THIRTY-NINE
The first section of the cave seemed to be a small storage area, with a few stacks of wooden crates, metal beams along the ceiling, and what looked like a power generator of some kind set against the left wall. In front of it was a large hole with a ladder leading down. In the dim light, even I couldn't see what lay at the bottom. But I figured it must've been a deeper passageway. Cloud, Aerith, and Yuffie all peered into the dark with me while Grandfather hovered nearby.
"Spooky…" Yuffie shivered.
"Seems a little cold, too," Aerith added uneasily.
Grandfather chuckled. "Yes, and for a very good reason, as you will soon see. Down the ladder now, we still have far to go."
Looking down, I saw a wide rock ledge not too far away at the base of the ladder. While Cloud and the others starting climbing down and Grandfather floated carefully after them, I sprang past them in a single quick jump to the ledge before turning around to watch them descend. Having four legs can be advantageous, after all.
"Show off!" Yuffie quipped.
"Perhaps," I admitted, giving her a wide grin that showed plenty of teeth. "But no less than you, I'm certain."
Aerith giggled. "He's got a point, you know."
"Yeah, yeah…" Yuffie grumbled.
Another ladder went still deeper, to another ledge, and on we went for several minutes, slowly making our way further down more ledges that were set in a staggered formation across from one another as they descended further and further. At last, after perhaps fifteen minutes or so, we finally reached the bottom. It was darker down here, and the air felt heavier as well, filled with the scent of death. Although I smelled it much more than the others, we could all sense it.
A nearby opening lead into another, larger set of caves. I suspected we were far underground now, the winding passageways lit only by the faint glow of a luminescent moss that grew here and there on the walls. An eerie mist hung in the air, pale green but a different and fouler hue than the lifestream. Its icy chill went right through my fur and into my very bones. The others looked no more comfortable than I as we made our way slowly forward through the tunnels.
We hadn't gone far when some of the mist swirled together to form a pair of spectral, shrouded humanoid figures wielding spears. Undead warriors of some kind, bound to this place for reasons I did not know. I growled and launched myself at them as Cloud, Aerith, and Yuffie all attacked as well. The spirits fought back, deftly thrusting and spinning their spears, and their cold touch seemed to take some of the life from me when one of their weapons grazed my shoulder. I felt almost numb, but then a warm, soothing breeze washed over me.
"Stay strong, Red!" Aerith urged.
I nodded as her healing wind restored me. "I intend to."
Then she struck both spectres with a blast of lightning magic while Yuffie sliced them with her shuriken and Cloud cut through them with mighty swings of his two swords. I did likewise with my claws, adding a lightning spell of my own for good measure, and soon the spirits had been dispatched, vanishing into the mist with angry shrieks. Once they were gone, Grandfather moved up to rejoin us from where he had been waiting out the battle at safe distance. He guided us onward, and when we came to another connecting tunnel, he paused.
"Those were spirits of the Gi tribe," Grandfather explained. "They, like all the others bound in this cave, were killed in battle. One battle in particular, that is. One that few know was ever fought."
"Which battle?" I wondered.
He chuckled. "We'd best keep moving."
I didn't budge, however. "Grandfather, please. Tell me."
"The vengeful spirits of the Gi remain trapped here in these caves, unable to return the lifestream or disappear. But there are other things here as well. So you must be on your guard, all of you."
The next section of the cave consisted of several twisting paths that wound along either side of an underground river and also crossed it at several points. Perhaps it was merely a trick of the light, but in the dim illumination of the cave, the water looked almost like blood. I shivered at the sight and moved on, wary of the mist. It was thinner here but not gone, and we had to fight a few more spirits as we made our way along the shore of the narrow subterranean stream.
After a while, Grandfather paused again. "As you can see, this cave leads directly to the back of Cosmo Canyon. And unfortunately, the Gi tribe was larger than we were. They had great numbers on their side. If they had succeeded in striking at us from here, we wouldn't have stood a chance that night. Now we must continue on."
After crossing over a rock bridge to the other side of the dark river, we followed another tunnel onward and away from the water. We soon found ourselves facing a set of five ominous-looking passageways, each adorned with thick, sticky webs strung across them. I shuddered at the thought of the creature that had made them.
Yuffie glanced around nervously. "Oh, gawd… I hate spiders."
"You can always wait here," Cloud quipped.
