FIFTY-EIGHT

It was late afternoon by the time we reached the island. The beach along the western shore was wide, long, and flat, with clean white sand, and Cid landed the Tiny Bronco there as the waves rolled in nearby and the land to the east sloped upward to the trees. It was a beautiful place, and at another time, I'd have thought it would be fun to come here and relax. But we had a job to do and a world to save.

"Well, that's it," Cid said. "Let's shut 'er down, Jessie."

I started flipping switches on the cockpit controls while he did the same on his side. "Right, Captain. Powering down. Cait, about how far would you say it is to the temple from here?"

He glanced at the map on my tablet. "A few miles, more or less. It's not tae far, Jessica. Right in the middle of the jungle."

"Pretty good hiding spot," I said as Cid and I shut off the engines.

"Aye, I think the Ancients wanted it that way," Cait agreed. After he handed me my tablet, he hopped lightly down to the floor of the plane. "It wasnae easy fer Rufus tae find it. Had Domino workin' overtime in the archives fer weeks tae track it down."

Tifa chuckled. "That couldn't have gone over well."

"Nae, the old feller was mighty irritated fer sure," Cait agreed with a laugh. "More than usual, that is. But what's a wee bit strange is that he never did find it. Not that he was tryin' very hard. He's still on our side, after all. But Rufus just walked in one day ahn told him he'd gotten the location from somewhere else. Wouldnae say where, though. Not even tae the Turks or the rest of the executive directors."

"That's odd," I frowned. "I thought Shinra had the most expansive collection of historical records in the world. That is, aside from Cosmo Canyon. And I know they'd never help him."

Red nodded emphatically. "Grandfather wouldn't."

"Aye, 'tis very strange," Cait went on as he put his transmitter away. "But I suppose unravelin' that mystery'll have tae wait until later. We've got work tae dae ahn a planet tae save."

Cloud got up from his seat and peered quietly through the cockpit window. "Looks deserted out there. But stay frosty, guys. We know that Shinra's got troops here. Probably SOLDIER, too."

"And the Turks," I reminded him.

"Yeah," he nodded. Then he looked behind him at the others in the passenger section. "Make sure you're ready, guys. Sephiroth's bound to be here as well. So we've got our work cut out for us."

Tifa tightened her fighting gloves. "Never stopped us before."

"And it won't now," Aerith added, staff in hand.

"Right," Cloud gave them a small smile. "We've traveled a long way on a hard road, but we're still here. It's time to end this."

Barret pumped his fist. "Game time! We got three goals, guys. Get to the temple and kick Shinra ass, find the black materia and kick more Shinra ass, an' take down Sephiroth while kickin' even more Shinra ass! Planet's countin' on us, so let's get movin'!"

"Hell yeah!" I grinned, slapping him five as I stood up.

"And let's also keep our eyes peeled for more materia while we're at it!" Yuffie quipped, readying her shuriken.

Red glanced at her. "Don't you ever think of anything else?"

"Nah, not really," she shrugged.

"She just knows what she wants," Cait Sith said as he climbed onto his moogle mount. "Ahn that's a lucky thing. Fortune's good today! But also a wee bit odd, so be careful, everyone. I think we'll find what we're lookin' fer, but it may not turn out the way we expect."

Red nodded. "Agreed. But regardless of what happens, I will make my father proud today. Seto's spirit is with me."

"He is," Aerith smiled fondly at him.

"A shadow lies over this place," Vincent murmured as he gazed out one of the windows. "I can feel it. Be wary."

Cloud nodded. "Agreed. Let's move out, everyone."

Five minutes later, we were outside, heading off the beach and into the trees. I could see bits of crumbling stone covered with vines poking up through the ground here and there as we walked. Broken fragments of large statues and shattered pillars. They were the overgrown ruins of the settlement the Ancients had once built here centuries ago. I noticed that Aerith seemed to know exactly where to go. She joined Cloud and I at the head of the group and guided us effortlessly through the jungle. I thought we'd encounter Shinra troops, but at first, there was nothing. It was almost too quiet. Cloud looked as uneasy as I felt.

