Black Materia. This place isn't safe." He reached out again and gently tugged on the statue, just to be sure it couldn't be moved. Like before the Temple shook violently, and more dust fell from the ceiling.
"So what are we going to do?" said Aeris.
While all this was going on no one had been paying very much attention to Cait Sith. The cat had moved his Mog away from the rest of the group, and was murmuring seemingly to himself. No one could hear him talking, nor could they hear the small replies coming from a small chip on his wrist. Now the cat nodded, murmured something else, and then bounded back toward the group.
"I heard your situation!" the cat piped up readily. He moved past Vincent and a glaring Barret to stand in the centre of the group. Ignoring Barret's glower and shaking fist, he turned to Cloud. "Don't forget about me. Everything you said makes perfect sense." He patted his furry chest. "You can use my stuffed body for the future of the Planet."
While normally this would have been a good idea and solved the problem easily, knowing the cat's past history of treachery made Cloud instantly suspicious.
"We can't let Sephiroth get his hands on the Black Materia," the ex-SOLDIER said with a harsh tone. He gazed distrustfully at the cat. "And we can't let the Shinra get theirs on it either."
Cait sagged heavily on top of the Mog, his furry face crunching in a mixture of hurt and anger. "So that means you don't trust me?" he whispered. Cloud's lack of response answered that question. Cait swallowed heavily, shaking his head. "But Cloud. There's really nothing else you can do." Sitting up on his Mog, he looked around pleadingly at the group. "Everyone, please trust me."
Cait looked from one person to the other, desperately trying to win their support. At first they all looked back at him with looks of suspicion and distrust. No one wanted to put their trust in this treacherous cat, whom they now knew worked for Shinra. But they couldn't just leave the Black Materia in here where Sephiroth would eventually get it. Cait was right…
"I guess we have no choice," Cloud admitted finally.
Cait jumped up happily on his Mog. He seemed genuinely pleased that Cloud had decided to trust him with this very important and very dangerous task. The cat's face was lit up with excitement—as much as it could, considering it was nothing more than a remote stuffed animal. Eventually the cat settled down and grinned at the group.
"All righty then!" Cait exclaimed, his voice almost trembling in his delight. He patted his furry chest again with his megaphone. "Leave it all to me! Everyone, hurry up and get outside." As an afterthought, he added, "I'll go with you to a safe place."
With that Cait turned and bounded across the chamber toward the large doors at the other end, which had mysteriously opened again now that the red dragon was gone. Reluctantly the others followed him, still not happy about placing their faith in the robotic cat. Yet, as Cait had said, what other choice did they have?
They followed the cat out of the chamber and back towards the clock in silence. The same thoughts were running through their minds. They could all guess what was going to happen. The Shinra were more than likely waiting for them somewhere outside the Temple. Once Cait completed his 'sacrifice' and obtained the Black Materia for them, the Shinra would rush in and take it for themselves. And it was no safer in Shinra's hands than it was in Sephiroth's. At that point everyone determined that they would fight to the death before letting the Shinra take the Black Materia.
Cait led them to the clock, which was set at exactly six o' clock, leading a direct path to the door opposite the one where they were now. The Time Guardian no longer appeared to ask for their time, so they took this as a sign that this was the way out of the Temple. Either way, Cait bounded across the hands without hesitation, leaping through the open doorway before the second hand could knock him off. The others followed more slowly, taking their time.
The doorway led them to a short corridor. At the end of the corridor was a large set of double doors set into the stone. Cait had come to a stop near the doors and was looking up at them thoughtfully. He seemed a little confused, as though he had not expected the wall and doors to be there.
Not aware of the cat's confusion, Cloud walked past him and stepped up to the doors. There was no handle or bell that he could see. Curious, he knocked on the door. Strange, he thought. The door was warm, almost red hot. He received no answer to his knock, however, so he turned back to his friends. He shrugged.
"It's warm…" he muttered.
As he spoke, the entire corridor began to shake and tremble. The ground beneath their feet shook a little, not quite violently enough to knock them over, but enough to make them all wobble and shake from side to side. After a few moments the trembling stopped and they were able to stand again.
"This isn't good," Cloud said, looking around.
Since Cloud was standing with his back to the door, he was unable to see the monster that was beginning to emerge from the wall behind him. Appearing head first, the monster began to push itself out of the doors themselves, apparently a living part of the wall and door.
A small, grotesque head with small eyes and bony features, attached to an elongated neck where the ribs of the spine could be seen on the neck, pushed out of the wall. On either side of the head, two sets of arms emerged, slinking out of the wall. The arms were surprisingly thin, about the same width as Cloud, with three long, bony fingers tipped with ribbed claws. The monster came out no further than that, but the wall that it was attached to shuddered and broke free of its restraints, sending dust falling to the floor.
Ahead of Cloud, the others all looked up in trepidation as the monster emerged behind Cloud. Aeris, eyes widened and pupils contracted, raised a shaky arm and pointed behind Cloud.
"Cloud… …Behind you."