Chapter 26: Cloud Strife and the Temple of Doom
Cait Sith's directions indicated that the Temple of the Ancients was located in a tropical jungle on a landmass southwest of the Eastern Continent. According to Yuffie-and in large part the rest of the party-the less said about traversing the shallows and reefs from the Western Continent to reach the island the better. Two days after leaving the Gold Saucer they landed on the island's sparkling white beach.
While Yuffie befriended the sand attempting to make peace with her rebelling digestive system, Tifa sidled up to where Cloud and Zack helped Cid secure the Tiny Bronco. "Do any of you know what this island is called?" she asked.
Cloud and Zack shook their heads and shrugged. Most of Zack's missions before Nibelheim were based farther north and even if his memory wasn't spotty from mako poisoning, obscure geography wasn't really important in a small town like Nibelheim.
Cid swiped a hand across the sweat beading on his brow in the humidity, a pensive look on his face. "I seem ta' recall some documentary a while back 'bout some ancient ruins some crazy archaeologists were huntin' for. I don't recall the names of any of the places though." He flipped his hand in a tossing motion and turned back to checking his knots.
Behind Tifa, Aerith sighed in disappointment and shook her head. It was a faint hope that a name would connect to the small bits of information her mother managed to pass on to her. She turned her gaze toward the shadows of the jungle on the horizon, trying to recall the old memories.
Yuffie finally staggered to her feet a few minutes later, pale but determined. Vincent silently proffered a water bottle and she weakly thanked the man before rinsing the sick from her mouth. He merely nodded in response, faintly relieved when color started returning to her lips and cheeks.
Once he figured the plane was secure and Yuffie was up for travel, Barret huffed, "Alright turncoat, where do we go next?"
Cait Sith's ears drooped, but he didn't comment on the barb, bearing it with the same stoic acceptance he had the cold animosity directed his way since he revealed his actions. "It is this way," he replied with a bit less vigor than before. He guided the group across the small grasslands and towards the jungle beyond.
Despite the tangled undergrowth and massive trees, Cait Sith lead them confidently through the greenery. "So how do you know where to go?" Zack asked the mechanical feline after they followed one twist in the jungle over another.
"There's a map on the Shinra servers. The Turks didn't hide it behind any encryption so…" he shrugged.
"Sloppy," Vincent huffed, raising his gun and shooting a Kelzmelzer without looking up.
After two hours of fighting off swarms of fury causing Slaps and the giant, centipede-like Kelzmelzers, they literally stumbled on the first sign they were on the right trail. Pushing himself to his hands and knees, Zack muttered and scrubbed leaf mold from his palms before scowling back at the hidden protrusion that tripped him.
"Hm, 4.5," Red XIII mused thoughtfully to Barret and shot a fanged grin at Zack when the man's glare transferred to him.
"I'm a SOLDIER not a cat! I can't always land on my feet!" Zack protested, picking at the chunks of black mud sticking to his chest and belt.
"Ya got that right, you always land on your face. Maybe you're a backwards cat," Barret snickered.
"And Cloudy here has yet to do a face-skid," Cid added with a grin, having recently been brought up to speed on the 'fall' situation
"Next time is your turn Cloud!" Zack grumbled from the ground, his arms crossed and his lower lip thrust out. Rolling his eyes, Cloud helped his friend to his feet.
There weren't any exposed roots or vines where Zack tripped so Tifa kicked aside the dirt and rotting vegetation to determine what happened. Her idle curiosity turned to focused interest when the edge of a rectangular stone peeked out of the rich, black soil. She kicked more loam away, exposing the man-made work. Carvings and the flaking remnants of paint decorated the visible face of a collapsed column.
Aerith crouched down and blew away more of the dirt, peering closely at the rock. "This symbol looks like something my mother showed me," Aerith gasped, tracing a green design with her fingertip. "It is a way-marker and says we should go… this way!" She stood and pointed a slightly different direction than they were originally heading.
Taking the lead from Cait Sith, she somehow sensed the location of each successive marker, making course corrections following whatever she found in the signs. Monsters still attacked and the route was still choked with jungle undergrowth, but with each respective way marker, the young Ancient's confidence grew.
"We've made good time," Cait Sith announced. "Though they've gone on comm silence, we're only an hour or so behind the Turks."
A quarter of an hour later, the trees thinned and opened to a massive clearing. Hundreds of years ago, it might have been a been a beautiful stonework city. Now it was a jumbled morass of toppled stone. Vines, stubborn trees, and low scrub broke up the remnant symmetry. From above it might look like a rocky depression rather than a ruined metropolis.
Picking their way carefully through the ruins, they reached a deep crevasse spanned by a moldering rope bridge. Beyond the bridge, the pyramid-shaped temple rose behind a shockingly intact stone wall. A few trees grew from the cracks in the faces of the pyramid and vines clogged its crumbling stairs. New ropes and wood on the bridge showed evidence of the Turk's passage.
Eager to reach the temple, Aerith scampered to the bridge and stared up at the temple, her green eyes rapt with wonder. "This is the Temple of the Ancients! It is speaking to me!" she breathed, clasping her hands together over her chest. "It could return to the Planet, but something is making it stay. A sense of obligation…" she fell to her knees and clenched her fists in the soil.