Then we heard the sounds of fighting coming from up ahead of us, along with the thud of heavy footsteps shambling through the brush. A familiar face, his mullet of blond hair flowing around him as he fought, stood surrounded by figures in tattered black cloaks. They reached for him, groaning and mumbling just like the ones we'd seen in Nibelhiem, but at first he held them off, laughing and slashing as he cut down one after another in quick, spinning slashes of steel.

"You can't catch the Speed Demon!" Roche jeered at them. "I'm too fast, and I won't be dragged down by the likes of you."

"Roche!" I called.

He grinned over at us and waved. "Why, hello, my friends! Care to join in? There's plenty for all of us. They showed up here not very long ago, such annoying things, and started attacking us SOLDIERs. Those who fell rose up again and became like them."

"Hold on!" Cloud drew his blades.

"Ain't he with Shinra?" Cid wondered.

I shook my head. "He's a friend… sort of. Besides, no one deserves to be turned into one of Sephiroth's flunkies."

With that, we rushed in, weapons and spells flashing. But for every clone we defeated, another took its place. They seemed to just melt out of the trees around us. There were over a dozen at least, and they didn't even try to defend themselves, so we did our best to incapacitate them instead of kill them. Taking their lives like this felt wrong to me. So for this battle, I kept my talons in their holsters and used my fists and feet instead, same as Tifa, and knocked out as many clones as I could while she, Cloud, and the rest of our friends all did the same.

I couldn't help thinking of Shinra's shock troopers as I fought. Like the clones, their minds and personalities were gone, utterly wiped out, but they at least had fought back in the battles we'd had with them. The memory of being forced to kill my friend Danny after he'd been turned into one of those things two years ago still hurt, although time and the knowledge that he was at peace had eased the pain.

Then another wave of clones suddenly surged from the trees, their shuffling steps taking many of them toward Roche as the rest moved in between him and us. We tried to reach him, spreading out and rushing forward as fast as we could, but the clones slowed us down like a living wall as they got in our way. They didn't put up a fight, but they delayed us just long enough for the others to grab Roche and drag him down. I shouted, backhanding the nearest clone as another grabbed his sword, tossing it aside amidst his angry, pained screams.

"No! Roche!" Tifa snarled, scattering several clones with a blinding flurry of quick, sharp kicks. "Hold on!"

But it was too late. Roche disappeared from sight amidst the circle of black, hooded forms. When the others and I finally shoved our way through to try and save him, we skidded to a halt. As the robed figures moved away, he slowly stood up again, but he wasn't himself anymore. He looked like they did, with a dark hooded cloak and pale skin. There was a dead blankness in his eyes that had never been there before, and I found myself thinking of Danny again. I'd wanted to help Roche, but just like before, there was nothing I could do.

As he started to shamble away after the other clones, he turned and suddenly grabbed my arm. "You can't… fight… the taint. I tried… but it… always wins. You'll understand soon… Sister."

"Roche…" I breathed.

"Re… union…" he murmured, walking away.

I watched him go, my feelings a mixture of sadness, confusion, and regret. I think I'd misunderstood him a little. Why he'd been so bent on thrills and speed and crazy antics. And I wished that we could've saved him. But most of all, I felt unease about what he'd said to me. And what he'd called me. Was I… becoming like them? A little at a time? No, that didn't feel quite right. His tone had been one of submission, not that of someone addressing an equal. I shivered.

"You okay?" Cloud asked.

I sighed. "Not sure. A little spooked, to be honest. But I'll be fine. I think I know why he did the things he did, Cloud. Why he was always so wound up and wild. It was his way of fighting Jenova's influence. But it wasn't enough. And now… now he's gone."

Aerith laid a hand on my shoulder. "We did all we could, Jessie. He was glad we tried to help him. And grateful."

"Why'd he call you his sister, though?" Yuffie wondered.