"Hell, no!" she shook her head. "No way I'm staying in this creepy old place any longer than I have to. Yeesh!"
Aerith smiled. "It'll be fine, Yuffie. Don't worry."
"Thanks…" she nodded. Her eyes lingered on the webs. "But, uh… how big would a spider have to be to, um, make these?"
"Big," Cloud answered.
Yuffie gulped. "I was afraid of that…"
He drew his two swords and led the way cautiously into the tunnel Grandfather pointed out, which was the second on the left. I wondered how Cloud could wield both of his weapons with as large as they were, but then I remembered him mentioning in the buggy on our way here how light Force Stealer was compared to Buster, perhaps because of the unusual materials used in its construction.
The passageway was about twenty feet wide and covered with webs that stretched across our path. Cloud hacked through them, his blades easily cutting the tough, sticky threads apart, but there were more, and the corridor was long and uneven. Then, when we were about halfway through, we heard a soft scuttling sound overhead.
Yuffie looked up, her eyes quite wide. "Uh, guys…"
We all saw it at once. A huge, dark, spindly shape moving above us amidst more webs that had been carefully spun across the high ceiling between the stalactites. The half-eaten remains of monsters and even a few humans hung like grim trophies or lay ahead of us amidst the gray threads. Fighting here would be difficult with the risk of entrapment in the webs, and a glance at Cloud told me he'd had the same thought. He quickly motioned to us with Buster as he got moving.
"Run!" he ordered. "It's too risky for us to fight in here with all the webs. We'll do it out in the open where it's clear."
"I'm all for that!" Yuffie agreed.
Grandfather nodded. "By all means! Hurry!"
We did so, rushing through the rest of the tunnel as quickly and as carefully as we could, but the webs were many and difficult to navigate. Cloud had to slash his way through them several times as the monster above us wove effortlessly amidst the stalactites, closing in fast. I raced behind the others, urging them on as Yuffie glanced nervously over her shoulder every few seconds, her shuriken held tightly in her hand. But as frightened as she was, she never lost her step.
Mere seconds later, we finally cleared the tunnel, finding ourselves in a larger chamber with another tunnel leading away on the far end. It was free of webs, fortunately, but we were unable to reach it before our ghastly pursuer showed itself at last. The spider was huge, easily twenty feet across as it dropped down from above us and landed on eight tall, thin legs. Its body was a bulbous mass with many eyes, all of them now fixed upon us, and it skittered forward in a rush, moving extremely fast for such a large and ungainly-looking creature.
Yuffie swallowed as we braced ourselves. "Oh, shit…"
"Hey, Tifa," I said. "Can I ask you something?"
She nodded. "Sure, Jessie. What's up?"
We were still sitting by the big bonfire that was the Cosmo Candle, just the two of us. Cait and Barret had gone to the inn a little while ago to rest—although technically, Cait wasn't really sleeping, he was just in standby mode for a while to recharge his systems—and Cloud and the others were still away with Red and Bugenhagen. Tifa, however, hadn't moved, probably needed the quiet as much as I did.
As I gazed into the fire, I thought about the dream I'd had in Costa del Sol of her and Cloud. "I've just been wondering lately, are you really okay about me and Cloud? I know you gave me the green light and all, but it still bothers me because you liked him, too."
"This is another reason why you two aren't together right now, isn't it?" she replied. "You were worried about me."
I nodded. "Feeling a little guilty, too. I always have."
Tifa smiled gently. "I thought as much. But you don't have to. Sure, I've wondered from time to time what it might be like between me and Cloud if things had been different, but I'm not pining over him. I have Biggs, thanks to you, and he's all I'll ever need."
"Are you sure?" I asked. "That you didn't, you know…?"
She looked knowingly at me. "Settle? No, I'd never do that. He's for me what Cloud is for you, Jessie. Don't ever doubt that. I'm happy, and I'm glad you have a chance to be, too. You deserve it."
I sighed contentedly and finally relaxed as I felt a little more weight slide off my shoulders. "Thanks, Tifa. That really takes a load off of my mind, I tell ya. I was thinking about getting back with him soon, but… I needed to know you were still okay with it first."
"I am," Tifa assured me. "You don't need to worry about that."