"What does it say?" Cloud asked, ignoring Cid's incredulous look.
Aerith's brows lowered, "It is happy to see me… but it is warning me away." She shook her head and murmured, "Something about danger… but…" She shook her head again and looked up at him frowning. "I can't make it out."
"Maybe it will be clearer inside," Cait Sith mused. "We can hope the Turks didn't shut the door behind themselves."
Aerith nodded, but the crease of worry between her brows didn't smooth away. They carefully crossed the ramshackle bridge and passed under the crumbling arch of the temple wall. In the center of the bridge, Cloud peered down and whistled, the sound echoing and vanishing into the apparently bottomless depths. 'What kind of powers did the Ancients possess to create a perfectly smooth crevasse that deep?' he wondered.
The stairs of the temple nearly touched the encircling stone wall. Vincent frowned at the lack of any semblance of a courtyard and murmured, "This is a strange temple. Where are the worshipers expected to stand or kneel?" He shook his head sharply and advised, "We should keep our guards up."
"Ain't got no arguments 'gainst that," Barret huffed, gingerly stepping between the gnarled vines and roots choking the way to the temple's steep staircase.
A massive creeper vine, hardened by age, wove up the stairs in a meandering path. Yuffie rubbed a finger on the moss-slick surface and breathed, "I'm so sliding down this when we leave."
Cid nudged her back upright when she started to slip backwards on the slimy surface and huffed, "Then I guess one of us is gonna' patch you up when you crack your fool head open doin' it."
"I don't know," Zack mused, scrambling over the thick obstruction for the fifth time on the slow trek up. "Considering how slippery it is and how hard it is climbing up these stairs with it here, it might actually be the safer way down."
Cloud and Tifa shook their heads at each other and clambered the last few feet to the top of the temple. The blond hissed when he reached the top of the stairs. A wheezing, black-cloaked figure swayed just outside the temple's carved entryway.
"Black...Materia…" it moaned pointing a disease spotted, stick-like finger towards the entrance. Between the oozing sores, there was the tattoo of the number nine. The pitiful being wheezed and staggered to the side of the temple, pitching headfirst over the side. Cid yelped and lunged to grab them as they passed but they vanished in a flash of green, returning instantly to the Lifestream.
Eyes wide in horror, the pilot stared down at his empty hand in horror. "He just…" he wheezed shakily and looked up at Zack and Cloud with pleading eyes. "I couldn't…"
"It's not your fault," Tifa soothed squeezing his shoulder as she passed the stunned man. "We've encountered these before, they're… they're all dying."
"You know what this means, right?" Zack asked Cloud quietly.
The blond nodded slowly, "Sephiroth may already be here."
"I smell blood," Red XIII murmured from the doorway. Gripping the handles of their swords, Zack and Cloud stepped inside. Carved columns guided them to a polished stone platform raised before a lion-like face carved in the wall. Two braziers on tripods burned on either side of the carving.
Tseng slumped against the stone pedestal on the far edge of the raised platform, his right hand clasped over a damp stain on his stomach. Blood oozed between his fingers and sweat dripped from his brow.
"Tseng!" Zack cried in horror, dashing further into the room.
The Wutaian grimaced and attempted to climb to his feet at the former SOLDIER's approach. "We were wrong," he huffed and then slumped back down against the pedestal. He shook his head, "Sephiroth is not after the Promised Land…"
"It appears your theory has proven true, Cloud," Vincent murmured, gliding past Zack and Cloud to crouch at Tseng's side. "Tseng…" he called, placing his gloved hand on the man's shoulder.
Tseng slowly raised his head, eyes widening as he laid his eyes on Vincent. "Valentine… I'm glad you aren't dead but… something tells me you don't feel the same." Groaning in pain, he forced himself to his feet. Ignoring Vincent's extended arm, he limped to Cloud, his free arm extended.
Fighting the natural instinct to shy away from the bloodied, limb, Cloud extended his hand in turn. "Put the Keystone on the pedestal," Tseng grunted and dropped the Keystone in his hand. Then he staggered off the polished platform to slump against a decorated sandstone column.
Aerith crouched by his side and murmured, "I'm only healing you because I'm a good person. I heard about your plans to threaten Marlene and my mother if we were against keeping Cait Sith with us."
Tseng shook his head and sighed, "Rufus is a harsh man. If it didn't look like we were putting forth our full efforts, he'd call in less sympathetic employees. We had no intention to hurt either of them." He hissed when Zack pulled his shoulders forward to give Aerith easier access to his back. "Midgar is growing dangerous, especially with the underworld's power void after Corneo's death. We merely used the implied threat as an excuse to get them out of the city."
He pushed her hands away and leaned against the column with a sigh, "No more for me, save your strength for the trials ahead. I'll be fine, Reno is on his way with a chopper to lift me out."
Aerith fell silent, pulling her hands back. Tseng turned his attention to Cloud and Zack, his eyes slightly less feverish and advised, "Sephiroth isn't like he once was. There was no recognition in his eyes when he attacked me. You need to stop Sephiroth, or what is left of him." He sent Zack an apologetic frown and turned to Vincent. "Valentine, despite whatever horrors Hojo put you through, serving with you was a delight."