"I'm… not entirely sure," I answered. "But I think Jenova's involved somehow. And what she's doing to me. It's a lot more than just my skin. I'll explain later. But there's something else. Why are he and the rest of the SOLDIERs turning into those Sephiroth clones?"

Tifa glanced worriedly at Cloud. "I don't know, but… maybe it has something to do with what Hojo did to make them what they are. The process for creating SOLDIERs in the first place."

"Infused with mako and Jenova cells," Aerith nodded.

"I overheard Hojo mention somethin' aboot degradation the other day, but I donnae what he meant," Cait said. "He seemed tae have been expectin' it, though. So maybe this is part of it?"

I took Cloud's hand in both of mine. "Are you okay, Cloud? Feeling alright? You've got her inside you, too."

"I'm fine, Jessie," he assured me. "What about you?"

Despite that, though, I couldn't shake the sudden fear that jumped up inside me. "Same, though there are things you should know. There's not really time to go into it right now, but—"

Suddenly my eyes went wide. Tifa grabbed my arm. "Jessie? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Kunsel!" I gasped. "Is what happened to Roche going to happen to him, too? He's a SOLDIER like the clones were. And if Hojo did this to all of them, even the ones in Midgar, then…"

She shook her head firmly. "Marissa won't let it."

"She won't lose him," Aerith added. Then she turned to Cait. "Can you let her know what's going on, Cait?"

"Aye, lass," he replied, laying one hand on his temple. "Reeve's been monitorin' the situation here ever since we arrived. I'm transmittin' our location tae him now. He'll give her a heads up aboot it ahn do what he can tae help her keep Kunsel sane ahn safe."

I smiled gratefully at them. "Thanks, guys."

"He'll make it," Cloud promised.

"You sure you're okay, Cloud?" I clung to him for a moment, afraid of what might happen. "You need to stay you."

He flashed me that confident little smirk that always sent my heart spinning. "I will, Jessie. No one else I could be or want to be. Not while I've got you around. I'm still the same guy that walked across the slums with you day after day back in Midgar to protect you."

"There's my SOLDIER boy," I grinned fondly at the memories.

Cait beckoned to us with a sweep of his moogle mount's arm. "The temple's this way. Not tae much further now."

We hurried on, and after maybe ten minutes the jungle opened up into a large clearing with a wide, shallow crater in the middle. A bridge nearby led down into it. There were broken ruins lying tumbled about here and there, but the temple itself was strangely missing. Then Aerith and I gasped when we saw Tseng sitting slumped and bleeding next to a stone pedestal to the right of the bridge.

He looked weakly up at us. "So… you finally made it…"

"Tseng!" Aerith rushed over to him.

"It seems… we've been had," he coughed. "Sephiroth's not after the promised land. He's here for… something else…"

Cloud nodded. "The black materia."

"Just try to hold on," I urged Tseng as I quickly crouched down on his right and focused on my Restore materia.

Aerith did the same on his left and bowed her head. "You're gonna be fine, Tseng. Don't worry. Just stay still."

"You should just… let me die," he sighed, his eyes on mine.

"Not happening," I shook my head.

He raised an eyebrow. "After… how I hurt you… I'm surprised you want to… help me. I'm the reason… your mother died."

"My father killed her," I corrected him as the spell took effect. I laid a hand on his shoulder as bright blue sparkles of magical energy swept over him. "Not you, Tseng. You didn't blow up her train."

"I was still… an accessory to her murder, though…" Tseng said, his voice pained from more than just his wounds. "And that's something… I can never… make up for. I'm so sorry, Jessica."

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that he meant it. The sting of my mom's death had never faded completely over the years. I'd just learned to live with it. But she'd have wanted me to move on. So I would. And I knew then what I had to do, what I needed to do, as much for myself as for Tseng. It would help us both put this behind us.

I nodded and gave him a small smile. "I forgive you."

"Thank you," Tseng managed a weak one in return. "I won't forget it. The other Turks… are patrolling the area. They'll move in as soon as you unlock the temple… along with our troops. But I'll tell them… not to attack… because you helped me. They'll… stand down."

