Claire commanded everyone to attack but before any got the chance fire erupted around Sephiroth. It burned hot enough to force Claire, Zack, and Fang back a few steps. Massive icicles began raining down on the fire followed by lightning bolts. The pinkette took a very quick glance around and saw hints of some of the Eidolons using magic, similar stances to some people when they use materia. The Eidolons halted, more like paused, their assault to let the fire and resulting smoke clear. The humans kept their weapons at the ready and were not surprised by the sight of Sephiroth standing tall and unharmed when the smoke cleared.

He slashed horizontally creating a wave that raced towards the humans. Zack held his sword to block the wave, Claire slid under it, and Fang leaped over it. Zack slid back as the wave of energy clashed against his sword. Fang went for a high swipe while Claire went in for a low slash. Sephiroth effortlessly dodged them both by diving in between; as he passed between them he hilt bashed Claire in the back, grabbed the back of Fang's sari, yanked her back and threw her into the floor. Sephiroth landed on his feet and the two female fighters were left on the floor. Zack raced in just as the wave dissipated but in one fluid motion Sephiroth knocked Zack's sword aside, spun, and kicked the soldier in the chest throwing back several feet.

"Why even fight? Your efforts are wasted on fighting a foe you can't ever compete with." Sephiroth stated.

"We beat you before." Zack said between wheezing breaths, trying to recover from being winded "And we got them." Zack pointed over his shoulder at the Eidolons and Sephiroth followed the gesture with his gaze.

The Eidolon with the sword and shield was back on its feet and leaped at the silver haired soldier. At the last moment he glanced over and side stepped the attack but he was unable to deliver a counter attack due to needing to avoid a wheel being launched at him from one of the blue Eidolons. Claire had to double check what she saw and was no less confused about seeing a wheel. The knight-like giant slashed at Sephiroth repeatedly, incredibly fast for something that large but the speed paled in comparison to all of the SOLDIERs present. Sephiroth easily dodged each attack but was not fighting back. The red feminine giant joined the fight with its strange multi-bladed scythe and was no more able to hit the man but the two giants worked perfectly together so it did add some pressure to Sephiroth.

"Why aren't you shooting at him?" Jihl nearly shouted at Sazh.

"I don't want to miss and piss off the giants." Sazh reply.

"I doubt your pistols will do any damage to them." Was the blonde's retort.

"Then you take the guns and shoot him." Sazh's comment effectively made Jihl shut up.

Claire had looked over her shoulder at the two talking for only a second. She thought it was fine because of how occupied Sephiroth was with the Eidolons. But there was the loud crash of steel against steel, the tell tale sound of Sephiroth taking the offensive. She turned her vision back and saw the man in black blocking both giant weapons with his Masamune. Sephiroth smiled and vanished into smoke, both giant weapons came crashing down into the floor. Claire saw Zack starting to look around frantically. The huge stout eidolon with no weapon suddenly turned and started running back the they came. Everyone on its heels right away. Back in the circular room with all the crystals, Sephiroth was standing in the middle of the stone table.

"I had always expected more of the famed Eidolons." Sephiroth said loudly, watching the group of humans and Eidolons spread out around him "But let's not waste time, loyal guardians, tell me where the Black Materia rests."

Claire watched carefully as Sephiroth looked around, he looked directly at each of the seven humans present but his gaze never locked onto an Eidolon. It gave her the creeping suspicion that he couldn't see the metal giants for some reason, at least, not until they were within striking range. She wanted to know for sure but now was a terrible time to test theories. Then she saw Sazh, across the chamber from her, look up at something. Sparing a glance upward she also noticed streams of dust falling from the higher crystals. Stone fractured and four crystals fell free of the walls. All four failed to hit the ground and started slowly orbiting Sephiroth. Inside each crystal was more of the blue haired girl, lending even more support to the legend of rebirth.