Yuffie narrowed her eyes thoughtfully but kept her silence in the grim atmosphere. Vincent nodded solemnly and joined Cloud and the others on the polished platform. The man's crimson eyes narrowed, where he expected a pool of blood from Tseng's wound, the golden surface was pristine.
Before he could do more than muse on the oddity, Cloud placed the Keystone in a smooth indentation on the front. Like an ancient computer's progress bar, the carvings on the surface lit from left to right with an eerie indigo light. When the full design was lit, Yuffie looked around, shook her head and muttered, "That was anticlimactic."
Blinding white light flooded the room, pulsing to the sound of an immense heartbeat. The golden floor beneath them shuddered and Cloud covered his face with one hand. "You had to say it, didn't you?" he sighed as they sunk through the floor. Cid and Barret cursed in distress as they descended into the honey-like surface.
When they finally settled on solid ground once more, Cid and Barret spluttered through Aerith's soapy water spell. Barret gagged, "Damn it Aerith, show a little mercy for a shocked slip-up!"
The young Ancient sniffed, "No excuses. Marlene shouldn't be around such language. If you get out of the habit now, all the better when we rejoin her later." Barret slumped in defeat.
"What about me?" Cid growled in between sputters. "I ain't got any kids ta' be a bad example for." Aerith sniffed haughtily but Tifa's breathy exclamation cut off her response.
"Woah," Tifa breathed, looking out over the massive chamber below. A muffled silence surrounded them when they paused to focus on their surroundings.
The pale stone below glowed with a faint inner light and a thin violet mist filled the chamber like a light fog. Stairways and passageways twisted in and around each other in a confusing jumble of carved stone. Stairways and arched bridges terminated on plain walls or over sheer drop offs. Strange pale green vines clung to some of the walls, somehow thriving in the ghostly light.
Vincent peered around them and then back up through the darkness to where they'd come from. It was impossible to tell how far into the earth they'd come. The ceiling, if there even was one, vanished into the darkness above. "I see no visible exits. We will have to press on."
Cloud peered over the edge to a courtyard below. A squat old man in a vivid purple robe and an old, pointed straw hat peered up at them. A braided, snowy beard emerged from the gap between the robe and the strange hat. "Gra-" Cloud choked before the being bounced away.
"Is that an Ancient?" Red XIII wondered. He followed the short being's progress through the maze, tracking its path.
"I'm not sure," Aerith shook her head, "We need to follow it though."
Following the being turned out to be harder than expected. Harassed by the freakishly large insectoid Kelmezers and the panther/bull man Doorbulls, they trekked through the luminous marble maze. They crossed one plaza, passing under a tall arch to a smaller area ringed with doorways and staircases. It seemed that every time they came close to reaching the violet-cloaked being, monsters attacked.
"Oh dear," Cait Sith moaned, his ears drooping as one by one the party scrambled down a tangle of vines. "I hoped vine climbing was off the menu when we came inside."
"Indeed," Red XIII huffed, peering over the eight foot drop. "I can easily leap up and down heights such as this, but for greater distances I fear what sort of solutions our comrades will propose to accommodate me. Be grateful you at least have opposable thumbs."
Cait's Mog flexed its mitten-like hands and he sighed, "Not the most dexterous of hands, but a point indeed." With a few false starts and a lost grip near the end, Cait climbed down the vines to the level below.
Cid yelped, and dodged out of the falling robot's path. Biting back the curse he wanted to spit he hissed, "Damn man, wait until I'm clear next time!"
Red XIII deliberately landed inches from the man on his other side startling him into falling on the stuffed mog. Flicking his gaze to see if Aerith was in earshot Cid scrambled to his feet and hissed, "You did that on purpose ya' mangy hellion!"
Red shot him a toothy grin, slightly terrifying for the numerous gleaming fangs, and slunk past him, flaming tail flicking in amusement.
"Looks like you've been accepted inta' the group," Barret huffed with a crooked grin.
"That's acceptance?" Cid asked, raising one eyebrow in disbelief.
Barret shrugged and replied, "Teasin's how Red shows his affection. 'Least you got off easier than Zack."
Cid tilted his head to the side and then grimaced as Cloud shoved a trident into his bottomless pouch. "That fallin' thing, right?"
Barret nodded with laugh, "We get a free moment, I'll have to tell you about some of his crazy stunts. The recent ones have been kinda tame but some of the stuff he did in Midgar…" He trailed off with a laugh.
"Don't you guys realize I can hear you?" Zack half whined, half snarled back at the pair. The older men snorted and rolled their eyes at his indignant glare and followed Cloud up another dusty staircase. Part way up, a pair of Under Lizards scrambled down the wall to attack the group. Looking much like the Gagighandi near Gongaga, the orange beasts plopped on the stairs above them, barring the way.
Cloud yelped and frantically dodged the strange beam attack the orange reptile on the right sent his direction. Unfortunately, Zack wasn't so lucky and the Petrified-Frog attack turned him into a stunned frog. "Zack!" Aerith cried, swiftly crouching to scoop him up and then ducking out of the way so Yuffie could launch her Razor Ring at the Under Lizard trying to attack her.
