Chapter 17 Ghosts of the Past

After a long day of driving interspersed with battles against roaming monsters, the Cosmo Desert changed to rolling grasslands. On the other side of the swift Northern River, the plains gave way to brush and then scattered woodlands. Only the faint channels of dirt in the road marked the route northward. By the evening of their second day their vehicle churned its way up the rolling foothills beneath the jagged spires of the Nibel Mountains.

Yuffie capered around the campfire with stolen Vagyrisk Claws thrust between her fingers like tiger claws. She mock growled and roared at Barret. The large man rolled his eyes and carefully confiscated the items, "That's enough 'a that girly. We don't wanna waste a Soft on ya'." In a quieter voice he whispered, "We should show a lil' respect too. We're gettin' close to where Tifa and Cloud lost their families."

Yuffie's rebellious expression melted away and she paled, her gray eyes darting to the pair. Tifa, Cloud, and Zack huddled around the fire. The lack of expression on their faces and their vacant staring at the flames proved a more intense tale than harsh tears or frowns. Instantly subdued, she surrendered the rest of the claws and went to help Aerith prepare their dinner.

The cool air smelled of rain and a swiftly growing mass of clouds roiled in a dark line to the east. A brisk wind rushed through the branches of the nearby strand of trees with the sound of flowing water, its passage causing the flames flicker and dance. Tifa shivered once, her gaze never leaving the fire and murmured, "I don't know how I'll handle it… seeing our homes as burnt rubble."

Cloud nodded and silently slung his left arm around her shoulders, both drawing and giving comfort. Zack frowned, scratching at the evening stubble on his chin and then shook his head, "You might not have to."

Cloud narrowed his gleaming blue eyes and tilted his head at Zack in a silent query. Zack shifted uneasily and scratched at a flaking scab on his left arm before quietly murmuring, "My memories are a little hazy since Hojo's mako bath gave me trouble too… but as we were getting out, I remember looking down at the village out of morbid curiosity... and it was back, like it never burned down."

Tifa and Cloud stared at him in disbelief while he continued. "I almost thought I was hallucinating but…" Zack huffed and shook his head while adding in disbelief, "Considering it even included that rickety old water tower it almost looked like nothing had ever happened. I would have investigated, but I was honestly more worried about Cloud's mako overdose than inexplicably fixed towns."

The corners of Cloud's mouth drew down and the blond folded his arms as he pondered the revelation. "That's understandable, and I'm grateful for what you did for me, even if I would have preferred to avoid spending most of that year as a semi-comatose amphibian." He raised an eyebrow at his friend with a small smirk.

Zack grinned and then shrugged and said, "I don't really know the story about it, but I figure it was probably better to warn you than have it be a bigger shock tomorrow."

"We understand, thank you Zack," Tifa said quietly, her voice barely audible above the crackling of the flames. She stood in one fluid motion and walked to the buggy where Yuffie was teaching Aerith a faster way to skin the small hares they caught. Behind them, Cait Sith shredded the tubers Aerith found with his sharp metal claws.

The distant, mournful howls of Nibel wolves rang across the foothills far to the east, a reply sounded from the south. "Do we have anything to worry about?" Zack asked Cloud.

The smaller man shook his head, "While that is their hunting call, they're too far out to be hunting us." Silence fell between them again and they winced at Barret and Red XIII's fumbling attempts to pitch two Tents with a deficit of nimble hands. "We probably should help them," Cloud mused, but made no move to stand.

"Probably," Zack huffed, the corner of his mouth twitching into a brief, vindictive smile.

"Still holding a grudge over the fall grading eh?" Cloud asked with an amused chuckle. He stood and brushed dried leaves and dirt off his backside. "You know he's only trying to give the three of us time considering our destination. Come on, let's go help."

Wispy fog filled the gaps between the hills the next morning. The air felt thick and sounds were oddly muffled, scattered droplets gleamed on the now sparkling-clean buggy. Yuffie prodded at the sodden ashes of the previous night's fire, a small frown on her face before she shook her head. Aerith patted her back and pulled out some travel rations. "We'll eat on the road," she said quietly handing the young ninja an apple and a granola bar.