"We appreciate it," Aerith told him. She opened her eyes again as a soft, gentle breeze swept over him and her healing wind, along with my materia's magic, closed his wounds. "Now just rest here. You'll be weak for a while because you've lost so much blood, but you're out of danger and should be safe until Reno and the others arrive."

He looked at her. "Aerith… about Zack, I… I tried to—"

"I know," she finished, her green eyes damp. "I've always known. It wasn't your fault, Tseng. You did all you could. And… I wish I'd gotten here sooner. In spite of everything, I never wanted to see you hurt. I've lost too many people close to me already."

"Tears… for me?" Tseng blinked wonderingly.

Aerith sniffled. "When I saw how hurt you were, Tseng… it scared me. Even though you should be our enemy. I've known you almost my whole life. How many people like that do you think I have? I just don't want to lose anyone else. Not even you."

"Letting you go… was the start of my bad luck, I suppose," he said, regret in his eyes and voice. "The president was wrong. Stop Sephiroth before it's too late. You're the only ones who can."

"We will," she assured him.

I gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Count on it."

Then he glanced at Yuffie. "I might have made a mistake… leaving Wutai. My grandfather… never approved."

"You dishonored your homeland," she frowned.

Tseng chuckled painfully. "I'm hardly in a position to disagree. But if I get out of this, I'll do what I can… to change that. Perhaps this was the Water God's way of getting my attention."

"For sure," she agreed. "And you'd better listen."

"I will," he promised. Then he gestured to Cloud and the rest of us. "The keystone… I assume you have the real one. Put it on the pedestal. That should reveal the temple."

"It's here?" Cid scratched his head. "Where?"

Aerith gazed out at the empty crater. "Hidden. That must be one of the safeguards my people put in place to keep it from being found. But he's right, Cid. Once we place the keystone on the pedestal, the temple will appear before us and the way inside will open."

After Cait gave him the keystone, Cloud walked up to the pedestal, took a deep breath, and set it into the concave depression on top. There was a flash of light, and then the ground began to shake beneath us. As we watched, a huge ziggurat slowly appeared in the crater, rippling into view section by section, and I realized that it had been there the whole time, totally invisible until the keystone had removed whatever spell or enchantment the Ancients had used to hide it.

"Remarkable…" Tseng breathed.

A long set of stairs rose up from the far side of the bridge to a pair of double doors near the base of the temple. Its huge stone blocks were finely carved, their smooth surfaces covered with thick green vines. As we gazed up at the massive ziggurat, I shivered uneasily. Aerith stepped forward, her eyes distant as if she were listening to voices that only she could hear. Given where we were, maybe she was.

"Alright," Cloud said, turning to look at all of us. "It looks like we'll have to split up. Cid, keep an eye on things here with Red, Vincent, and Yuffie and watch over Tseng until Reno gets back with Rude and Elena. The rest of us'll go inside and find the black materia."

Cid nodded. "You got it, Spike. Them Sephiroth clones are still out there causin' havoc amongst the Shinra. Probably just what he planned. If they show up here, we'll send 'em packin'."

I didn't doubt it. "Sephiroth's here for the same reason we are. And he's using those clones to do his dirty work. So we can't let any of them get into the temple. Keep your eyes peeled, guys."

Red growled fiercely. "They won't get past us, Jessie."

"Not with Wutai's finest ninja on the case!" Yuffie smirked.

"Do what you need to do," Vincent's voice was quiet but firm as he cocked Cerberus' trigger. "And watch for shadows."

Tifa adjusted her gloves and smiled. "We will. Good luck."

"It's been quite a journey, huh?" Aerith went over to Red and knelt in front of him for a moment, her eyes fond and almost sad. "You and I have come a long way together, old friend."

He let her pat his nose one more time the way she'd always enjoyed doing. "Indeed. But we'll see each other again soon, Aerith. I doubt this will take very long. Then the planet will be safe."

She just hugged him, then did the same for Yuffie. "You've done so much for us, Yuffie, and you're stronger than you know. I'm sure you'll make Wutai and your dad proud. Never give up."