None of the party was a fan of fighting on stairs. Not only was the location narrow and cramped, but the footing was treacherous should a foot fall poorly on a step. The beasts weren't terribly difficult to defeat, but on the way to the temple, Tifa discovered she could steal valuable Remedies from the creatures, something they were bound to need more of considering the monster's debilitating attack. Even so, it was a difficult balance to give her time to pull off the theft while keeping injuries down and avoiding the status attacks.
After a few times dodging in and out of the paths of the reptiles' fangs and transformative gazes, she gave Cloud a triumphant look brandishing the two leather remedy pouches in her left hand. Nodding tersely, Cloud whirled his sword in a limit break, launching a barrage of meteors at the creatures, instantly slaying them.
While Yuffie and Cloud scooped up the piles of gil left behind the young ninja studied a coin and mused, "I wonder how monsters in this temple managed to get modern money? I mean, unless one of the archaeologists who found the Keystone was loaded and made his way down here, how did this gil get here?" She looked back at Aerith who was stroking Zack's head in her lap, an empty remedy pouch in her free hand. "Did the Ancients use gil?" she called out to the young woman.
Aerith blinked at the odd question and then shrugged, "I don't know."
Zack groaned and slowly flexed the tingling out of his hands and rasped, "I heard a theory once, something about the Lifestream converting the physical bodies of the dead into things of use for the ones who ended the life. Whether it was food or items or money in modern tender."
Vincent tilted his head thoughtfully, "An interesting theory. It does take into account the lack of corpses after all our battles."
"So that means…" Yuffie's eyes widened and she looked down at the gil in her hand, the silver and gold coins clinking against each other. "We're buying our supplies with the dead bodies of our foes?"
Cait Sith tilted his head and replied, "If the theory is true, then I suppose so."
Yuffie rubbed the coins between her fingers before handing them to Cloud and huffing, "I'm not sure whether I'm disgusted or elated at that. I mean, it is an awesome revenge to make our enemies pay for our comforts… but on the other hand… That means Cloud's carrying around a whole butt-load of dead bodies."
Tifa grimaced and shook her head. "Thank you Yuffie, I can't believe I would have gone my whole life without that pleasant thought," she sighed.
"You're welcome!" she hummed, either missing the sarcasm or ignoring it.
At the top of the next stairs they reached a small corridor between raised platforms with a vine covered vertical wall. Cait Sith tilted his head to Red XIII and asked, "Think this might be your breaking point?"
"Perhaps," Red mused and peered up at the vine shrouded obstacle. It stretched well over fifteen feet above them. Backing up slightly, the lion-beast noticed stairs descending from the top of the platform, leading to a lower landing. Judging the distances carefully, he pondered an alternate route.
"But perhaps not." Crouching and then springing up to the top of the right wall, he leaped across the corridor and up to the higher platform. Ascending the stairs he noticed from below, he smugly peered down at the rest of the party.
"Bah," Cait Sith huffed and peered over at the Mog's decorative wings. "Wish those were real about now."
Once they all reached the top, they descended the stairs and entered a small torch lit chamber. Jars and pots lined the walls and a few shelves of bottles lined the back and right-hand walls. The purple robed man waited in the back of the room. One gnarled hand pointed to a chest between the room's crumbling columns. Cloud removed the Silver Rifle from the chest and then stowed it away with a shake of his head.
"What was its deficiency?" Vincent asked curiously.
Cloud shrugged and replied, "Like the trident earlier, it had no place for materia slots. Perhaps the Ancients didn't use materia in their weapons?"
Vincent hummed thoughtfully then turned to watch Aerith address the small man. "Whew, we finally caught up with you! Sorry we made you wait."
She peered closely at him and to the party said, "It is the spirit body of an Ancient. From what I can tell, he's one of a select group that separated from the planet to protect this place…" Her eyes widened and she continued explaining. "They've been in this form so long, over the centuries they've lost the ability to talk aloud even if we could understand their language."
Aerith tilted her head slightly and then shook it, amending her earlier statement, "Apparently they didn't need speech even from the beginning since their purpose here wasn't to pass on knowledge. They only had one objective for devoting their lives to the temple…" Her brow furrowed and she shook her head. "I don't understand the rest."
She crouched by the wizened figure and asked, "Is it because you're afraid? Is it because Sephiroth is in the Temple, or something else?" She didn't seem to get a response, though the figure emitted a flash of light, restoring their vitality and healing the slight wounds incurred from the trials of the stone labyrinth.
Aerith thanked the Ancient and then turned to the others. Shaking her head she asked, "Now what?"
"Looks like we gotta' go back out inta' that crazy-ass maze," Barret sighed, rubbing his hand down the side of his face. "'Least this place isn't as nasty hot as that jungle."
"No Slaps either," Cid muttered quietly so Aerith couldn't hear. The pair shuddered and Zack shot them a pained grimace of agreement. A berserk Aerith was a terrifying Aerith.
For some time, Cloud led them in seemingly random paths up and down stairs and vines, through arches and across suspended platforms. To his dismay, Red XIII had to use the makeshift rope harness Zack cobbled together to lower him down or raise him up when the distance was too far for him to safely jump and he couldn't find a viable alternate path.
After an uncertain amount of time and numerous encounters with the strange beasts infesting the luminous maze, Cloud paused outside of a passageway. The irritated party members looked on his White cape with no small amount of jealousy after multiple encounters with Under Lizards and Toxic Frogs with their transformative attacks.