"I think this calls for a fortune!" Cait Sith announced, waving his arms for attention. Cloud and Zack looked up from the disintegrating Tents, shrugged, and came over.

When the robotic feline saw he had everyone's attention, he danced on his mog's head, spun in a circle and declared, "We will meet the shattered remnants of the unfortunate lost souls…"

Yuffie paled and shuddered.

Uncaring, Cait continued in an intoning voice, "There will be a fortuitous reunion in the halls of deception. Our lucky color is red."

The group stared at the feline in shock, the silence broken by a distant Bagarisk cry. Cait scratched the back of his head and then shrugged. He bowed his head towards Zack and sheepishly admitted, "Like I said when I met ye lad, my fortunes have been strange lately. I'm usually excited to see how they play out, but this one worries me…"

Barret shook his head with a sigh and grumbled, "Let's just go. Maybe our 'reunion' will be with that creep Sephiroth and we'll get a chance ta' beat the crazy outta him." The large man rubbed his hand along the barrel of his gun arm with a scowl on his face. Zack narrowed his eyes, scratching thoughtfully at his jawline.

The next few miles were passed in near silence. As the morning sun burned away the fog and early morning haze, they climbed closer to the mountain cleft cradling Nibelheim. The nearer they came to the fateful town, the tighter Cloud gripped the steering wheel. Tifa's teeth worried her lower lip and her right thumb stroked her Steal materia in quick circles. Yuffie curled miserably in her seat a faint sheen of sweat on her brow and a wad of cloth shoved between her teeth to try and stave off her nausea.

Two hours later, Zack pointed to a flattened area off the side of the road, "That's where our vehicle parked five years ago. I recognize that ridge."

Nodding silently, Cloud pulled the buggy onto the level field and parked. As they disembarked and walked up the approach to the village, Red XIII asked, "Why did you not park in the town proper?"

When Zack hesitated, Tifa murmured, "When I was thirteen an avalanche washed out a large portion of the road to town. Since then it was unsafe for larger vehicles to drive up."

"It appears that has changed," Cloud interjected in a flat voice. The once narrow and winding road that led to the isolated hollow in the mountain had been noticeably straightened and widened and judging by the cut back brush and trees, not very long ago. The upgraded road showed signs of frequent use. A thick expanse of pines and underbrush shielded the area where the small town rested.

"That's ominous," Zack said quietly, his right hand twitching towards the handle of his Butterfly Edge. The former SOLDIER wasn't alone in his unease. Tifa and Cloud took the lead, the muscles in their shoulders and backs visibly tight.

The further they climbed the smoother their motions grew, sliding into the now familiar battle-ready unison. There was only a slight stutter in their motion as the rebuilt town finally came into view. A thin haze of smoke lingered from the various chimneys in the cool, early morning air. Birds sang in the trees and lingering trickles of rain sloughed off the steep, shingled roofs of the small community. A woman in a thick violet dress and stained peach apron emerged from one building, a wicker basket on her arm. She hopped over a puddle in the worn cobbles and vanished down a small side street.

At first glance, it was a normal, tiny town and there was nothing suspicious to be seen. Cloud and Tifa stood at the town entrance studying the scene with narrowed eyes. The rest of the party hung a respectful distance back, allowing the pair time to absorb the enormity of what they were seeing. Yuffie whispered to Aerith, "I thought this place burned down?"

Even quieter, and with her mouth close to the young woman's ear, the Ancient replied, "Something strange is going on here, it doesn't make sense for all three of them to imagine the town burning down. We'll follow their lead." She nodded her head towards the two natives. A sudden, chill gust of wind ruffled their hair and sent the weather vane on the wooden water tower spinning with a shrill squeaking.

Tifa shook her whole body, as if waking from a sleep and then hummed in dark amusement, "It is a good copy."