"I… thanks," Yuffie blinked, startled.

"Flying was just amazing," Aerith grinned at Cid. "I haven't known you very long yet, but I'm glad we got to meet."

He chuckled. "Same here, girl. Come back safe."

"I… I will," she said, her smile faltering so slightly the others didn't see it. But I did. Then she looked at Vincent. "You're a good friend, and I think there's a lot more to you than you let on."

"Perhaps," he admitted quietly. "Take care, Aerith."

She nodded. "You, too. And don't worry. It won't be anytime soon, but someday, probably years from now, you'll find her."

Vincent's eyes widened slightly. "How did you…?"

"I hear things from the planet sometimes," Aerith explained. "And in this place, even from outside, it's especially strong."

Cloud and I shared a puzzled glance, neither of us having any idea what she meant or who she'd been talking about. Lucrecia? Maybe, but I wasn't so sure. In any case, I knew better than to ask Vincent. He was a very private man, I'd seen that already in the short amount of time I'd known him, and if he wanted the rest of us to know, he'd tell us. He still hasn't, even now five years later. I can only guess that he hasn't met this strange mystery girl of his yet. I hope he does, though.

Anyway, I put it out of my mind and, after waving to Cid, Vincent, and the rest their little group, followed Cloud and the others across the bridge. Aerith looked back for a moment at the friends we were leaving behind, gazing at them one by one as if imprinting the images of them on her mind. Then she smiled, nodded, and finally turned away. At the time, I didn't understand why she did that. It only hit me later, and I've never forgotten that moment since then.

When we reached the double doors, Aerith closed her eyes, bowed her head, and held up her hand, palm outward. The air shimmered for a moment, and then the doors opened, slowly swinging outward with a grating of stone on stone. After lowering her arm, Aerith turned to us, her eyes distant and far away yet also present.

"Let's go," she said. "But be careful. We've been allowed access, but the temple's defenses are still intact."

Cloud nodded. "Stay frosty, everyone."

Inside, we found ourselves in a small antechamber. A long, narrow passageway across from us led deeper into the temple, and we followed it until it opened into a vast labyrinth of rough stone. Thick vines grew over the walls, and what looked like dozens of different stairways rose and fell in every direction like a mad artist's painting.

"What the hell?" Barret muttered as we stared at the maze. "This is makin' me dizzy jus' lookin' at it! Damn!"

"It's so strange…" Tifa agreed.

I couldn't argue. "Seems like the temple itself's a puzzle."

"Aye," Cait said. "It's pretty big."

Aerith smiled encouragingly at us. "Don't worry, guys. Sure, it'll be tough, but don't give up! We can do this."

"Aerith's right," Cloud added. "We've made it this far, and we'll find what we're looking for. There's a way through any maze. All we've gotta do is figure it out. So let's get to it, everyone."

We made our way carefully up and down through the different sets of stairs and platforms, climbing and descending along the vines when needed. Aerith led the way, stopping every so often as if listening to the planet, the voices of her people, or both before taking us forward in the right direction. Monsters prowled the area, too, things we'd never seen before, but the yellow Assess materia in my shiny new gold armlet gave us the intel we needed. While at the Gold Saucer, we'd all upgraded our gear and materia and adjusted our loadout knowing we'd need as much firepower as we could get to survive in here.

Huge lizards with sharp teeth and claws, buglike things that crept along upright with eight clacking arms and toxic breath, strange things with the lower body of a black panther and the upper body and head of an armored, horned minotaur, and some icky creature that was one big pile of eyes all staring eerily at us. But the trickiest foe, as it turned out, was also the one that seemed at first to be the least dangerous. A giant toad with mottled purple skin. We ran into a pack of them further into the labyrinth near a short connecting tunnel.

They jumped at us, and we quickly cut down most of them without a problem. But then, one of the frogs managed to nick my arm with its little webbed talons as it spewed a small cloud of vapor in my face. The wound wasn't deep, but as I staggered a little and tried to recover from the blow, I suddenly realized something was wrong. The toad's burst of white vapor had temporarily blinded me, and when it cleared a second later, things looked strangely different.