"This is the way," Cloud announced, pointing to the darker tunnel.
"You sure?" Cid asked shifting his Dragoon Lance to rest on a different shoulder. "Feels like we've been wanderin' in circles here."
"I'm sure," Cloud replied firmly, leading the way inside.
"He hasn't led us wrong yet," Tifa assured the man as she passed.
The grizzled pilot snorted and huffed to Vincent, "Don't suppose this is part o' that 'treasure senses' thing Zack and Yuffie were goin' on about do ya'?"
"Perhaps," Vincent said quietly his crimson eyes hooded.
The stones of the opening pulsed a subdued violet instead of the opalescent white of the maze. After the consistent light of the maze chamber, the long corridor's muted glow was a relief on their eyes. The long passageway eventually opened into another massive chamber with a stone pathway seeming to hang in stifling emptiness. Another violet robed Ancient stood on the path as if waiting for them to catch sight of it. As soon as Aerith gasped in recognition, the squat figure bounced away down the sharp right angle the path took.
"Wait!" Aerith cried, dashing after the figure. An ominous rumbling echoed in the chamber and the path trembled beneath their feet. Zack's eyes narrowed and then widened when he recognized what he was hearing. Zack and Cloud typically tried to mask the inhuman speed and abilities granted by their mako treatments. In this instance, the former SOLDIER released all the stops, his form blurring with the speed he sprinted ahead, dragging Aerith away from where the path took a right angle.
Aerith yelped, shocked at the sudden pull backwards and again when a massive U-shaped boulder rolled where she would have been. Zack heaved a shuddering breath of relief, burying his face in the side of Aerith's neck. The young Cetra trembled in building shock and flinched as another oddly formed boulder rolled by. "That was too close," Zack murmured shakily. Over the deafening crash of the stream of stones, only Aerith heard his words.
The others approached from behind, gazes torn between the stream of boulders and the shaken couple. Cloud patted Zack's shoulder in a blend of comfort and praise before looking at the new obstacle in consternation. He squinted through the dim light, his eyes tracing the path until it turned sharply back towards the wall. There weren't any helpful stairs or ledges in between their branch of the path and its termination far across the room.
"Well damn, you sure this is the way?" Cid asked Cloud in a sharp bellow.
"Afraid so," Cloud mused with a nod while watching the flow of stone and counting out the timing. After a few moments of counting he shook his head, face grim. Shouting to be heard over the rumbling stones he called, "Let's go back to the maze, we need to discuss things!" With a few tugs on the elbows or shoulders of those who couldn't hear or were too engrossed by the endless cascade of rock they retraced their steps down the long passageway, the rumbling fading with the distance.
Even back in the maze, those with enhanced hearing could still hear the crash and roll of boulders, but it was a more bearable level. Still clinging to Aerith like a human backpack, Zack muttered, "Well now what?"
Cloud sighed, his face grim but before he could say anything, Vincent interjected, "You were counting the timing of the stones. You think one of us has to attempt to duck into the hollow of the boulders and make their way to the end of that walkway."
The blond nodded, the frown on his face deepening and said, "I think I'm-"
"A damn fool if you think you're gonna try that!" Cid cut him off with a snarl. "That way's suicide!"
Cloud folded his arms and scowled at the incredulous looks the other party members sent him. He shook his head and replied, "Tseng somehow got through, as did Sephiroth and as far as I can tell, that's the only way forward."
Tifa shook her head sharply and snapped, "There has to be another way!"
Barret looked Vincent up and down before asking, "I don't 'spose you know how ta' fly like Sephiroth?" He flinched and hunched his shoulders at the baleful crimson glare he received in response. "Was just a thought," he muttered rubbing the back of his head.
Arms slowly loosening around Aerith, Zack turned to Yuffie, stroking his chin thoughtfully. In a speculative voice he mused, "During the war I heard that some Wutaian ninja can climb on walls and the ceiling. Can you do that?"
Yuffie held her hand out, palm down and rocked it side to side in a so-so motion. "I know how," she demurred, "but that's usually done with special clawed gloves. Something I didn't have pack space to bring with me."
Vincent shot a sideways glance at Tifa's Diamond knuckles then Cloud's pouch and asked, "Would any clawed glove work?"
One by one the party members followed the direction of his gaze. Tifa's eyes widened and she asked, "Hey Cloud, did you sell my Tiger Fang gloves back in Wutai?"
He shook his head and dug the clawed gloves out of the depths of his pouch and held them out to Yuffie. The young ninja took them and hummed thoughtfully, narrowing her eyes as she studied Tifa's gloves. "Yeah I could probably make something like this work."
After she inspected the clawed gloves, she slipped them on, flexing her fingers and tightening the straps to accommodate her smaller hands. She unhooked her Razor Ring from her back and handed it to Tifa. "Hold on to this for me, it will only get in the way while I climb."
Tifa nodded and backed away when she waved her hands for more space. The group watched as the young woman went through an extensive array of twists and stretches in preparation.
"I cannot help but be curious," Red XIII murmured at Cloud's hip. "Typically you take care to sell our old weapons when newer, more effective ones become available. Why the deviation in this instance?"