My eyes went back to the fire. "I appreciate it. I just wish… he'd tell me he loves me. I know he cares for me and he's got things going on in his head that he has to get right, but still…"
Tifa laid a hand on my shoulder. "He will, Jessie. And he does love you, even if he doesn't know how to say it yet. I've seen it in his eyes, in the way he looks at you. He'll come around."
"I guess you're right," I chuckled, thinking about how my other self had told me just about the same thing in that dream. "Now to come up with something special for him and I to do together. I don't wanna just pick things back up with him like it's nothing."
"Yeah, you should take him out somewhere," Tifa agreed.
I smirked. "A nice date. Hmm… the Gold Saucer would be perfect, but it's back in the other direction. So that's out."
She shrugged. "Maybe not. We might go there again."
"Anything's possible," I smiled. Then I stood and stretched. "Well, I think I'm gonna go grab a quick shower and get my jacket. As hot as it is here during the day, it's pretty cold at night."
Tifa nodded. "Go take care of yourself, Jessie. I'll be here."
The inn wasn't too far from the Cosmo Candle and was built right into the canyon itself, the rock walls smooth and a nice, rusty red that I rather liked. The rooms were all on the same level along a few winding halls, and once I'd closed the door behind me, I started unfastening the buckles on my phoenix gear. I took the tunic off first, pulling it up over my shoulders and carefully putting it on the nearby dresser along with my gloves, hip pad, belt, and weapons. Then, after setting my boots by the door, I slipped off the rest of my clothes.
The shower was as relaxing as I'd hoped, the heat and steam gently soothing my tired muscles as I swirled soapy suds across my body and found myself wishing Cloud was in here with me. Once it was over and I'd turned off the water, I grabbed a towel off the rack and carefully got out. But then, as I was drying myself off, I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror and froze, my eyes widening.
That odd patch of discolored skin on my upper left arm had grown larger and clearer. Still small enough to be hidden by the short sleeve of my phoenix tunic, but definitely bigger than it had been before. A pale bluish-gray that looked more alien than human. I quickly wrapped the towel around myself and stepped closer to the mirror, my hands on the sink and gripping it tightly. I hadn't noticed it in the shower because I'd been lost in my thoughts and the hot water at the time and hadn't been looking very closely at myself. But I did now.
Sitting on the edge of the tub, I examined my legs and feet, pulling the towel up a little to get a better look, and there, on the outside of my right thigh, was another spot where my skin had begun turning a light bluish-gray. Faint and small, but definitely there. I shivered and let the towel fall away as I scanned my upper body for more. I couldn't see any others, so I got up, turned around, and looked over my shoulder in the mirror to check my back. And sure enough, I found a third small patch of discolored skin at the base of my spine.
Then I saw something else. Fastening the towel back around me, I faced forward once again and stared intently at my reflection, my right hand slowly reaching up to confirm what I'd seen. A few strands of my long, reddish-brown hair had turned silvery-white. Not very many—at least, not yet—but just enough that I could see them. I wouldn't have if I hadn't already been looking for anything unusual. With a quick tug, I pulled one of the hairs out and gazed at it for a moment. The sight of it made me shudder as I held it in my fingers.
I was just looking up again when I saw my eyes in the mirror. The color seemed to change for just a fraction of a second, from their usual mako brown to a bright, glowing magenta. And as they did, I suddenly heard soft, cruel laughter in my mind. An alien, feminine voice. A bolt of stabbing pain shot through my head at the same time, and I winced, gasping as I clutched at my temple. When I opened my eyes, they were normal again and the pain was gone. But her laughter lingered for just a moment, echoing in my troubled thoughts.
I shivered uneasily. "What's happening to me…?"
The spider launched itself at us with a shriek, swiping its front legs in quick, stabbing strokes that cracked the stone floor of the cave when we dodged aside. Cloud retaliated with a triple slash, each stroke aglow with purple energy as he cut at the beast. But it was extremely agile and evaded many of our attacks, skittering away from my claws and Yuffie's spinning shuriken in an instant. But it couldn't dodge magic. Aerith hit it with a blast of enchanted lightning, then call upon her earth materia to make the floor itself erupt under the spider.
Grandfather hung back, keeping a safe distance from the battle and occasionally refreshing us with a restore materia he'd taken from one of his pockets. Following Aerith's lead, I struck the spider with a lightning spell of my own while Yuffie added some of her water magic. Recoiling from our assault, the creature was unable to avoid Cloud's swords as he kept slashing, and soon two of its legs fell to the floor, severed. With an eerie shriek, the spider fell back. Then it gathered itself, its movements a blur, and slammed itself down onto Yuffie.
