FIFTY-NINE

"Sorry, Cloud," I sighed uneasily as I stood up from where I'd been searching the secret door that Jessie, Aerith, and Cait Sith had abruptly vanished behind. "I don't see any seams or switches. It doesn't look like we'll be able to open this back up again."

"Damn!" he slammed his fist into the wall.

Barret folded his arms in front of him. "I'm worried too, merc. But Jessie's tough. So's Aerith. Don't let that dainty princess act of hers fool ya. They'll be fine. Best thing we can do for 'em now is to keep on goin'. That's sure to be what they doin', too."

Cloud slowly relaxed. "Yeah. You're right, Barret."

"Jessie's as smart as they come, she's sure to solve any other puzzles they might encounter, and Aerith knows where to go," I reminded him. "They might actually be better off than we are."

"We'll just have to catch up, then, Tifa," he agreed.

I nodded as we got moving. "Right. Let's see where this passageway leads. I think we're heading deeper into the temple."

We followed it onward, and soon it opened out into a much larger corridor, with several flights of stone stairs winding their way down to a lower level from the passageway we were in. As we made our descent, I kept a close eye on our surroundings. Another of Zangan's lessons to me—always be aware of yourself and your environment. So when I felt vibrations in the rock underneath my feet as we went down the second flight of stairs, I knew exactly what was coming and sprang into action just before they started to crumble apart.

"Jump!" I yelled to the others and pointed. "Over there!"

Cloud and Barret didn't hesitate but followed my lead, jumping off the quickly collapsing stairs and grabbing onto the thick vines growing along the wall nearby. As we clung to them and watched for a moment, chunks of broken rock tumbled to the floor about thirty feet below us, filling the large corridor with sound and clouds of dust as what was left of the stairs we'd been walking on crashed in a ruined heap. I coughed and heard the guys doing the same until everything had finally settled. Then it was quiet, the sudden stillness almost eerie.

"Everyone okay?" Cloud asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. You?"

He started climbing down the vines. "Same. Barret?"

"I'm fine," he answered, using his good hand to slide down the vine a little at a time. "Damn place is a deathtrap."

"That's the idea," Cloud replied.

I frowned as we made our way forward. "Speaking of which…"

Ahead of us, the large corridor was continually buffeted by gusts of wind that came and went, lit by pale green tendrils of energy. The wind was so strong it kept us from going further, and we had to lift our arms up in front of ourselves to stay on our feet.

"Shit!" Barret swore. "Jus' keeps gettin' better an' better, don't it?"

Cloud gazed intently at the barrier. "We should be able to slip right through if we time it right. Get ready to move."

We did, bracing ourselves, and as soon as the wind died down for a moment, we ran through the gap in the barrier and hurried on. Almost as soon as we'd cleared it, the powerful gusts returned in full force right behind us, blocking the way back. With no choice now but to move on, we headed down the rest of the passageway and climbed another set of stairs to a large chamber with a narrow stone bridge stretching across a deep chasm that seemed to go on forever. Another doorway on the far side led further into the temple.

Cloud led us across the bridge in single file. I followed behind him while Barret brought up the rear, and at first, all went well. I didn't look down but kept my eyes firmly ahead, doing my best not to think about the long drop underneath us as Barret muttered to himself behind me. But then, when we were about halfway across, there was a loud click as if something had been tripped, and the bridge suddenly began to shake and fall apart one crumbling piece at a time.

"Run!" Cloud yelled.

We raced across the collapsing bridge as fast as we could. My lungs were burning and my muscles aching, but I didn't slow down, and soon I'd made it safely to the other side with Cloud and Barret. Another trap avoided. As we headed through the doorway into a circular corridor, I wondered how many more we were going to run into.

"I'm really startin' to hate this place…" Barret growled.

I didn't blame him. "Sure keeps you on your toes."

We followed the passageway until it opened up into a large, round chamber several hundred feet across. The ceiling rose up high above us and was so shrouded in gloom I couldn't see what else might have been up there. Across from us on the far side of the room was an alcove with what looked like another pedestal near a lift of some kind. Nodding to each other, the three of us hurried toward it.

We'd only gone a few steps into the room when something crashed down in front of us, though, blocking our path. A massive, scaled beast with thick scales the color of blood, wide leathery wings, beady yellow eyes, claws like knives, curving horns growing from its head, teeth like razors, and a long, barbed tail covered with spikes at least a foot long. It was huge, a dragon at least twice the size of the one we'd fought on Mt. Nibel, and dropped down from somewhere in the ceiling above us with a deafening roar. When it landed, the whole room shook as if there had been an earthquake, and the stone floor cracked.

"Oh, hell no…" Barret swore.