The temple's interior rose up higher above me than I remembered, and even my friends were huge. Had everything gotten bigger? When I tried to say something to Cloud about it, all that came out of me was a croak. And then I understood. Looking down at myself, I saw the truth as I hopped helplessly on the stone floor.

I'd been turned into a frog!

"Jessie?" Cloud knelt down in front of me once the last of the toads had been dealt with. "Is that you? Are you okay?"

I croaked in response. Aerith giggled. "Sorry, Jessie. But it is kinda funny. You've even still wearing the flower Cloud gave you in Wutai. A lot smaller, but it's right there on your little head!"

Barret chuckled. "We can change her back, right?"

"Maybe a kiss from her prince'll do the trick," Aerith flashed Cloud a little smirk. "I've heard that usually works."

"I thought that story went the other way around," Tifa blinked.

Cloud shrugged, carefully picked me up with both hands, and held me in front of him. "Well, if that's what it takes…"

Aerith lifted her Fairy Tale staff. "No need for that. I was just being funny. Esuna magic from my Cleanse materia oughta work. Just set her down and stand back, Cloud. This won't take long."

Once he did, I waited expectantly, trying not to look at myself very much as I did. Green skin, webbed feet, big legs. As Aerith moved into position and began to focus on her magic, I noticed a fly hovering near me, and before I could stop myself, my tongue—which was a lot longer than it had been as a human—shot out and snagged it.

Tifa barely stifled a laugh. "Oh, Jessie…"

"Don't worry," Aerith added as she gracefully spun her staff. "We'll have you back to your old self in no time!"

I croaked my thanks and waited expectantly. Seconds later, a bright flare of magical energy swept over me, blinding me for a moment, and when it cleared, everything looked right again. I patted myself down to be sure once the magic had faded and sighed in relief when I saw I was human again. Then I turned and spat in disgust, wiping my mouth in a hurry as I remembered the fly I'd just eaten.

"Ugh! I can't believe I just did that!" I grimaced.

"Just what frogs do," Aerith shrugged, her eyes dancing.

I rolled mine. "Okay, I get it. Thanks for bringing me back, though. I'm glad I didn't have to spend the rest of my life like that."

"Anytime," she smiled.

"You alright, Jessie?" Cloud asked as the others got moving.

I nodded. Then I grinned. "Yeah. Say, would you really have kissed me to change me back if you had to?"

"Of course," he replied.

"Well, you still can if you want," I winked.

He did, a brief touch of his lips to mine. "Better?"

"Definitely," I smirked. "More later?"

Cloud caressed my cheek. "For sure. Let's go, Jessie. We—"

Suddenly he winced in pain and grabbed his head, closing his eyes as he did. When he opened them, I gasped. They were like Sephiroth's, green with slitted pupils. His hand moved to my shoulder, his grip now painful, and I pulled myself away with a shout.

"Fight him, Cloud!" I said. "Stay with me. Stay yourself!"

He smiled coldly at me. "This planet is his. Not Mother's. You'll see that soon enough. Find it, Sister. Find the dark orb."

"Cloud! Snap out of it!" Barret roared.

Cloud shook his head, his eyes blue and human again. "Huh?"

I took his hands in mine. "Sephiroth's working on you, Cloud. Try not to let him in. Just think of me, focus on me. I love you."

"I love you too, Jessie," he nodded.

"Stay with us, okay?" Tifa told him. "You're Cloud, our friend. The guy I grew up with. Stay strong. You'll be fine."

Cloud took a deep breath and let it out. "Right. Let's go."

"This way!" Aerith motioned to us.

We went on, making our way further into the temple. We ran into several confusing puzzles that involved shifting walls and changing the gravity of entire rooms, but working together, we soon solved them all and found ourselves in a large hall with a shimmering pool on one side and drawings etched into the walls. Mostly they depicted the Ancients as they'd been thousands of years ago, and the building of the temple. I stepped closer, curious, as the others did likewise.