The monster's bulbous body was much heavier than it looked, and she crumpled to the floor beneath it with a startled shout, unable to get away in time. There was a sickening crunch as the beast hit her with its full weight in an instant and stabbed her with the long, sharp stinger in its tail at the same time. I growled and launched myself at the spider as it quickly began spinning its webs around her limp, unconscious form, deftly cocooning her to serve as its next meal.
"Yuffie!" Aerith yelled, spinning her staff. "Hold on!"
I leapt atop the spider alongside Cloud, hitting it with a spinning strike and a stardust ray. "Release her, fiend!"
The spider thrashed beneath us, but I dug my claws into its hide as Cloud stabbed downward with both blades. The monster let out a wail of pain, which only intensified as I tore into it and Aerith unloaded on it with more lightning magic. Then Cloud and I shared a nod and leapt off, striking the spider again and again from opposite sides, our attacks keeping it off balance and unable to strike back or continue its attempt to cocoon Yuffie in its webs. Ichor spilled from its many wounds, and it attempted to retreat and fall back to its lair.
"Cloud, now!" I called. "Before it can escape!"
He rushed in. "Take it down!"
We did so together. Cloud cut at the spider repeatedly with a quick chain of powerful slashes from both swords, spinning and slicing, then he finished with a leaping double slash that left trails of white energy in its wake as he sprang into the air and left a deep gouge in the monster's body. And at the same time, I jumped onto it again, gouged many of its eyes out with my claws, and tore its head off.
Aerith was already kneeling at Yuffie's side, ripping the sticky webs off as much as she could. As soon as Cloud and I joined her, he helped as well. Yuffie's eyes were closed, and her fair skin had taken on a sickly greenish cast. I gazed at her in concern, but Aerith knew what to do as she concentrated on her cleanse materia and prayed. There was a flash of bright green light as the orb flared to life for a moment, and swirls of magical energy floated over Yuffie's body, healing the poison. Her skin returned to normal as the magic subsided.
Then she stirred. "Ohh… I don't feel so good…"
"Just rest for a moment," Aerith urged her. "The poison's gone, but you're still hurt. I'll get you fixed up, though."
"Will she be alright?" Grandfather asked, joining us.
Aerith nodded. "Yeah, though she'll probably ache for a day or two. Maybe a bit of nausea here and there as well."
Yuffie sighed. "Great…"
"It'll pass, though," Aerith assured her. "So don't worry, okay? Now hold still, this should only take a moment."
"Thanks, Aerith…" she said.
Drawing upon her Cetra abilities, Aerith focused on the deep stab wound in Yuffie's abdomen where the stinger had gone in. Then I felt a cool, refreshing breeze sweep over us, soothing the pain of our injuries. The lesser ones were healed, but Yuffie grimaced, her hands still on her injured stomach, which had only closed a little.
"It burns…" she murmured.
"I know, Yuffie," Aerith whispered, touching her face. "It'll be fine, though. I promise. Just lay still, alright?"
Cloud looked at her in concern. "What's wrong?"
"Something about that spider's venom is hindering the magic," she explained. "Even though the poison's gone, it's weakened her body and its natural healing abilities. This is gonna take a little work, Cloud. And once we're back outside, she'll need plenty of rest."
"Do you what you gotta do," he told her.
Aerith took a deep breath. "I'll have to use a pulse of life. You know how it drains me, and we're not finished in here yet. So I'll need you to stay close to me, Cloud, in case we run into anything else. I'll do what I can to stay on my feet, but it won't be easy."
Cloud nodded. "I'm still your bodyguard."
"Nothing will touch you," I added.
"Perhaps this was too much…" Grandfather murmured. "I did not wish for any of you to be hurt, and yet…"
Yuffie shook her head, wincing in pain as she did so. "This thing… you wanna show Red… it's important for him to see it… right? I knew what… I was doing… when I came here with you. He's… my friend… and I'd… go through a lot worse… to help him…"
"Yuffie…" I breathed.
She went on, every word an effort now, her skin damp and sweaty. "So… don't you be having any… second thoughts, old man. Or I'll have to get up and… kick your ass. Understand?"
