I don't own ANY of the Kingdom Hearts characters, Final Fantasy VII characters, Final Fantasy VIII characters. I only own Katie.
Katie and Leon didn't have to wait long for the Keyblade Wielders to come to the former castle and into Ansem's Computer room. "Where are Cid and the others?" Katie asked Sora.
Sora shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea, I think they went back to Merlin's house."
"Are you ready to go into the Space Paranoids, Katie?" Riku asked.
Katie thought for a second and then shook her head. "I think I'll stay here. I need to monitor the computer in case something goes wrong. You guys go on ahead."
Riku nodded in understanding. "That sounds reasonable." He turned to Sora. "So, how do we get inside the computer?"
Sora sent his friend a childish grin and walked over to the computer to press a button. He quickly ran back to the large scanning device and motioned all of the Keyblade Wielders to join him, they did. A beam of green light shot from the scanner and turned the Keyblade Wielders into data. With a flash of bright white light, they were gone.
Katie went to the computer and typed in codes. She smiled and said to Leon, "They're in."
"Good. Hopefully, they can get rid of the Heartless and Bug Boxes." He started to walk away. "I have to go back to HQ. There's still a lot of restoration to do."
"I understand…oh! Before you go, Leon…" She unclipped Terra's Wayfinder and handed it to Leon. "This is what I use to summon others. Is alright if you make a D-Link with me?"
Leon thought for a second then nodded with a smirk. Katie grinned at him and grabbed one of the Wayfinder's points; she put back on her belt when she felt Leon's presence and oddly many others in the Wayfinder. "Thanks!"
"You're welcome. I took the liberty to add Tifa, Yuffie, and Aerith to your charm also, to give you more help."
"Sweet! Thanks! Catch you later! Oh, and can you watch Venitas for me? He likes to get into trouble…" Katie requested sheepishly.
Leon chuckled. "We've kind of figured that out already." He waved good bye and walked away. Katie turned to the computer and cracked her knuckles. Taking in a deep breath, she started to type in codes.
Katie stopped typing and ran her fingers through her hair; it felt like straw, dead. Lifeless. A strand of silver hair fell in her face, reminding her she was running out of time. She sighed and tucked it away. Popping her tired hands, she went back to typing. "I hope the others are doing okay..." she muttered.
Katie jumped when a voice said behind her, "I bet their okay."
Katie turned around to see a very familiar somewhat transparent man. "Zack?!" she exclaimed.
Zack grinned at Katie but his childish grin slowly faded to a look of concern. "What happened to you? You look-"
"Terrible?" Katie finished for him. "Yeah, I now. Kinda makes you think of a certain person, doesn't it?"
Zack's knit his eyebrows and went into deep thought. His eyes suddenly widened. "Wait, you're degrading?!" He exclaimed.
"In a way, yes." Katie sighed. "Zack, how'd you get here? I didn't summon you."
"I just wanted to see how you were doing. The last time I saw you, I gave you my Esuna Materia...I'm starting to think you were misusing it; weren't you?" Zack returned the question.
"It doesn't matter! Zack, I'm sorry but I'll have to ask you to leave." Katie told her best friend.
Zack narrowed his eyes, "Why?"
"Because!" Katie huffed. "This world is dangerous for you to be in!"
Zack crossed his arms. "How so?" he questioned.
Katie face-palmed and groaned. "Because, if someone sees you-!"
"Katie?" a gentle voice called from the hall. "Katie, who are you talking to? Is someone else down there?" footsteps sounded.
"Crap, it's Aerith!" Katie whispered. She turned to Zack and motioned him to hide. She growled when the stubborn ex-SOLDIER shook his head 'no'. Katie narrowed her eyes angrily at him. She mouthed, "Go!" Zack knit his eyebrows at Katie. He almost yelped when Katie forcefully pushed him into the former Heartless creation device room and shut the automatic door quickly.
Right as soon as the door closed, Aerith appeared. "What's going on, Katie? I thought I heard another voice..."
"Nope! That was just me!" Katie nervously laughed. "I was talking to myself."
"Are you sure? I thought I heard a man's voice..." Aerith smiled at Katie. "I must have been hearing things." as she turned around to the computer, Katie let out a silent sigh of relief. Aerith looked at the computer Katie was working on. "Are you close to finding what's wrong with the system yet?"
"Almost." Katie answered, she joined beside Aerith. "I'm getting closer. I removed Merlin's faulty spell not that long ago, with that out of the way, I should be able to fix the bug."
Aerith nodded and asked kindly, "Do you need any help?"