Writing in what must've been their language had also been carved into the walls, probably talking about the temple and what it had been designed for. I didn't have a clue what it actually said, though. But then, Aerith went over as if drawn by some instinct and laid her hand lightly over some of the Cetra letters, shivering as she did.

"No…" she murmured, as if speaking to her inner voices. "Isn't this enough? You're saying there's more? Tell me…"

"Aerith?" I asked.

After a moment, she looked back at us. "Sorry. It's just… I can hear the spirits of my people here. They guided me to this, showed me what it means. There's more going on here than what's supposed to. Another side to this struggle. Shadows in the dark…"

"Shadows?" I remembered Vincent's warning.

"It feels that way," she nodded.

Cloud frowned. "Can you tell us more? What's written there?"

"A warning," Aerith answered. "And a prophecy."

The eye of night, bound in stone
The empty mask, she walks alone
The poisoned fang, he watches all
The buried heart, salvation's fall

When light's last child awakens
Then will the boundary be torn
When shadow's pale face arises
Then will the nightmare be born

"The hell's that mean?" Barret scratched his head.

"I don't know…" Aerith sighed. "It's not related to our fight against Sephiroth, and yet it is. Like this whole thing is only a prelude for, well, I'm not sure. Something else. Something worse…"

Cait Sith shuddered. "Well, that doesnae sound good."

"Has it happened before?" I wondered. "Like our journey?"

Aerith shook her head and sighed. "No, it feels different somehow. I wish I could tell you more, but that's all I know."

Just then, the pool flared with light, and the spirit of a woman rose from it, her translucent body hovering above the floor. She wore plain, modest clothes from an era that was long since gone, and her dark eyes gazed at us with both sadness and conviction.

"You who have come here, know this," she said softly. "That which you know, the journey which brought you to this place, is one of many. You have been here before and will be again, those who are you and yet not you. Yet only here, only now, in this aspect of the dark orb, is found that which is but a part of a greater shadow."

"The dark orb," Cloud realized. "The eye of night."

"The black materia," I breathed.

Tifa looked at us. "Bugenhagen was right…"

"The rest of that entity he was talking about must be connected to the other verses in the first part of the prophecy," I said. "But there's no way for us to know what—or who—they are."

"So they're unique among all the variants," Cloud added.

The female spirit nodded. "In the beginning, before the world was made, there was only darkness. But it was not a mindless void. It was a living thing, fallen from grace and knowing only the need to consume. Then, light drove it back. The light of creation."

My eyes widened as I started to understand. "So all the legends are true? The ones LOVELESS is based on?"

As I thought about my experiences with Materia and my other self, as well as my play, it made sense. The eagle I'd seen was a part of it, too. A physical embodiment of that same light, which I realized then had to be every bit as alive as the darkness it opposed. Minerva, often thought of as the heart of the lifestream, was that light.

"In part," the spirit answered. "But know that such legends tell but little of the tale. The truth is far more. We sought to bind the darkness, contain it forever that it might never threaten anyone again, but doing so shattered reality itself, for the living shadow is part of the very fabric of the world. We were broken, our power drained, yet we succeeded… or so we believed. But we were betrayed."

"By our ancestors, when they fled," Cloud said.

The spirit continued. "Do not share their blame. You are not them. But yes, we were abandoned in our vigil."

"Your travels through the different variants…" Aerith realized in a gasp of insight. "They were as much to monitor and maintain whatever seal you had on that darkness as they were to tend to the planet and its people, weren't they? We were guardians…"

"Correct," the spirit replied. "But your allies' ancestors were not the only ones who turned upon us in our hour of need."

Cloud frowned. "Jenova…"

"No," the spirit shook her head. "She who summoned the calamity to this planet to begin with. One of our own kind."

"It sort of makes sense," Aerith looked at us. "Think about it. How did Jenova just happen to be near our planet at just the right time? She had to have been contacted somehow. But why?"