Grandfather smiled. "Yes, young lady. I believe I do."
"Hold still now, Yuffie," Aerith whispered, laying her hands on her and bowing her head. "You're gonna be alright."
A moment later, bluish-white energy flowed from her into Yuffie's body, healing her injuries and closing the wound in her abdomen from the stinger. Her breathing grew steadier and stronger, and as the waves of healing energy slowly faded and disappeared, Aerith began to slump over, drained from the considerable power she'd used. However, Yuffie quickly sat up and caught her securely in her arms before she would've fallen, then drew her into a brief but tight embrace.
"You okay now?" Aerith asked.
Yuffie nodded. "Better than I was. Still aches a bit, but I can move. And I won't let anything hurt you. That's a promise."
Once she and Cloud helped Aerith to her feet, Grandfather looked at all of us. "One warrior went through this cave alone, fighting enemy after enemy. Only he realized the true threat that night."
"Grandfather, that warrior…" I began, suddenly understanding the implications of what he was telling us.
He motioned us forward. "We're almost there."
Moving on, we hurried into the next tunnel. It was short and soon opened into another chamber. The air was fouler here, heavier, as if all the tormented spirits trapped in this cave had gathered in this place. At the far end of a rock bridge that spanned an underground stream was a short flight of steps. It rose up to a rough, wide stone platform where a final passageway led outside into the night. But as soon as we started to move toward it, the gray mist hanging in the air swirled and coalesced into a large, leering evil face with bright, piercing eyes.
"Grandfather!" I growled. "Is that…?"
He shuddered. "The spirits of the Gi… bound here after death like stagnant air… and their chieftain, Gi Nattak. It can't be!"
Then the mist shifted and reformed into a large, hulking, figure, its bony hand grasping a long spear. And with the wraith emerged several warrior spirits like the ones we'd fought earlier. They floated above the floor of the cave as the air grew chill, and beyond them past the bridge, the exit waited for us, open and inviting.
Yuffie winced as she grasped her shuriken. "Not a hundred percent yet, but I'm not gonna let a bunch of creepy ghosts keep us from finally getting outta this terrible hellhole, either."
"Well put, Yuffie," I agreed, unsheathing my claws.
Cloud readied his swords. "Aerith, fall back with Bugenhagen and support us with your magic. Keep us on our feet."
She nodded. "Right. Kick ass, Cloud."
"Always," he smirked.
The spirits swept toward us, but we were ready. While Cloud and I took on Gi Nattak, Yuffie infused her shuriken with fire ninjitsu magic and sent it spinning into the undead warriors one after another. Aerith spun her staff from behind us and unleashed searing blasts of lightning and explosions of earth while keeping us going with her healing winds and prayer materia. Cloud spun and slashed, cutting at Gi Nattak while I tore into his spectral form with my claws and added a few quick shots of magical electricity of my own here and there.
But for every warrior spirit that fell, another took its place. I knew this battle would not end until we destroyed Gi Nattak. His evil was the binding force that kept him and his tribe trapped here in this wretched and cursed existence beyond death. He skillfully parried and deflected many of our attacks, though he couldn't avoid the spells, and at times I had to shift my attention to one of the lesser spirits whenever one drew too near. Yuffie was holding her own but was also moving more slowly than usual, still wounded from the spider's assault.
"Are you alright, Yuffie?" I asked.
"Never better!" she smirked, although I could tell she was in more pain than she was letting on. "Try to keep up!"
I tore apart another spirit. "Don't get overconfident!"
Yuffie laughed. "Yeah, yeah… come on, fuzzball! We've got ghosts to bust! Rush in close and I'll cover ya!"
"Done!" I agreed.
While I struck at Gi Nattak with Cloud, Yuffie threw her shuriken into the horde of lesser spirits, cutting through them one after another along with Aerith's magic. But Gi Nattak would not be beaten so easily. With a sweep of his spear, he hurled several fireballs at us, and I had to break off my attack to avoid them. Cloud ducked, then kept slicing and slashing with his two swords, hitting Gi Nattak with a double overhead chop that forced the undead chieftain back.
Aerith tried to evade those fireballs but, slowed by her fatigue, was unable to do so. The sudden impact hurled her to the floor of the cave, where she crashed with a startled shout. But as the spirits converged on her, Yuffie and I quickly drove them away again with our weapons and spells, long enough for Aerith to pick herself up.