Cloud nodded in agreement, "I've still got a lot of holes in my memories, but I agree, it is a very good copy."

"But there is no way they could have mimicked the racket that vane made when the wind caught that thing," Tifa huffed, shaking her head.

Barret was the first to try and approach the pair. He clapped his flesh hand on Tifa's right shoulder and rested his gun arm on Cloud's back. "Looks like Shinra tried to hide what happened here, but if ya' know what really happened…" He stepped around them and crouched by the rusting old pickup near the entrance and ran a finger on the inside of one of the wheel wells. He stood and walked back to the pair, showing the sooty residue on the proffered digit. "There are signs people wouldn't think ta' hide."

Curious, Yuffie skipped forward and looked at the black smudge. She looked up into Cloud and Tifa's faces and asked, "So they just copied what the town looked like?"

Tifa and Zack nodded, while Cloud averted his gaze, staring at the disintegrated fragments of paper on a nearby wall. "How accurate is it?" she pursued.

"Almost perfect," Tifa sighed and then shook her head. "I don't understand though, if most of the town died, how did they manage to reproduce such little details as the stain on the wall of the inn where Old Bally used to vomit after getting drunk?"

Zack nodded, and chimed in, "It is too perfect."

"Wouldn't you say 'picture perfect'?" Cloud asked, a strange tone in his voice as he finally walked up to the fragments of paper on the wall.

Tifa and Zack frowned, shared a glance, and then Zack replied, "I… guess. Why?"

Cloud slowly lifted the flap of paper from where its top corner had torn loose and drooped under exposure to the elements. Despite fading and smudging from sun and rain, it was still possible to make out the words, "Welcome General Sephiroth!"

"The photographer!" Zack hissed, looking to Tifa his violet eyes widening with shocked realization. "He was everywhere that day, taking pictures of everything."

She nodded, "Shinra must have found his camera and used it to replicate all the little details people might notice."

"That is sinister and ingenious," Cait Sith interjected, shaking his furred head.

"To what end though?" Red XIII asked. "Why go to such effort to rebuild such a tiny town? And what do the people here know of the past events?"

Cloud frowned, looking down at the ground, his brow furrowed. The wind rushed through the pines, once more setting off the squeaky vane before he raised his head and started, "I can't-"

"We can't expect you all to deal with our issues here," Tifa interrupted shooting Cloud a stern look.

Cloud huffed an amused laugh before his grim expression returned, "We can't expect you to wait while we attempt to unravel this mess so-"

He cut off with a yelp after Zack smacked the back of his head sharply. "Idiot."

Aerith nodded, her attempt at a stern face looking more like a pout. "That's right! We're in this together, we're not going to leave you two to deal with this alone."

Red nodded in fierce agreement, "Indeed, I would be an ungrateful companion to abandon you after all you have done for me." Yuffie and Barret folded their arms and shot twin glares at the two.

"We appreciate it," Tifa said with a subdued voice. She turned to address the blond and asked, "So what should we do?"

Cloud's brow furrowed and he tilted his head back, staring up into the vibrant blue sky scattered with the wispy remnants of the previous night's storm. He huffed, "Alright, despite my anxiety to figure out what is going on, I don't think we should spend too long trying to unravel all the town's secrets either."

He waited for their nods and murmurs of agreement to die down before continuing. "Since there are eight of us, let's pair off and each take a quadrant of the town. Well look around, ask some probing questions, and maybe we'll find some evidence or someone will let something slip. We'll meet up at the inn for lunch to discuss our discoveries before heading up to the old Shinra Manor."

"You're certain there's something to be found then?" Red XIII asked.

Yuffie huffed and rolled her eyes, before adding, "You're forgetting the biggest proof of all. Listen, what do you hear?"

Bemused they stilled, Zack tilted his head at an angle, his eyes narrowed in concentration. The distant sound of someone chopping wood sounded over the squealing of the weather vane and the gentle creak of settling roofs. A raven cawed from the crown of a nearby pine echoed by one deeper in the vale. After a few seconds of the near silence, Barret shot her a confused look.