Katie thought for a second and stifled a laugh, "You can help by keeping Yuffie from infiltrating. She comes in here every fifteen minutes asking if I want help and it ends up into a five minute argument until she stomps away."
"Okay." Aerith started to leave the computer room. "Let me know if you need any more help. I'll be at the church."
"Wait, this place has a church?" Katie asked.
Aerith stopped and nodded as she looked over her shoulder. "Yes. It's about three blocks away from the Market Place." She sent a smile to Katie and waved goodbye. "I'll keep Yuffie busy for you."
"Thanks, Aerith."
"No problem. I'll see you later, Katie." Aerith left.
Katie made sure Aerith was gone before she opened the door to the corresponding room. Zack almost fell to the floor but caught himself just in time. "Eavesdropping, eh?"
"You know Aerith? She's here?" Zack asked.
Katie nodded. "Yeah, she's here. She's a very nice person." She narrowed her eyes at Zack. "...You're not going to leave, aren't you?"
"Why are you trying to get rid of me?" Zack questioned.
Katie let out a long sigh before she answered, "Because, Zack...Aerith and Cloud believe you're dead, which you are, and if they see you, they'll flip! I don't know what Cloud would do but I can tell you, it'll just make him more..." She searched for the right word. "...Distant towards others and, well, make him a bit more confused than he already is."
Zack shook his head. "That's not the Cloud I know."
"Well, the Cloud that you knew died along with you." Katie stated blankly, she sighed. "I know that's a lot for you to take in, but it's true. Think of it as the Angeal-"
"Don't you dare talk about Angeal, Katie!" Zack snapped. In his anger, he slammed his fists on the keyboard, making the computer screen glitch and little sparks of electricity fly. One of the sparks when under Katie's glasses and into her eye. She yowled in pain as she clutched her eye and staggered backwards. Zack turned around in alarm and cried, "Katie! I'm so sorry!"
Katie hissed in pain and kept her hand clamped on her eye as she assured him, "It's fine...should've known better..." With her good eye, she eyed the computer. A screen popped up and had a title box. "What's this?" Katie walked up to the computer and tried to get back to her previous pages, but the pop-up refused. "Darn it!" Katie growled. "The stupid thing won't let me go back to my codes..."
Zack looked over Katie's shoulder, "Looks like it's asking for a password."
"I don't know the password! Maybe if I had enough time; I'd be able to-" Katie stopped and stared at the keyboard, she suddenly saw transparent cloaked hands typing. Katie didn't even think and followed the hands clicks.
Zack eyed Katie suspiciously, "What are you doing?" Katie didn't answer him. Zack nudged Katie but Katie didn't even notice. He heard a low whir behind him and turned around. His eyes widened as the floor opened, revealing a staircase. "Katie, you need to see this." Katie was still not paying attention. Zack, concerned, he pulled his friend away from the computer. "Katie, snap out of it!"
As soon Katie was pulled away from the computer, she removed her clutched hand from her injured eye and moved it to her head. She looked at Zack with confused eyes. "What happened?"
"You just suddenly started typing in passwords into the computer and it was like something was making you type. You made this stairwell appear." Zack answered. Putting his serious face, he added, "Stay away from the computer, got it?" Katie nodded, having her fingers crossed behind her back. "Good. Now let's see where this goes..." He started down the staircase but was stopped by Katie's arm.
"This is something that Leon and the others need to see before we start exploring, Zack." She stifled a laugh before she added, "Now go back into the Wayfinder like a good SOILDER and stay in there till I summon you, m'kay?"
Zack pouted and his shoulders dropped. "Aw! Katie, you're no fun at all!" He straightened up and waved her good-bye. "Oh, well. Catch you later, Katie!" With that said, the ex-SOLDIER was gone.
Katie went back to the computer and shut the secret passage. Walking out to the hall, she called, "Hey, Ienzo?"
The purple-haired scientist showed up with, as usual, a large book in his hands. "What do you need, Katie?"
"I need you to watch the computer for me. I need to go tell Leon and the gang what I've found." Katie thought for a second, then added, "Which is closer, Aerith's church or Merlin's house?"
"That would be the church. It's a half-mile walk from here while Merlin's is about two miles." Ienzo answered. "Don't worry; I'll watch the computer for you."
Katie sent Ienzo a grin. "Thank you!" She sent him a wave then headed out for the church. Little did she know she would see a life-changing event unfold before her eyes…
The next chapter may or may not be up for awhile, I need to plan it out so that it will go smoothly...YouTube...don't let me down...