With a quick swipe of his sword the crystal in front of Sephiroth explosively shattered. Without a way of truly knowing, everyone felt he just deeply angered the Eidolons. The Knight stepped up onto the platform in a rush to attack and the crystal on Sephiroth's right flew at the Eidolon knocking it off the platform onto its back but it caught the crystal. With a minor gesture of his right hand Sephiroth made the crystal shatter. More crystals were ripped from the walls to form a barrier between Sephiroth and all the others. Claire flipped Blaze Edge into rifle mode and began shooting at Sephiroth between the cracks, Sazh followed suit after the first bullet was fired. Sephiroth was blocking the bullets just as he had before but then a quick flash of light that Claire could swear was a laser. A moment later there were bullets and beams being fired at Sephiroth through the cracks in his barrier. The bullets never found their mark but the beams did nearly every time. With a frustrated, growling shout all the crystals in the room shattered raining shards down on everyone but with quick thinking, each of the Eidolons moved to shield the humans from the deadly hail.

The Eidolons looked around at the crystal pieces littering the large chamber, everyone could sense the enraged sadness radiating from the six steel beings. But Sephiroth was gone. The Eidolons looked to each other and a couple of the six shrugged. The Knight walked to the door, looked directly at Claire, waved her over, and walked out. It wanted Claire to follow it. She waved to the others to follow and once again humans and eidolons were going through halls and stairwells to the room with the crystal throne. The Eidolons all walked to the throne and held out one hand. Seconds later the seat fractured and some greenish-white tendrils could be seen twisting upwards. The Knight reached into the tendrils and grabbed something; it turned to the group of humans and held out its hand towards Claire. She held out her hand and the knight unfurled his fist and a large black orb fell into her palm. The orb was pure black, so dark it seemed to absorb any light that dared get close yet it still had a shine.

"By the goddess." Vanille said when Claire turned to the group. She sounded afraid

"Oh my god." Hope said at the same time and sounded worried.

"Well shit." Fang sounded surprised "So it does exist."

"Someone want to share with the class?" Sazh asked.

As always Hope was the one that spoke up "That's the Black Materia."


Serah followed Sephiroth through the halls of the ancient Cetra temple as he eliminated creatures and disarmed or destroyed traps. She was too afraid to do anything else but follow her adoptive father. After all that she had seen him do in recent times, she knew better than to upset him in any way while he was being nice to her. She made a small note in her mind that this was the first time she had seen Sephiroth fight in person. He was impressive. Even without knowing his style Serah could see that every slash and thrust was carefully planned and executed.

When they came upon a sealed door Sephiroth looked to Serah to urge her forward and she stepped up to the door obediently. She stood there for a number of seconds not knowing what to do until Sephiroth gently took her hand in his own, the leather of his glove cold against her skin, and raised her hand to the door pressing the girl's hand against the strangely warm stone without touching it himself. Serah suddenly realized why Sephiroth brought her with him into the temple, why he is protecting her, and being so nice after mercilessly slaughtering many other people. For a reason beyond her knowledge, Sephiroth needed her to get through the temple. She was his key to getting whatever prize was waiting in the depths. Serah was instantly terrified of what would happen once Sephiroth got what he wanted from the temple.

The stone door sliding open brought Serah back to reality and she turned to look at her adoptive father. They made eye contact as he walked by her and in those bright green cat eyes she had known for years was not her adoptive father. Sephiroth's eyes had always held a special kindness when he looked upon her or Claire but now… Now there was nothing. His eyes were empty of emotion, devoid of any human spark. Serah knew from her Turk training that that either meant Sephiroth had been broken and is dead inside or he is truly evil and that is the best he can hide it. Neither option was promising considering what had been reported on him since Nibelheim.

Serah lost track of how long her and Sephiroth had been going through this ancient series of death traps but it had easily been at least an hour. When they finally reached the final chamber Serah saw that this chamber had artwork on the walls. They both looked over the carvings, mosaics, and murals. They were all of people doing things, telling a story, but Serah couldn't figure out what story. One mural stood out to her though. It was several people bowing to the ground in prayer, surrounded by flames, while some large round thing looked to be falling on them. With some simple powers of deduction it became clear that this mural was about the end of the world, something people have been shouting about since the beginning of time.

"Did you know," Sephiroth said from somewhere behind Serah "Our planet, Gran Pulse is very much alive?" Serah turned and saw the tall man standing by the pedestal "When wounded, the life stream is gathered at the wound to heal it." it was an odd thing to bring up now of all times but Serah listened closely "Imagine how much of the life stream must be focused and used to heal a wound that threatens the life of Gran Pulse itself."