Cloud's face twitched, as though holding back a grimace and he shrugged before replying, "I had a feeling we'd need them later."
"A most auspicious suspicion," the crimson beast murmured. "I am reminded once more of the wisdom in choosing you for our leader."
Cait Sith tilted his head to the side curiously and Cid snorted a laugh, "You guys vote or somethin'?" Zack grimaced and cleared his throat. He'd rather not revisit the indignity of that occasion.
Red XIII chuckled in amusement, "We did actually. It was a most auspicious event."
The party members who missed the voting for leader shot the feline a mix of confused and speculative looks before Yuffie finished her preparations and shrugged, rolling her shoulders. "I'm ready, let's do this!"
They traversed back to the trap room, the deafening sound of the crashing and rolling boulders ringing off the walls and depths of wherever the pit beneath the walkway terminated. There was a gap between sharp turn into the path of the boulders and the wall Yuffie popped her head into this space to scope out the most likely path on the walls.
After a few moments, she nodded sharply and pointed to Zack, "You, give me a lift."
Reluctantly releasing Aerith, Zack crouched so the young woman could climb onto his shoulders. "Why me?" he groused, scowling at having to leave Aerith's side so soon after his scare.
"You're the tallest one with two working hands," She replied, stepping on his cupped hands and then to his shoulders. She balanced like she stood on plain ground. "Interlace your fingers and put your hands palm up on your head," she ordered, "I need a little more distance for my jump."
Zack rolled his eyes and did as she ordered, wincing slightly when she stepped on his gloved hands, pressing them into his skull with the force of her leap off. There was a frantic scrabbling of metal on stone before she found her grip and sighed, "Whew, one of the hardest parts is over! See you guys on the other side!"
Cloud fully expected her to slowly and carefully make her way from crack and depression to irregularity in stone, a trip that might take hours depending on the length of the corridor. Much to their collective shock and awe, Yuffie scrabbled across the wall like a frightened spider. Despite the eerie violet light from the stones and the odd, shimmering magenta gleam from further in the chamber, it wasn't long before the young woman was out of sight to even the vision of the enhanced party members.
Aerith gnawed her lip anxiously and peered up the boulder strewn slope for any sign of the girl. She grabbed Zack's left hand and kneaded it between her own as she waited.
An indeterminate time later, Red XIII's left ear flicked and he shouted, "I heard something!"
The rumble of falling boulders decreased and finally stopped. the echoes slowly faded and the chamber returned to its former silence. Tifa shivered and whispered, "Now I know what a 'deafening silence' sounds like. After all that noise…" She trailed off and shook her head. The others nodded in unspoken agreement and they started up the sloped path.
Dust from countless collisions with the stones crunched underfoot and swirled with each step. Red XIII sneezed miserably, his muzzle too close to the irritant. He huffed and with the faintest hint of petulance in his tone asked, "I don't suppose I could move to the front of the line?"
"I was about to suggest that," Aerith murmured, casting him a sympathetic look.
"I see no harm in it," Cloud agreed, shifting to the side so Red could pass. He only weaved past Cid and Barret before he paused, head tilted and looking up the path. At the same time, Cloud, Zack, and Vincent did the same.
Aerith and Tifa looked from the men to each other and shrugged, tilting their heads to try and make out what they heard. Soon the rest of the party could hear the gritty patter of Yuffie's feet running back to them. When she met them on the path, she exclaimed, "Guys, there's this awesome purple pool! Do you think it might taste like grape juice? I'm kinda thirsty after that climb."
Vincent narrowed his eyes and gripped the young woman's shoulders firmly. "Sit," he commanded, gently pushing her down to lean against Cait Sith's confused but obliging stuffed Mog. "Cloud, water and some of those berries Aerith found earlier today."
The blond instantly pulled out the items, quickly seeing what Vincent had. Yuffie's pupils were blown wide and a sticky layer of grit coated her sweaty exposed skin. Fine trembles wracked her hands and legs. While Vincent plied her with water and sugar to help with the shock, Cloud pulled out more water and a few more scraps of purple fabric from his happily destroyed dress and extended them to Tifa and Aerith.
He didn't need to say anything, Tifa snatched the fabric and Aerith the water and they carefully sponged off the worst of the sweat and grime.
"You did a good job girlie," Cid said gruffly. "I'm glad ya' made it okay."
"Me too," she said shakily. "My dismount was a little rocky." She grinned weakly at her pun and Cid and Barret's groaned in response. Their humor faded when Vincent turned her arms over to expose abrasions down the lengths of them and Tifa's cleaning revealed deep purpling bruises on her stomach. Zack and Cloud hissed between their teeth, instantly realizing she'd nearly gone off the edge with the poor landing.
Red XIII nuzzled the trembling young woman while Aerith's healing magic soothed the abrasions and contusions. "If we face something like this again, I'll deal with the boulders," Cloud declared firmly. "No arguments," he insisted when she opened her mouth to protest.
He stared her down until she finally huffed, "Fine."
Vincent nodded in agreement and when Tifa and Aerith backed off from their ministrations he asked, "Can you walk?"
Her gray eyes blazed and she leaped to her feet shouting, "Of course I can-" Her legs trembled and collapsed. Vincent's arm snaked around her waist, steadying her. "...not apparently," she continued with a grumble.