"Well, that hurt…" she grimaced. She wasn't entirely steady on her feet as she gazed at the spirits. "But I'm not through yet! Guess it's time for me to really give you dead guys a shock!"
Aerith spun her staff, and with a brilliant flare of red light from her summon materia, a ball of white energy emerged before us. Then, with a flash, it was gone, and a towering, bearded old man in robes hovered in the air with a long staff in his gnarled hand. As he circled around the spirits, Ramuh unleashed bolts of electricity at them again and again in a furious barrage. In the midst of it, we redoubled our own attacks and soon, the spirits began to fade and diminish.
Gi Nattack was not yet defeated, however. The evil chieftain struck at us again, both with his spear and a wave of dark energy that seemed to sap our strength, leaving us exhausted. Thrusting his arms out wide, Ramuh struck Gi Nattak with a massive explosion of lightning, then he vanished in a flash of light. Aerith's healing wind flowed over us again, rejuvenating us, and when it did, I had an idea.
I still had Jessie's restore materia, and just as I'd thought, its healing magic devastated the undead Gi Nattak. The spirit writhed amidst the positive energy of the cure spell. The others caught on at once, dousing the terrible wraith with potions, and the chamber began to brighten as Gi Nattak's evil was slowly snuffed out. Then, as I hit the chieftain with another cure spell, I knew how to finish him off.
"Aerith!" I called. "Phoenix down!"
She quickly tossed me a pouch. "Here! Do it, Red!"
Catching it with my teeth, I ran straight at Gi Nattak, leapt atop his broad shoulders, and cut open the pouch with my claws. The small red feathers tumbled out at once, and their restorative magic did exactly as I'd known it would do, disrupting Gi Nattak's very essence with a flash of brilliant red energy and translucent wings. With a pained shriek, the massive wraith finally shuddered and exploded in a flash of white light just as I jumped away and rejoined the others.
"Yes!" Aerith exclaimed.
Yuffie smirked and held her fist out to me. "That was pure genius, Red! How'd you figure out what to do?"
I bumped it with my forepaw. "It wasn't much. When I felt Aerith's healing wind around me, I realized that because Gi Nattak was undead and not among the living, such curative energies would be destructive to it and have the opposite of their normal effect."
"And a phoenix down, which we normally use to wake someone up and bring them back after being knocked out, would actually destroy a monster like that," Aerith finished with a smile.
"Good thinking," Cloud agreed.
Grandfather nodded. "Yes, indeed. Very well done, Nanaki. Now I know bringing you here was the right thing to do. You're no longer the little pup I once knew. You've grown strong."
I stood a little straighter. "Thank you, Grandfather."
"It is quite true," he chuckled. "And Cloud, you have my thanks. All of you. We stand here alive because of you."
"Nothin' to it!" Yuffie quipped. Then she winced, still in some pain both from the spider's assault and from Gi Nattak's fireballs. "Now… if you guys don't mind… can we please get outta here?"
Aerith stumbled a little, still drained from healing Yuffie and using so much of her power, but Cloud quickly caught her by the arm before she could fall. She smiled gratefully at him as he steadied her, then she took a breath, let go, and brushed herself off.
"Thanks, Cloud," she said. Then she glanced at Yuffie. "And I agree with Yuffie. Getting outta here sounds really good right about now. But you know, I think those spirits can finally rest."
"Seems that way," he said.
Then Yuffie's eyes widened. "Wait, when we're done, are we gonna have to go back through here to get back to town?"
Grandfather nodded. "Yes, but you need not worry. The tormented spirits of the Gi have been freed, as Aerith pointed out, and will trouble us no longer. As for the spider, well, we've dealt with that. So long as we avoid the other tunnels near its lair, we should be fine."
"Good enough," Cloud agreed. "Let's go."
We made our way outside, the fresh air of the desert night cool and soothing, and found ourselves at the bottom of a small, narrow ravine. I gasped and froze when I saw what stood alone atop the ridge in front of us, and the others all fell silent, their eyes following mine. In the soft light of the moon, the stone form of a beast like me, but older and with a much longer mane, stood near the edge, gazing intently to north and away from us, his mouth frozen in a snarl and his lean body pierced by many spears. I knew who it was. My father.
"This is…" I breathed.