"Why bring that up?" Serah asked carefully. It was the first time she had actually spoken to Sephiroth in the temple.

"It is a fact that fascinates me. The whole planet is a living thing but so different from us." He answered with a smile that just unnerved Serah "Now please come over here and place your hand on the pedestal."

The pinkette did as requested and she felt the stone pedestal hum to life as if it had power running through it. The top of the chest high stone pedestal split cleanly in half then swung up and open like a cardboard box. Inside the pedestal was a pink crystal with a stretched diamond shape and eight triangle faces. A glance at Sephiroth told her he had been expecting something else to be inside the pedestal. His expression darkened as he drifted away into thought. Serah, against better judgement, grabbed the pink diamond to examine it. It felt smooth and warm like materia and then it pulsed like a heartbeat.

"Do not fear, child." a gentle soothing feminine voice said as an apparition of a blonde woman in a long sea blue-green dress appeared. Serah casually looked over her shoulder at Sephiroth who had not moved a muscle yet "I am the memory of the Cetra high priestess, Cosmos, preserved within the crystal you hold. You have been chosen to wield the bow gifted to our bloodline by the goddess. Use it well for soon, the fate of Gran Pulse will be determined." the apparition vanished as fast as it appeared leaving Serah alone with a pink crystal and numerous questions.

"It is supposed to be here." Sephiroth mumbled "This temple is supposed to house it. Who moved it? Or was it stolen?" Serah turned and saw her adoptive father looking over the murals again.

A sudden weight in her hand, the one that had the pink crystal, made her look down and see a large and strange looking bow. She very nearly panicked at the sight. Out of her peripheral vision she saw Sephiroth glance toward the door then turn to her with a smile. That smile was deeply unnerving and sent chills down her spine. Then she heard what Sephiroth did, rapid footsteps echoing up to the chamber. On pure instinct Serah lifted the bow and pulled the rings on the handle back just as the silver haired SOLDIER lunged with the Masamune ready to strike. Serah released and an arrow made entirely of pink energy took flight and found its mark in the SOLDIER's chest. He halted his lunge at the hit and reached to grab the arrow but his hand passed through it. A vicious green glare was thrown at Serah and she felt her blood go cold, Sephiroth wanted her dead. Instead of making that threat a reality though he vanished into smoke.

Cloud, Snow, and all the others came charging up the stairs just as the smoke finished dissipating. They all took a quick look around expecting an attack but relaxed when none came, save for Cloud. The blond kept the Buster Sword at the ready and scanned the room.

"Nice bow, Serah." Lebreau commented drawing everyone's attention to it.

"Uh thanks, I just kinda found it." The pinkette reply and she saw the immediate skeptical eyebrow raise from everyone, except Vincent.

"You found the only weapon that doesn't look a thousand years old?" Yuj asked.

"That just so happens to be the one kind you're skilled with?" Vincent added in a neutral tone, which was nothing new from the gunslinger.

"While you were Sephiroth's hostage?" Cloud asked as well, though Serah could hear an accusation in his voice. Tifa looked to him and obviously wanted to comfort him. She glanced at Serah and the pinkette caught the suspicion in those brown eyes.

"He found the crystal but got mad because it wasn't what he was looking for." Serah explained, trying to assure them she was not working with Sephiroth.

"Then what was he looking for?" Cloud questioned, his voice even more accusing. But Tifa did not come to Serah's defense.

"I don't know!" Serah shouted frantically "He didn't explain what he was doing! And I was more concerned with staying alive!"

Cloud looked away for a moment, his argument defeated but his gaze once more meet Serah's "What about the Turks?"

"What?" Serah and Snow asked taken aback by that.

"The Turks always pop up around you. And Reno has taken an interest in you. Why?" For a mere instant, Serah could swear Cloud's eyes were green.

"I-I don't know! They're spies for Shinra! And Reno is a pig!"

"Cloud, man," Snow began "Do you really think Serah is working against us somehow?" Cloud wheeled around to face the larger blond.

"I'm not so sure about any of you NORA people." Cloud stated.

"What!" Lebreau and Gadot shouted back.

"Stop!" a high pitched voice cried out. The voice quite obviously did not belong to any of the present company.