"To be clearer, what don't you hear?" Yuffie's face was slightly pinched and she rubbed her arms as if struck by a chill.

Cait Sith's head shot up and he breathed, "Children." His head whipped side to side taking in what he could see of the town center from the entrance. "Not the call of a single child. The lass is right, that is unnatural."

Once attention was drawn to the lack, it became all the more apparent. Something strange was going on. Steeling himself against the encroaching memories, Cloud nodded to the others and entered the town center. When they reached the plaza holding the old wooden water tower the blond paused, his eyes narrowed and his head turning from side to side as if trying to catch the scent of something.

Zack and Yuffie perked up a gleam of interest entering their eyes. As Cloud and Tifa quietly discussed the division of the village the tall man murmured, "Wanna pair up against Cloud on the treasure hunt?"

"Let's do it," she agreed, baring her teeth in a wide smile. "We'll take the south-west quadrant!" she called, linking elbows with Zack and dashing into a nearby house. Aerith huffed in annoyance at their backs.

"Very well," Cait Sith announced. "Lady Aerith and I will take the northwest-quadrant." He bowed to her and his mog took her hand with a gallant bow.

She giggled and accepted the plush hand, before they left she asked Cloud, "Should we be on the lookout for anything?"

He frowned and shook his head slightly, "Don't forget to talk to everyone, you'll find what you need." The pair nodded and headed off.

"I admit I question the honesty of raiding people's homes and businesses for items," Red XIII admitted slightly uneasy.

Cloud sighed and shook his head with a pained grimace, "Most of the things are lost and quite a few were planted by Kunsel's fan clubs."

Barret blinked, frowned, and then said, "Wait a minute… 'zat mean that guy's been tellin' you where all this stuff is? That there ain't no 'treasure senses'?"

Cloud held his right hand out flat and rocked it in a 'so-so' gesture. "He sometimes lets me know what things are up for the taking in towns and when we started out he recommended monsters to steal from. Other than that…"

Red XIII tilted his head to the side and theorized, "Your admirers are mainly civilians and I know my grandfather kept the Cave of the Gi sealed. Yet you went so far as finding items behind hidden passages."

Cloud shrugged, a pained grimace on his face and demurred, "It's… not something easily explained. It-" he trailed off when a shapeless black figure shuffled from the shadow of a nearby porch.

"Re...un...ion…" it moaned in a dry voice.

"What on earth?" Tifa gasped as it shuffled closer. Shuddering at the chemical and rot smell coming from the being, she stepped back.

Its painful walk halted just in front of Cloud and rasped, "Seph-i-roth." A hand emerged from the black fabric, the skin riddled with sores oozing green puss. Almost obscured by the lesions was a tattoo reading '14'. It grunted and shook the hand, Cloud reluctantly held out his own. It dropped an Ether in his palm and then shuffled off moaning painfully.

Cloud gazed down at the item and then shook his head, expression grim. "Will you take my home while I get yours?" he asked Tifa quietly.

She winced and nodded, shoulders slightly hunched, "Red, will you come with me?" The leonine nodded and followed her lead.

Sighing once, Cloud nodded to Barret and headed for the first home in their quadrant. They made it a few steps before Yuffie burst from their first house, wailing like a banshee. She scrambled across the street and climbed Barret's back like a freaked out cat, claws and all. Barret cursed and danced around trying to dislodge the girl.

Zack followed her out, his eyes disturbed and he helped pry the girl off. "What the hell was that for?" Barret demanded of the wide-eyed girl.

"Come on Yuffie, it wasn't a ghost, just some really poor house cleaning skills!" Zack huffed in attempt to calm her. To Cloud he explained enthusiastically, "They've got a sentient garbage bag in their attic! It's kind of freaky and unlike the forgotten take-out from the back of the barracks fridge, not only does it talk, it moves some too!"

