Disclaimer: We do not own the characters in this fanfic. All belong to Square Enix.

Chapter 3

The Oasis

Right as I was about to fall asleep after we ate, Aerith called me over. I opened my eyes and looked at her. She was motioning for me to follow her. I stood and walked in the direction she went. Zack and Cloud were sleeping soundly. I didn't know how they could sleep like they were. It was so uncomfortable in here and there was the fear of the doppelgangers finding us. I wonder how long they've stayed here. When I reached Aerith, she tossed me a machine gun. I caught it, almost dropping it at the abrupt action.

I looked up at Aerith but her gaze was focused behind me. I turned. Zack and Cloud were sitting up, their attention turned to the entrance of the cave. Not sure what to do, I stood there. Aerith had her gun aimed at the entrance and Zack and Cloud had their weapons pointed in the same direction. Zack had a spear and Cloud had a pistol. Not a very good weapon choice for something as dangerous as the doppelgangers. Footsteps echoed through the cave. An overwhelming emotion of fear shot through me. The footsteps stopped but no one lowered their weapons or let their guards down.

"Who's there?" Aerith shouted. "Show yourself!"

"Wait…" said Cloud. "Is that…?" suddenly a young woman ran from behind a rock and hugged Cloud. The woman had dark brown hair. She was fairly pretty and she seemed to know Cloud quite well. Aerith lowered her gun and Zack his spear.

"Tifa, how did you get here?" Cloud asked as he hugged the woman back.

"I was just wandering around and I found this cave," said Tifa. "I'm so glad I found you."

"Aerith and Zack are here, too." Cloud told her.

"Oh," Tifa said, uncaring.

Aerith shifted her weight in an uncomfortable manner. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Are you hurt at all?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine." said Tifa, turning to Aerith.

"So, how is it that you're perfectly fine even though you were out there all alone?" asked Aerith. She made a really good point. I barley lasted 5 minutes out there without being attacked by those damn doppelgangers. Tifa was silent. Zack gripped his spear tightly and moved towards Aerith. Cloud, although, didn't move. Tifa takes Clouds arm and holds it tightly.

"What are you implying?" asked Tifa angrily. The cave started changing colors. It started getting darker and red. Tifa, then, claws into Clouds arm with her fingernails.

"Ah!" Cloud called out. "Tifa, what are you doing?" he asked. But she didn't answer. She stood there with a demonic look on her face. The cave had gone completely red now. Aerith raised her gun again.

"You aren't Tifa!" Zack yelled. Then, Tifa attacked. She jumped onto Cloud's back and started biting and clawing at him. Cloud yelled out in pain. Why wasn't he doing anything? Why wasn't I doing anything? There was a shot and Tifa fell to the ground, a hole in her head. There was no blood, only black goo. I turned and Aerith had the gun pointed. She was looking down sadly.

"Zack," Aerith said quietly, her voice sort of shaky. "Go help Cloud."

Zack looked at Aerith with concern. Aerith dropped the gun and sat on the ground. Cloud slowly walked over to her, sat in front of her, and then hugged her tightly. Aerith started sobbing and hugged him back. I watched as Zack tended to Cloud's injuries. I stood there watching, waiting for someone to say or do something. I was surprised to see Aerith break down so fast. She seemed to be the strong type, not to show her sadness, kind of like me. I wondered if her and Cloud were close to Tifa in any way. The real Tifa, I mean.

After 10 minutes, Aerith calmed down. Cloud stood and helped her to her feet. She wiped away a few stray tears then looked around as if just noticing the change in color.

"We need to get out of here." she said, her voice still frail.

"Agreed," said Zack. "We should split up."

"Why?" I asked. "Why would we split up? It means a greater chance of one of us getting hurt."

"Because we have a better chance of finding someplace to stay. We'll be fine." Zack turned to Aerith. "Be careful." He told her.

"You too." She said as they hugged. Cloud and I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. After they hugged, Zack and Cloud left. Aerith turned and picked up her gun again. I began to wonder about her relationship with Zack.

"So," I began. "What's up with you and Zack? Are you guys, like, a thing?" Aerith's faced lit up with a smile. She nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "We've been dating for a few years now." She was a lot happier than she was a few minutes ago. Zack, obviously, made her happy.

"What about Tifa? Were you close to her?" I asked. Just as soon as her smile appeared, it disappeared. Her mood changed back to sadness.

"She was my best friend. We traveled together for a while. Then we got separated and Zack, Cloud, and I ended up here. I'm afraid that she also ended up here but separate from us and that she's hurt badly."

I was silent. I didn't know how to reply. She could be right. Tifa could very well be near death if she's alone. I didn't last long. "So when you shot that doppelganger, it hurt didn't it? To see your best friend dead like that…"

"Yeah…" she said sadly. I… probably shouldn't have brought that up… I felt bad for saying it. I then found myself hugging her. She was caught by surprise by my action as well as I was.

"I'm sorry," I said to her. Why am I acting so strange, so caring? Aerith hugged me back.

"It's fine. It's not you fault. We should keep moving though." Aerith let go and continued walking. I followed, still feeling guilty for my previous question.

We came upon a floating sphere of white light. It was mystifying. I wanted to touch it. I reached my hand up slowly.

"Don't touch it!" Aerith called out. I stopped and looked at her. "We don't know what it could do!" I relaxed my hand and dropped it but then I felt my finger accidentally touch the mysterious sphere. We were then surrounded by this white light. It consumed us and we were transported to a different location. It was colorful, not red like the other place. It looked like a Japanese garden with a blue bridge over a small pond. Birds were chirping and it was very peaceful and serene. The sun shone through a Japanese cherry blossom tree. It smelled sweet and fresh. This was unusual but I felt safe here.

"Welcome to the First Oasis," I heard two of the same voice say. Aerith and I turned to find two Vanille's standing in front of us, each wearing different masks. The one on the left was wearing a kitty mask and the one on the right was wearing a demon mask. The demon mask was off center only showing half of her face. Under the mask her expression was blank. The kitty mask was white and very simple. The demon, however, was very detailed with horns on the top. Its mouth was open in a twisted smile. The eyes of the mask were yellow with black pupils. The Vanille's were holding hands and standing side by side.

Aerith held her gun in a ready position. "Who are you?" she asked them.

"I'm Kat," said the Vanille with the kitty mask.

"I'm Dev," said the Vanille with the demon mask.

"Do not,"

"Be threatened." Dev finished Kat's sentence. They seemed to be in sync with one another. Like they one person separated.

Aerith lowered the gun. "Why did you bring us here?"

"To prepare you," started Dev.

"For what is to come." finished Kat.

"What is to come?" I asked curiously.

"The defeat of the Puppet Master," said Dev.

"And you are going to do it." Kat said.

"Why us?" Aerith asked.

"Because you are the only ones capable of doing so," Kat told us.

"Everyone else is either dead or on the Puppet Master's side." Dev finished.

"Dead…?" Aerith squeaked. "W-what about… Zack… and Cloud…?" I hoped for Aerith's sake that they were fine.

"They are fine," said Kat.

"For the moment." Dev stated.

"F-For the moment? What do you mean-?"

The world began to fade apart as Dev started talking. "The power cores are the source of the Puppet Master's strength. Find them and destroy them. There are three in total, each controlling a different part of his powers. Destroy each and he shall be week enough for you to defeat him." The world faded completely and we were back on the Unknown World again in a new area from where we were before.

Aerith and I, in the midst of our confusion heard a weak and frail voice call out.

"Aerith...?" It said. We turned.

Fox: Review please!

Wolfy: Tips would be nice! ^^