Serah felt the bow in her hand begin to shiver and shake. It pulled itself free of her grasp and vanished into a puff of white smoke, that quickly dissipated. In place of the bow was a small fluffy creature with white fur, a large head, small hands and feet, small black leathery wings, and the pink crystal Serah pulled from the stone pedestal attached to its head by some manner of antenna. Most immediately recognized the creature as a moogle.

"Don't lose sight of your goal, kupo!" the moogle squeaked "The only enemy you have is Sephiroth, kupo!"

The only one to respond soon was Nanaki "What are you?"

"I'm a moogle!"

"I believe he means what kind of weapon turns into a moogle." Vincent commented, keeping his tone annoyingly neutral and speaking for the group.

"Kupo! A guardian weapon of the Cetra high priestess." the moogle stated cheerfully "Think of me as a lesser eidolon but I have to be bound to someone to work." The group exchanged blank looks, with the exception of Vincent who kept his gaze on the moogle, expecting someone to explain what an Eidolon was.

"You are not a true Eidolon then." Nanaki spoke up making the moogle drop his gaze and his bobble wilt

"No, I need to be called on to have a form."

"You're more of a materia companion then. Only usuable by particular people?" Nanaki stated making the moogle perk up

"Yeah!" It cheered "I'm a summon that can be any weapon and takes the form of my master's most adored creature!" Serah immediately blushed from embarrassment. She would never admit to finding a creature that only existed in media for children adorable but the materia did it for her.

"Okay, moogle thing aside for now," Lebreau began "Why can Serah use you?"

"She is the descendant of the high priestess, Cosmos." The moogle stated cheerfully making certain facts click into place in the minds of the group. Serah realized why Sephiroth was making her go through the temple and touch the doors.

"So Serah is another Cetra?" Aerith sounded happy at the thought.

"No." The moogle answered immediately confusing some.

"Not a descendant by blood but of spirit." Vincent commented.

"Yeah!" The moogle reply loudly "I don't really know how it works but the goddess knows what she's doing, kupo!"

"Why don't we stand around and listen to stories while there are turks just outside and more Shinra goons on the way?" Cid asked sarcastically as he turned and left, prompting everyone to follow.

Cloud waited until Serah passed him to follow Cid out and she could feel his gaze on her. She knew the gaze was not one that was checking her out. Tifa fell into step beside Cloud and the moogle gently flew beside Serah. The pinkette knew her cover was not yet blown but something was off about Cloud, he was getting strangely determined to pursue Sephiroth. Serah knew others could see the change but were not saying anything because they did not know Cloud enough to be sure. The only person who could properly discuss and see the change was refusing to acknowledge it, Tifa was being deliberately blind to it. Serah took a breath and reminded herself to stick to the mission, the turks would extract her whenever she needed.


Vanille took a deep breath as they landed outside seeming just as bubbly and cheerful as ever. Zack quickly moved away and barfed in the grass. Everyone else was visibly feeling very ill from the trip.

"Definitely could have used some warning." Sazh groaned as he tried to keep his stomach contents from coming up.

"Who would willing choose that as a way to travel?" Jihl groaned.

Claire was agreement and sat on the grass. Teleportation was brutal on her and nauseating. She decided this is what a horrible hangover would feel like but refused to be beaten by it and took a look around. They were in a small clearing of a dense forest covered by a leafy canopy that let just enough light through and it seemed to be morning. Everyone seemed woozy after the trip except Vanille and Fang though the tan woman looked to be lost in her own world.

"I'm sure there is nothing wrong with it if you're a giant metal person." Zack commented between heaves.

Claire looked to the eidolons, the reason they were teleported, in time to see the feminine and multi-armed ones heading into the forest while the knight and giant stared at each other and had a silent conversation. She did not like that one bit but fatigue and hunger was weighing heavily on her.

"Everyone alive?" Claire asked.

"Yeah, alive but not well." Zack joked.

"We'll rest here and get something to eat once we're back on our feet." Claire told everyone then lay on the grass.

"I know where we are!" Vanille announced "This is Sunleth! But I guess that means we are really far away from Oerba." Vanille returned to the group and sat beside Fang.