Cloud's face scrunched up as it did when he was sifting through his fragmented memories trying to grasp something. "I remember that..." he murmured slowly, then opened his eyes and shot his friend a disturbed look. "I also remember that you ate it anyway."

Barret looked up from prodding a scratch in his arm and gagged at Zack, "That's nasty man."

Yuffie actually looked up from freaking out to shudder at the thought. Cloud shook his head and said, "If you saw what I think you did, it was a very ill person in a shapeless black cloak."

"How did you know that?" Yuffie asked, her eyes widening in shock. "Have your treasure senses expanded?"

Cloud grimaced and shook his head before asking, "What did it say?"

"A person huh?" Zack raised one eyebrow skeptically and then shook his head. "Well that garbage man didn't say much, just moaned about Sephiroth."

"Huh," Barret huffed. "The one we met said his name too."

Zack whistled and said, "Man, the Silver-Elite have fallen far."

Cloud choked on his own saliva, laughing despite himself before reining in and shaking his head. "They seem pretty harmless, the one we talked to gave us an Ether."

"What? No fair, you haven't even gone in a house and already found something?" Yuffie howled, stomping her foot. "Come on Zack, we've got ground to cover.

"Don't forget to ask about the town!" Barret shouted to their backs and then rolling his eyes. "Let's get this over with." Cloud nodded and slipped into the first home.

Two hours later, the everyone except Zack and Yuffie gathered around a table in the dining room of "The One-Eyed Wolf" the town inn. Cloud ordered a large pot of stew and several loaves of bread as they waited for their missing companions. Cloud and Tifa quietly discussed the situations with their respective homes. She shifted in her seat and rested her forehead against his clavicle and murmured, "It looked like your home but…" Cloud nodded mutely and stroked her hair from scalp to mid back, resting his hand there briefly. She released a shuddering sigh, sniffled once, and then pulled back. Aerith clasped the martial artist's left hand between her own and squeezed it, evoking a brief, weak smile.

Barret cleared his throat loudly and grumbled, "I wonder where that crazy pair wandered off to?"

As if summoned, the missing duo entered the inn and made their way to the nearly full table. The former SOLDIER stalked forward, a thunderous frown on his face with his left eye swollen and darkening to an angry purple. Aerith gasped, dropping Tifa's hand and reaching for her Prism Staff a scowl blooming on her face. Cait Sith tilted his head to one side and asked, "Ah laddie, did ye run into bandits on your way here?"

Zack prodded his swelling eye and glared down at Yuffie as the giggling girl gleefully announced, "Zack got caught looking through a lady's underwear."

Tifa gasped and covered the twitching smile on her face with a hand before asking, "And she got mad at him?"

"Nah," Yuffie cackled, flinging herself into seat by Barret leaving the chair between her and Aerith open for Zack. "She was fine with it. Her husband on the other hand…"

Aerith sniffed primly, returning her staff to the wall and accepting the potion Tifa passed along, "I hope this taught you a lesson about going on random treasure hunts!"

Zack's expression drooped and Yuffie pouted behind him. Cloud rolled his eyes and before things escalated, he interjected, "We'll discuss what we all discovered after our food has been brought out."

Some of the levity vanished and they nodded, debating the secrets of the false natives when one would shortly interrupt seemed unwise. Cloud pulled out a wide variety of potions and a Platinum Fist.

"It's kind of strange that most of the houses had those black cloaked people in them," Red XIII murmured. "Is this perhaps a similar situation to the Corel institution where the 'normal' ones are acting as care-takers?"

Cloud's eyes narrowed thoughtfully and he mused, "You might be on to something Red, especially considering some of the information Barret and I discovered." His eyes flickered to the young woman making her way over with a platter of mugs and a large basket of crusty bread.

When she left, Tifa shrugged and remarked, "Information aside, those… unfortunate people were the only source of anything valuable." She passed a few Potions and a pair of Ethers to Cloud.

"I kind of wonder how those crazy zombie people got all this stuff," Yuffie mused, rolling the Elixir she retrieved between her hands as she waited for her turn to pass it to Cloud.