The spirit gazed knowingly at us. "You will understand later, when the time is right. For now, direct your energy toward the current crisis. You must see it through to the end, no matter how much changes from the other times it has happened or what it may cost."

"We will," Cloud assured her.

Then she looked at me. "You in particular must be strong. Yours is a power that should not be here. Though it was given with good intent, its use can be dangerous, to your world as well as yourself. Be cautious. The betrayer is here, now, watching events unfold. Waiting for her time to arrive. Look to the shadows, and stay in the light."

I nodded. "I understand. Thank you."

Then the spirit faded away and disappeared, and for a moment, we all looked each other, thinking about what had just happened and what we'd learned. A lot more was going on, it seemed, than just our journey to stop Sephiroth. This had to have been what my other self had meant when she'd told me in that first dream that what I did here would affect her variant as well. And then I knew why.

"It's a good bet Sephiroth knows at least some of this," I said. "And that means he's gotta be after more than just what he wanted before. He means to try and control that thing inside the black materia, twist it to his own ends. I think even just a part of it would be devastating if it got out. So no matter what, we can't let him have it."

"We won't," Cloud agreed. "This is why the spirit asked us to focus on him first. To keep him from doing that."

I went on, looking at everyone one by one. "It's not just our reality, our variant, that's in danger. He'll destroy them all if he succeeds. Every last one. He'll merge with the shadow. He'll become the shadow. And if he does, there won't be a planet anymore."

Cloud's fierce, determined gaze met mine, and I knew exactly what he was thinking about. The same thing I was. Claudia. We hadn't made her ourselves, and I hadn't given birth to her, but she was still our flesh and blood, our daughter, even if she was from another variant's future. And we would be damned if we'd let anything happen to her. Our quest had just become a whole lot more personal. This was why Materia and my other self had let us meet her. To give us a strong, solid connection to those other timelines and make them real to us.

Although it's been quiet in the years since our journey, we've kept a close watch on things in the world while going on with our lives. That's another reason for our annual meetings besides just visiting with each other and catching up. We're standing guard, waiting for the shadow to make its move. And when it does, we'll be ready.

Tifa flexed her diamond-studded gloves. "We'll stop him."

"Aye, that feller's not gonna win," Cait added, bouncing atop his big moogle mount. "Now let's go on ahn show him!"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded. "It ends here."

So we hurried onward, leaving the great hall behind. We made our way through a set of twisting and turning corridors, dodging a barrage of heavy boulders as we did. They came crashing toward us from out of hidden chutes, forcing us to flatten ourselves against the walls to avoid them with less than a foot of space to spare. But eventually, we made it through. As we all caught our breath for a moment at the end of a long passageway before moving on, Aerith chuckled.

"Whew!" she panted. "We did it!"

Cloud looked at all of us. "Everyone okay?"

I gave him a thumbs up and grinned. "Still in one piece!"

"Same," Tifa added.

"Hell, I ain't got a scratch!" Barret pounded his chest. "Gonna take a hell of a lot more than that to get me!"

Cloud smirked. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Nae problems here!" Cait said, twitching his whiskers.

"Alright," Cloud said. "Then let's—"

A sudden loud click cut him off as something rumbled underneath us. Stone grated on stone, and the wall that Aerith, Cait Sith, and I had been leaning against to rest suddenly moved, taking us along with it as it swung around in a complete circle. We tried to get back into the hall with the others, but the hidden door moved too fast.

"Cloud!" I shouted, reaching for him.

His eyes widened. "Jessie!"

But he was too late. He, Barret, and Tifa rushed toward us, but the secret door we must've tripped when we'd leaned against it swung shut with a loud clang, cutting us off from our friends. I looked around but couldn't find any sort of mechanism to open it back up again and let us through. At the same time, Aerith tried to communicate with her inner voices, the spirits of her people, but she shook her head only a moment later and sighed, her worried gaze on the wall.

"Sorry, Jessie," she said. "They just aren't responding."

I nodded. "Looks like we're on our own."