Waking up with a startle made Clair realize she dozed off for an unknown amount of time but it must have been at least a couple hours judging from the fire that was built and the cooked meat impaled on the large scythe above the fire. The large weapon acting as an improvised cooking spit. Took a moment for the pinkette soldier to realize that the eidolons that wandered off earlier had gathered food for them. Claire stood to join the others.

"Hey Sunshine. Have a good nap?" Fang asked making Claire confused about how Fang could make such a simple question so damn annoying. So she ignored the woman and grabbed some food for herself.

Without actually talking about it the group decided to spend this day relaxing in the clearing and trying to ignore the metal giants constantly watching them. Most of them removed enough clothing to relax but remain decent around everyone. Zack was down to his boxer shorts, Hope just removed his footwear and unbuttoned the cuffs and top three buttons of his dress shirt, Sazh did the same as Hope also removing the heavy jacket, Fang and Vanille just removed their footwear, Claire took off her jacket and and turtleneck vest, and Jihl got out of her heels and military dress leaving her in a sports bra, shorts, and stockings. Everyone came to the same conclusion, career military people had no issue with others seeing them in their underwear.

"So what is the Black Materia?" Zack asked once everyone was comfortable. Claire almost forgot about the black orb in her thigh pouch and pulled it out to look at it.

"No one really knows." Fang answered "Just legends and stuff."

"It was just a myth until today." Hope added "Legends say it is the single most destructive power on Gran Pulse capable of destroying the world."

"Now that just sounds like a bad design choice." Sazh commented.

"Who made it?" Jihl asked in a tone of interest Claire did not like.

"The ancients," Vanille confirmed "But the stories say they didn't mean to."

"How do you accidentally make a world ending weapon?" Zack asked "Oops, I meant to make some bread but now I have this pesky thing that can blow up the world."

"Nature is balanced." Vanille answered, giggling at Zack's joke.

"Again, legends say the Cetra made the White Materia." Hope continued "A materia with the power to protect the world from any threat."

"Something like Jenova." Claire thought aloud.

"But since nature is balanced, the black one came with it?" Sazh asked Hope and Vanille.

"Seems so." Hope reply.

"Every ligh' causes shadows ta be cas'. Though one can exis' withou' the other they are defined by the opposi'e, help us understand wha' they are. We may fear shadows or ligh' bu' we mus' remember tha' neither is inherently good or evil." Fang recited making everyone look at her. She chuckled and leaned back onto her elbows "Sounds be'er in i's normal language bu' tha's one Oerban proverb for ya."

The next day was filled with walking through the forest with the Eidolons. At Vanille's guidance they were heading east because there was a farming town on the eastern side of Sunleth and they needed supplies if they were going to head north. When they did come across the dangerous animals of the forest the eidolons shooed them away or killed them if the animal was particularly nasty. However, the knight eidolon did not seem to have any interest in helping the group of humans. When night fell and the group decided to make camp the eidolons established a perimeter and stood guard so the humans could rest. After the fire had died and the coals went cold, Claire was awakened by something nudging her. She was met by the sight of the knight's glowing eyes looking down at her. The giant motioned for her to follow before turning and walking away. Claire saw the other eidolons watching her and the knight but not moving and the other humans were all fast asleep. So she chose to follow the steel man and subsequently was lead to a clearing that allowed the moonlight to illuminate the area. The knight faced the pinkette, took a knee, and remained like that for a time leaving Claire both confused and annoyed.

"Woke me up to watch him pray…" She complained under her breath but remained standing and watching.

The knight stood back up and held his sword out pointing one of the vicious hooked blades at the Soldier. More on reflex than returning the gesture Claire pulled her weapon free and pointed the blade at the giant. The knight charged and swung his blade down at Claire, she dodge rolled left and prepared to block the next attack but it never came, the knight stood watching her. Thirty seconds ticked by while Claire was left wondering what was happening and the knight attacked again, a horizontal slash aimed at her head. She ducked to dodge the attack since she assumed blocking the giant would be akin to blocking a train and once again the knight was watching her.

Claire understood now. The knight was trying to spar but lacked the proper way to communicate. Or he was trying to duel but refused to kill an opponent that would not attack. There was only one way to find out and Claire charged in to find out.

Hey I'm back again. Trying to get back into writing again. Thank you all for sticking with this story and putting up with my terrible update times.

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