"Wait a minute, zombies don't bother you but ghosts do? How's that work?" Barret asked, resting his chin on the palm of his hand.

"Is it because zombies aren't real?" Aerith theorized as she dabbed the potion on Zack's black eye.

Yuffie shook her head, "Nope. Besides, zombies are totally real."

Just before he rolled his eyes in disbelief, Barret looked from Zack to Cloud, catching the two nodding solemnly in agreement before they simultaneously took sips from their pewter mugs. Huffing, he grumbled, "Then what's the deal with ghosts?"

Yuffie leaped out of her seat and punched the air a few times exclaiming, "You can hit zombies, ghosts…" She sat down and shuddered.

This time, the pair of women nodded. Aerith grimaced as she trailed a finger through the condensation on her mug's side, "Remember those things in the Train Graveyard?"

Tifa scowled and groaned, "Ugh, yeah, it was so annoying when they went intangible. It hardly helped that Cloud was busy with my Steal materia whenever we fought them." She threw a playful glare at him and nudged him in the side with her right elbow.

Cloud shook his head and laughed. Aerith tilted her head to the side, resting her index finger on the tip of her chin she asked, "What were you stealing from them anyway?"

"Nope!" Yuffie shouted waving her arms wildly. "I don't wanna know! With my luck its something like those bomb things Tifa tore the arms off back in Corel!"

Cloud took another sip of his drink and snickered, "You know your luck so well."

Yuffie froze, her hand halfway to the bread basket, the corners of her mouth drawing down in disgusted horror. She shook her head violently and sputtered, "Nope, nope, nope. I didn't hear that, you are not carrying around pieces of ghosts in your pouch. That's my take and I'm sticking to it!" She continued her aborted motion and shoved a slice of crusty bread in her mouth, crumbs scattering all over her front and the surface of the table. She glared at Cloud while she noisily chewed, silently commanding him to say no more.

Zack snickered and then pulled away from the table so the middle-aged woman could place the large pot of stew on the heavy wooden table. "You folks enjoy now!" She ordered with a smile, passing out the bowls and spoons the young woman behind her helped carry over.

Aerith filled the bowls with the thick stew and Cloud passed them out, setting one on the floor for Red XIII to reach more easily. Steam and the subtle aroma of thyme wafted from the meal and they dug in with gusto. Cait Sith eyed the meal and the others enjoying it before sighing under his breath, "That looks better than anything in the company mess hall…"

"Did you say something?" Barret asked, looking up from his soup to the robotic cat to his left.

Cait shook his head, furred ears flopping with the motion and twisted his Green Megaphone between his gloved hands, "Nothing important. So about what we learned, since I'm not eating, I'll share what Aerith and I discovered. Feel free to add anything I missed my lady."

Aerith's green eyes sparkled with amusement and she nodded. Cait unnecessarily cleared his throat and declared, "All the people we conversed with insisted they were natives of Nibelheim. Hinting that any sort of disaster occurred here five years ago was met with scorn, accusations of lying, and even some poorly veiled hostility." His ears drooped and he hung his head, shaking it side to side.

Cloud nodded, swallowed his mouthful, and angled his chin towards Barret before admitting, "We met up with similar attitudes."

Yuffie scowled, jabbed a slice of bread violently into her bowl, and hissed, "The item shop owner called me a liar!" Aerith opened her mouth to soothe the young woman but Yuffie continued in an affronted voice, "Any idiot knows a person who lies about something as big as a town is bound to get caught! We may not have found anything but I bet Tifa and Cloud did."

Zack, Aerith, and Cait Sith turned to the pair in curiosity. Their lips were drawn together in tight lines. Cloud nodded sharply and waved a hand to Tifa. The brunette huffed and flicked her gaze to assure the proprietors were out of earshot before she murmured, "After the second person insisted they were a third generation resident, I changed tactics and acted curious about the massive blizzard that blew through Nibelheim ten years ago. I told her I'd heard the town survived because a disoriented Nibel Dragon got lost and crashed into the water tower, providing food until supplies could make it through the snow."

