Capitulo Seis

Disclaimer: Most of this story is property of Square Enix. The only things that aren't are my original character, Harper, and the plot for this fan fiction. In no way do I claim ownership of Square Enix's work.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Due to the many p.o.v. changes in this chapter, I'll insert the name of the person being switched to before each change.

Chapter six:

Vincent had re-visited everywhere but the Capitol and Bone Village. If there was truly nothing there, then what more could he do? He swept through the dig site at a brisk pace toward the Forest and the City of the Ancients, as he told himself he had to have missed something—there had to be something.

As he approached the pedestal with all the research paraphernalia, a glint on the far side of the pedestal caught his eye—because it hadn't been there before. The three had been back, and, as he took up a many-jeweled necklace, they had definitely gotten rid of…disposed of…Harper. Other than Harper's materia, nothing was changed but for the order (more a different disorder) of information on the floor.

Vincent, disappointed and angry, turned to leave…and his PHS rang.

(Cloud)

The church was the same as when he and Aeris had fought Reno and some of Shinra's other goons, only an ice-chest, bed-roll, and thermos were new; he had put them there. When Cloud had left the 7th Heaven, he didn't know he would end up in the church, but how he didn't know puzzled him. It seemed a logical place for a runaway, much more for a runaway who was in love with the more-or-less owner of the church.

He checked on the flowers, but dared not water them: last time he did that, they died. Everything was ok now that he was—Cloud fell to his knees clutching his geostigma-ravaged left arm. Everything was ok, except for that.

(Vincent)

It was Cid wanting to know…something. "Cid," Vincent said impatiently, "I'm a little busy."

"Oh, so you found something?"

Just then the reality that he could do nothing more hit Vincent like the piano in the Shinra Estate had been dropped on him from the highest spire while he stood in the lowest spot in the basement and watched in come plummeting toward him.

"No. Never mind."

"Awe…Vincent…" Cid, not one for consolatory words, stumbled.

"What was it you wanted?"

(Barret)

Tifa and Barret opened up the shops again when they returned from their Cloud search, while Marlene tended to Denzel, whose geostigma was paining him more than usual.

Barret came back from an errand to a Tifa who was polishing the bar while tears trickled onto it. "Tifa?"

She sniffed, trying to hide her tears. "Yeah?" Looking up from her work, she flashed a smile and continued polishing.

"Tifa…" Barret went around and behind the bar to close he up in a hug (a very rare thing, that!). "What's wrong, Tif?"

It only took a moment for her flood-gates to slip—her words ran together, barely able to be understood, "It all just feels so empty!" she sobbed and Barret quieted her. "The house, the shop, life—everything." Barret understood; most of his friends before had died in the fight against Shinra. "Biggs, Wedge, Jessie…and Cloud's as good as dead what with the way he's acting!"

"I know, Tif. I know."

Eventually, Tifa stopped crying, bit it would be many weeks till her heart was at all better.

(Vincent)

"The sub! Cloud asked me a long time ago to go back and do a sweep; I never did!" Cid explained.

"And?" Vincent prodded.

"Seems to me you need a little high-action fun! What d'ya say—go kill some mutated monstrosities?" That was probably the biggest word Cid knew, outside mechanical terms of course.

"You want me to go to the Gelika with you?"

"Well, I'm not going by myself."

"Fine, but I'm not holding your hand."

"Shucks!" Cid teased, before he realized Vincent had pretty much just called him a little girl. "Hey!"

"When?"

"I'll come get you. (That was dirty!) Where?"

"The Forgotten City."

"Yeap. Be there in a few hours."

Vincent wasn't giving up, but he did need a next more. Shooting something till it dropped dead was good enough. True to his word, Cid was there in the Highwind shortly. "To Junon!" Cid ordered the pilot-in-training once Vincent was aboard.

"Y-yes Captain Cid!" the boy nodded uncertainly. Cid stood by him, helping/cursing him and Vincent took his old place on the lowest deck with his thoughts.

Outside Junon was the red sub they had obtained during the Sephiroth episode. It was still in good condition in spite of the year and a half of neglect it had endured. Cid punched in the coordinates for the Gelika, and they were off.

(Harper)

Poisona was so close to being mastered and splitting…fitting that it should break, also that she be poisoned when her only curative was useless. Harper slumped to the ground, barely able to support herself. The distant bangs and clangs continued as they had been forever; that or they had just started. She was too delirious to tell the difference.

(Vincent)

Vincent was the first through the hatch leading to the Hall, so he got to watch Cid stumble and curse as he trudged through the knee-deep water before the dry platform Vincent stood on.

"You ready?" Cid asked. At Vincent's "Yes" he added, "Because it's been a year plus half of one since anyone been down here. Bound to be crawlin' with critters."

"Mm," Vincent simply acknowledged what Cid was saying. In his mind, he was going through the papers on the Gelika he had found in the Forgotten City. He saw Cid double checking his spear and materia, so Vincent double checked Cerberus and was good to go.

"So, let's go?" Cid asked; Vincent nodded.

The Hall had never harbored any monsters; therefore it wasn't surprising for them to not encounter anything there. What was strange was the abundance of rats, and the aroma of…cooked meat? That and the lack of the large beasts they were expecting. But all they saw apart from the rats were monsters small enough to be called babies.

"Man, what's with this?" Cid asked.

Vincent was annoyed: he wanted to shoot something. "I don't know. Let's go to the Hold…" he was remembering the arrow on the map. What was it for?

"That's the only place left. Don't think there'll be much in there, unless they're holding some kind of convention."

Vincent laughed, "A convention?"

"Yep."

The door to the Hold had been sealed so tightly that it took both Vincent and Cid to open it. The Hold's interior was the same as always but for the lack of adversaries. And that lack was obvious even from the observation deck.

"Man, this's just creepy."

"Yeah," Vincent wasn't listening. Something in him told him to go downstairs as fast as he could, but instead of jumping the railing, he just walked. But halfway down, he ran.

Harper was out cold on the lower deck, one of Cloud's old swords still slotted with materia lay to her left along with tiny shards of broken materia. Vincent yelled for Cid, inspected the shard and found them to be poisona. He cursed and got Cid to help him bring her out. If he was lucky, she wouldn't be dead by the time they had a remedy, or something else to help: Cid and he had both gone with ribbons. Until then, all they had was the cure materia, and a lame one at that—Cid had brought an un-leveled one in hopes of gaining a.p.

In the sub on the way to the surface, Vincent was able to further inspect Harper's condition. Her temperature was through the roof, yet she shook as if cold. He could only imagine being poisoned with no way to cure yourself of it. It would be a slow death, but by the look if it, you wouldn't be awake to experience that death. Cid asked how she was, but Vincent only asked him to keep going, and faster…please. From that, Cid could infer that the situation was not good.

Junon felt light-years away.