"I suspected as much." He nodded once and scooped her into his arms in one smooth motion. "Let's continue," he said to the others.
Careful to act normal and not embarrass the obviously abashed young woman further, Tifa and Aerith returned their supplies to Cloud and they ascended the sloped passage.
"You don't have to do this!" Yuffie hissed, her cheeks flaming. "I'm not some weak princess to be carried around!"
"I'm not doing this because I consider you weak," Vincent replied quietly momentarily glancing down to meet her eyes. "We need to hurry and until your body has recovered from the shock we can't trust your limbs to support you. Leaving you behind is out of the question and since I was the closest one capable of carrying you I took the initiative. If any of our other companions were in such a state we'd take similar steps."
She relaxed slightly, appeased that his treatment wasn't based on her gender or age. For a moment she imagined Zack carrying Cloud around like a princess and giggled. She tilted her head and mused, "You would have carried me on your back if you didn't have that cape, wouldn't you?"
She felt a minute tensing of his arm around her shoulders and took it for agreement. Beaming up at him she hummed, "Okay, thanks for the help now, and back there when I was in bad shape."
They traveled in silence for several more minutes, the magenta gleam of the strange pool growing closer. Just as she figured he wouldn't respond, he murmured, "You're welcome."
Perpendicular to the unnaturally straight path, a small bridge led to a stone platform. Cloud crouched and picked up a yellow materia. He studied it momentarily before pocketing it and studying the area. Three slender stone columns stood at each corner while a third lay broken on the ground. In the center was a rippling circular pool. The lavender surface swirled and sparkled like it was lit with lightning.
Aerith flinched as the walls violet light momentarily intensified. She stepped to the edge of the pool, her green eyes widened in wonder. The surface roiled and a column of lavender light rose from the surface, the light seeming to hum with power.
"It is filled with the knowledge of the Ancients," Aerith breathed, leaning nearer to the light. "No…" She shook her head, struggling to phrase what she sensed. "Not knowledge… consciousness… a living soul?"
She shook her head and sank to her knees. "It is trying to communicate with me but… I'm sorry, I don't understand," she addressed the luminous pool. Sprawling on her stomach, she thrust her arm into the strange water. "What is it?"
Zack keened, fingers twitching in the urge to tear her away from the unknown substance. Seconds later, she rocked back and shot to her feet, hands covering her mouth. Her arm wasn't even wet from whatever the liquid was.
"Something about danger? An evil consciousness?" she murmured. Zack's eyes narrowed and he shot Cloud a defeated look. "You're going to show us?" Aerith asked, drawing their attention back to the pool before a blinding light engulfed them all.
When it cleared, they were in a vastly different chamber. Massive murals decorated both walls of the long corridor. Images and inscriptions in strange, Ancient writing marked the walls from the floor and disappeared into the darkness towards the unseen ceiling. The strange, fuel-less torches from the first room of the temple burned in this hall as well.
The party hovered slightly over the floor, their bodies visible but transparent. Barret yelped when he noticed he could see through his own arm, turning his sole hand back and forth as if expecting one side to be opaque like normal. They only had a moment to wonder at their forms before Tseng appeared in front of them, studying the murals. He stood straight. His torso was unmarred, hair unruffled, and utterly failed to notice their presences.
"What the fu-er fudge is goin' on?" Cid yelped. Vincent's eyes narrowed, already forming a hypothesis.
"It's showing us something," Aerith replied.
Elena joined him from further in the chamber, a faint flush on her cheeks. "Sir, what is this? Can it lead us to the Promised Land?"
He shrugged and slowly replied, "...I wonder." His gaze flicked back to the images and figures on the walls, thoughts flashing unspoken in his eyes. Vincent's eyes narrowed, noting a minute tensing in the man's stance before he continued, "Anyway, we have to report to the President, head out and get the chopper ready."
Elena nodded and saluted, swiftly passing the man. She stopped, turning back and murmured, "Be careful, Tseng."
He nodded, and then tilted his head slightly, a faint smile on his face. "Hey Elena, why don't we go for dinner after we get back?"
The flush on her cheeks deepened and a dazzling smile spread across her face. "Y-yeah! I'd love to. If you'll excuse me sir, I'll get the chopper…" She dashed out of sight, a noticeable bounce in her steps.
Tseng smiled fondly, shaking his head before his shoulders stiffened once more and he turned back to the murals. He peered at the depiction of two priests standing over an altar with some strange object floating between them. "Is this the Promised Land?" He shook his head, "No, it can't be."
Tseng tilted his head to the side and in a louder voice said, "You might as well come into the light, I know you're there."
"Can he sense us?" Red XIII wondered in awe. Yuffie shrieked when the image flickered and the figure of Sephiroth walked right through first her then the others and into the light.
Sephiroth moved in slightly jerky motions, and crouched behind Tseng like a servant, Masamune in his hand, the blade pointed over his shoulder. "Sephiroth," Tseng said, slowly turning to face the man. There was a wariness in his words and he peered into the former SOLDIER's green eyes, hunting for any sign of recognition.