Zack piped up, "Oh yeah, I've heard that story! So what did they say?"

Cloud sopped up the last of his stew with a crust of bread, brow raised with interest. Tifa rolled her eyes and drawled, "She confirmed the story and said it was horrible and that she'd never forget how awful dragon tasted."

Cloud snorted and shook his head, "That if nothing else proves she didn't live through the blizzard."

Red XIII tilted his head curiously and asked, "I don't understand. I too, have heard this tale. What was the falsity?"

"I can tell one right off," Zack smirked. "Dragon actually tastes amazing. Remember the Zolom? It is the same kind of thing, though more like… I don't know, ginger?"

He directed the question to Cloud who shrugged and replied, "I don't remember the exact flavor," he tapped his right temple with a frown. "But I remember it does taste delicious. The taste of dragon aside, I'm honestly surprised about how well I remember this… In all reality, the story about the dragon was spread because people were embarrassed about what really happened and how badly it got blown out of proportion."

Yuffie tilted her head to the side and asked, "So what is the real story?"

Tifa snickered and shook her head, "It isn't really important, let's just say there were some pranks played on some out-of-towners and the stories got a little crazy."

Zack snorted and shot Cloud a sly grin, "Ah, yeah I've got experience with that kind of thing."

The blond huffed a laugh, cleared his throat, and then in a more somber tone praised, "Very good thinking Tifa. Did you learn anything else?"

Tifa shook her head and rubbed some bread crumbs between her fingers pensively. Barret grunted and announced, "Looks like Cloud and I hit the mother lode in comparison."

Cloud inclined his head to Aerith and explained, " We found evidence Red XIII's joking theory was pretty close to the truth."

Red XIII perked up and rumbled, "Please elaborate."

"We found a letter talkin' about studying the spooks in the black cloaks. They're followin' 'em around seeing what they do," Barret explained, shaking his head.

"They can't all be scientists," Cait Sith protested, waving his arms. "If nothing else, I understand most Shinra researchers aren't too big on cooking."

Zack snorted and shook his head, "It makes sense, if nothing else they seem to have absorbed Hojo's obsession with Sephiroth. I kind of wonder where they got the poor saps they did this to."

Cloud shot Barret a sharp look when the older man opened his mouth to answer, directing a pointed look towards Tifa. He closed his mouth and frowned down at his empty bowl. Nodding once, Cloud pulled out a room key and handed it to Tifa suggesting, "How about you ladies use the washroom while we settle the bill, we'll trade off and then head for the mansion."

The brunette shot him a searching look but took the key and ascended the wooden stairway. "I'll keep an eye on the ladies," Cait volunteered, bouncing up the stairs behind them.

Red XIII waited until he heard the women's chatter fade behind a closing door before he turned to Cloud and inquired, "Do you plan on divulging the true reason for your subterfuge?"

Cloud's right hand unconsciously rose to massage the scars on his chest and he quietly said, "I mostly sent Tifa off, I'd rather tell her about this in private. The short version is that I know where the subjects of these experiments came from."

Zack perked up in shock and then he frowned, starting to make the connections Cloud had and he murmured in horror, "Oh no...the real villagers?"

Cloud nodded sharply, forcing his hand away from his chest before explaining, "Barret and I found two that were different… they were smaller than the others in cloaks and…" he trailed off, looking down and shaking his head. "A pair of twins lived in that house before Sephiroth burned the town. Since they lived next door to Tifa she was their babysitter since they were born. If at all possible, don't hint about this until I get a chance to talk to her."

Zack, Barret, and Red XIII nodded firmly and stood to trade off with the young women. At the top of the stairs, Cloud paused and gazed out the second story window towards the distant peaked roof of the Shinra Mansion, unease rolling in his stomach.

A/N This chapter turned out enormous (around 15k words) so I decided to separate it into two chapters. Next chapter will cover exploring the Shinra Mansion.