"The warrior who fought the Gi," Grandfather finished. "He alone understood the true nature of the threat, that the attack from the front was a diversion. He knew that if the Gi were to strike at us through the cave, we would never survive. So he went alone, fought alone, and kept them from taking a single step into Cosmo Canyon."
I could hardly believe it. "Father…"
"But he was never able to return home," Grandfather went on. "See your father, Nanaki. See the warrior, Seto."
"That really is him, isn't it…?" I murmured.
Grandfather continued. "Seto continued to fight the Gi tribe here. To protect all of us. Even after their poisoned spears turned his body to stone, even after the few surviving Gi warriors fled with the fall of their chieftain, Seto continued to protect us. And he does so still, to this day. No one goes near here anymore. He saw to that."
Shame filled me. "I was wrong…"
Grandfather nodded. "You thought he was a coward who ran away and abandoned you. But he didn't. He risked his life to protect you and your mother as well as the people of Cosmo Canyon."
"Did Mother know?" I asked.
"Yes," he answered. "She knew. I promised her and your father that I would seal this cave and never speak of it to anyone. They said that it should be forgotten and never mentioned again."
I glanced at him. "I'm glad you brought me here, Grandfather. But we have softeners and a cleanse materia. Could we use them to save my father? There must be something we can do!"
Grandfather shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Nanaki. Seto has been petrified for too long. It cannot be reversed now."
"He's right, Red," Aerith added. "Those things only work right after someone's been turned to stone or as it's still happening. Like with Tifa back in the Corel mountains. But with your father, after all this time… it's just too deeply set in, and those spears were poisonous, too. I wish I could help, Red. I really do. But I can't. I'm sorry."
"I understand…" I sighed.
Grandfather looked at Cloud and the others. "Would you give us a moment alone, please? We won't be long."
Cloud nodded, and he and the others quietly made their way back into the cave. Yuffie clasped my shoulder for a moment as she went by, and Aerith smiled encouragingly at me. Then they were gone. I was by myself with Grandfather as we gazed upon the stone form of my father, who I knew now was not the coward I'd believed him to be but a strong and worthy guardian of our home and people.
"Listen, Nanaki," Grandfather said once we were alone. "I want you to continue your journey with Cloud and the others."
"Grandfather? Are you certain?" I asked.
He went on. "They are trying to save the planet. I'm not sure that it can be done, however. Even if they shut down every reactor, it will only postpone the inevitable. Even if they stop Sephiroth, all things will one day perish. The planet will not last forever."
I didn't like that at all. "Then what do we do?"
"Lately, I've been thinking if there was any way that we could help, Nanaki. To aid a planet already in misery. No matter what happens, we must try. As your friends are doing. Am I just trying to defy fate? Or is it more? At a hundred and thirty, I am far too old to take action myself. That is why you must go, Nanaki. For my sake."
"Grandfather…" I murmured.
He smiled softly. "I'm glad you returned when you did. I wanted to show you your father while I was still alive to do it."
"Don't talk like that!" I growled, alarmed by what he'd said. "I don't want to think about life… without you."
"Well, I've had a good run," Grandfather chuckled.
I shook my head, fiercely determined. "No, Grandfather! You must live! I'll see to it! I'll help the others save the planet. And I'll come back with them one day and tell you what happened."
"Nanaki…" he began.
"I am Nanaki of Cosmo Canyon!" I continued, knowing my course of action now and where I must go. "The son of Seto! And I'll return as a warrior true to that noble name! So you must…"
I stopped suddenly when I felt something wet on my shoulder. But it wasn't raining. It rarely did in this region. Seconds later, I felt another drop, and another. Grandfather and I looked up above us at once, and I gasped in shock. My father, despite his petrified state… was crying. He was still alive in there somehow, unable to move or be freed… and yet, he had heard us talking. He had heard me.
"That… those are… those are Seto's tears…" Grandfather breathed. "Even with his body turned to stone, he lives…"
"Father…" I murmured.
Overwhelmed by emotion, I sprang up the ridge to where Seto was and sat at his side, needing to be near him. As we sat together beneath the full moon, I lifted my head and howled, releasing all my feelings in that moment. I would go on with Cloud and the others and continue to make my father proud. As I sat there, I understood my true duty, that it wasn't just to Cosmo Canyon and its people, but to the planet itself. So I knew my course at last, and all doubt fell away.