"So you are the one who opened the door, well done," Sephiroth praised, smoothly gliding to his feet. "I would taunt you for sentiment, sending the girl off like that, but I suppose I don't need both of you here."
"My sources mentioned you wanted to come here, but why? What is this place?" Tseng asked, ignoring Sephiroth's accusation. The sound of the man's heels on stone echoed as he stalked closer. Tseng's spine tensed as he fought the urge to flinch when the lithe man approached his naked blade swinging carelessly.
Sephiroth smirked, "Indeed, look around you at this lost treasure house of knowledge." He raised his arms high, to encompass the vast murals and writings. "Through this I will become one with the planet."
Tseng's eyes momentarily flickered to the murals hunting for some sign of what prompted him to announce that. Narrowing his eyes he asked, "One with the planet? What do you mean by that?"
"Amen to that," Cid muttered in a low voice, as if afraid he'd be overheard. "What is that nutjob talking about?"
Sephiroth's image splits, one sneering down at Tseng, the other stalked to face the ghostly members of the party. "You stupid fools," he sneered, glaring directly at them. Yuffie emitted a choked whimper and for one moment his eyes narrowed and he glared at her before continuing his words, both throats speaking as one.
"You foolish mortals can't even comprehend it. All the spirit energy of this planet, all of its wisdom." The Sephiroth before them raised his arms as if embracing the world, his voice deep and full of rapture, "I will meld with it, I will become one with it and it will become one with me…"
Tseng gaped at the man and in a voice dripping with skepticism asked, "How do you plan to do that?"
The shade of Sephiroth facing the party lowered his arms while the one conversing with Tseng faced the murals, laying one hand on the depiction of a strange diamond shape floating over some sort of altar. "The way lies here…"
The Sephiroth in front of Cloud started to laugh, shoulders shaking as it rose in pitch and fervor. Yuffie whimpered and Barret hissed, "God damn that's creepy."
Distracted by the shade before them, Cloud almost missed the Sephiroth by Tseng's next words. "Of course, only death awaits you all," he declared, slashing Tseng across the torso and then standing over his fallen figure laughing.
Cloud narrowed his eyes, half doubting what he'd seen. The image facing the party shot towards the ceiling, vanishing. Just before the scene went crimson and then white, he saw Tseng activating a green materia in his Mystile bracer.
When the blinding light faded, they once again stood around the pool of strange water. "Did you guys see that?" Aerith asked, eyes wide and pleading.
"Nope," Cid said quickly, shaking his head emphatically. Her face fell before he continued, "Nope, I ain't claimin' to share in any joint hallucinations."
Aerith's devastated expression morphed to a pout. "So you all saw it then?" she asked again.
"Ugh, much to my dismay," Yuffie muttered, then patted Vincent's chest in a mixture of gratitude and a request to be put down.
Shaken by his first glimpse of Lucrecia's son it took him a moment to react. He blinked and gently set her on her feet, only pulling his hands away from her shoulders when she stood firmly.
"I'm just shocked I saw it," Cait Sith mused, "considering the one controlling me isn't even present."
"Really?" Aerith gaped, dashing around the pool to converse more with the robotic cat.
Cloud slipped to Zack's side, Tifa close behind him and murmured, "Did you see it?"
Zack tilted his head to the side in a silent question. Tifa whispered, "Tseng fell before the sword totally reached him, he avoided most of the blade and it probably saved his life."
Zack's lips thinned and he replied, "I wasn't focusing on that part, more on the swordwork, right Cloud?"
The blond nodded and explained, "Sephiroth wielded Masamune with a grace and elegance considered unparalleled in even Wutai. But back there…" he trailed off with a grimace.
"He swung the blade like a child waving a stick," Vincent chimed in from behind Tifa and Cloud.
Zack nodded, stroking his chin with one hand, the other arm folded across his chest gripping his elbow. After a moment he sighed and asked, "So, my theory gained another point, didn't it?"
"Seems so," Cloud agreed, face troubled. "Your theory raises all sorts of other problems though."
"Yeah," Zack sighed, scowling down at the gleaming violet pool. "It is kind of terrifying actually."
"What is?" Yuffie asked, drawing Aerith's attention from discussing the implications of visions across continental distances.
Zack opened his mouth to explain, but Cloud shook his head, "We'll have to explain later. We need to move on, we already know Sephiroth is here and if I'm not off the mark, he knows we're here too. If there's some kind of weapon here it is a race between us to get it and he has a head start."
"Indeed," Red XIII agreed. "It is best we proceed with haste."
Crossing the bridge back to the sloped walkway, they proceeded to the end of the trapped pathway. The violet robed Ancient waited for them where the pathway turned and headed down a set of stairs. He emitted a flash of green, restoring their vitality and healing the last of Yuffie's scrapes and bruises. She huffed, "Though I'm kinda ticked at you for setting off the trap in the first place, thanks for the healing."
Just past him a steep set of carved stairs descended into the darkness. Before stepping down, Aerith paused and shot the glowing pool one lingering look and then turned away.
Author's notes: It has been a rough few months, sorry for the long delay. Remember I have no intention of abandoning this before it's done, I just (sadly) have to focus on real life sometimes. I didn't want to split up the Temple of the Ancients, but it was way too long all together. I added some after this saw my beta so let me know if I slipped up anywhere.