"This brings back memories," Cloud readied his swords.

Barret whipped up his gun-arm. "Mako Reactor 1 all over again."

"We'll trash it like we did that scorpion," Cloud replied, his eyes on the ruby dragon. "Tifa, you ready?"

I nodded as I raised my gloved fists. "Let's kick ass."


I stared in awe at our surroundings. "Whoa…"

After being cut off from Cloud and the others by the rotating wall, Aerith, Cait, and I headed down the passageway, following it as it went deeper into the temple until we came to a pair of tall double doors. We opened them and stepped into a large, open chamber far underground. Chunks of walls, a tower, and parts of what looked like a narrow stone bridge floated lazily in the air before us as pale, wispy green tendrils of the lifestream drifted amidst them, faintly illuminating the area with a soft, eerie glow. Shards of blue crystal sprouted here and there from the floor, and a small pool of mako lay in front of us.

"Well, this is a wee bit of problem…" Cait blinked.

"Seems like we've gotta do a little rebuilding to move on," I said as I gazed intently at the floating debris. "It's a puzzle."

He blinked. "Aye, Jessica. So how dae we solve it?"

Aerith moved toward the mako pool. "Leave it to me. I can use the lifestream here to make us a path forward. But you'll have to cover me. There are monsters lurking about—they haven't shown themselves yet, but you can bet they will once I get started."

"We'll keep them off you," I assured her, readying my weapons.

She nodded as she stood at the pool's edge. "I'll have to concentrate hard to do this, and I'll only be able to draw out so much. But defeating the monsters and smashing those big blue crystals should release more. That oughta give me enough to work with."

"Then ye'd best get started, lass," Cait replied from atop his moogle mount. "Me ahn Jessica will see that yer safe."

Stretching her arm out before her, Aerith gazed intently at the pool of mako. It began to swirl, and wisps of pale green energy rose up from it and flowed toward her. At the same time, though, a pack of those big orange lizards darted toward us, sensing the disturbance. While I cut at them again and again with my blaze talons, dodging snapping jaws and whipping tails as I spun and slashed, Cait hit them with a burst of cold, slowing them down and damaging them considerably. Then he had his giant moogle pound them to a pulp with its fists.

By the time we'd cleared out all the lizards, Aerith had siphoned as much lifestream energy from the mako pool as she could and directed it toward the wall fragments. Guided by her power, they reformed into a solid whole and fit neatly into a large gap in the floating tower. Then, after catching her breath for a moment, she lifted her arm again, stared hard at the swirling eddies of the lifestream left behind by the monsters we'd killed, and began drawing them in the same way.

This time, no lizards or anything else slithered out of the gloom to try and stop her, so we got a bit of a reprieve. We stayed alert, though. I kept my weapons lit and ready as I stood near Aerith. Before long, she'd finished gathering what she needed, and with a slight flick of her wrist, she sent the lifestream energy into the tower.

"Hmm… where to put it?" she wondered, looking around.

I did the same, then pointed. "Over there! On the other side of that chasm. I can just make out the foundation from here."

Aerith nodded. "Right! I see it now, Jessie."

"Ahn after we put the bridge doun over the gap, we'll have our path forward," Cait added. "Not tae hard at all."

"Shouldn't be, but stay frosty," I reminded him.

Moving her arm, Aerith carefully guided the lifestream energy as it moved the tower across the narrow chasm and settled it firmly onto its foundation. Sweat covered her skin, and after letting her take a minute to rest, Cait and I got to work smashing apart the blue crystals nearby. They shattered easily, releasing the energy stored inside. Aerith drew it to her, then used it to move the stone bridge into place. After the bright green tendrils of translucent energy had faded away and the bridge had locked into position with a loud rumbling of stone, she gasped and sat down on the floor to recover from the exertion.

"Whew!" Aerith panted. "That really takes it out of you!"

I sat down next to her and smirked. "I'll bet."

She gave my arm a playful little punch and smiled. "Next time, I'll stand guard and you can solve the puzzle."

"Fair enough," I laughed.

Once we were ready, we stood up, made our way across the bridge, and entered the tower. We followed a short passageway and emerged in a tall, round chamber shaped like a cylinder. The ceiling rose high over our heads into a murky gloom, and past a narrow stone ledge was a pit that filled the room and didn't seem to have a bottom. Spaced evenly at regular intervals all along the wall were eleven other corridors, each of them with a symbol engraved above the entrance.

When I looked at the stone archway we had entered through, I saw a carving above it as well just like the others. Like a number written in the language of the Cetra. Mounted on the wall to my left was a pair of slim levers, and three long, flattened metal platforms big enough for us to stand on connected to a round central column spanned the pit. One of them was moving in a constant circuit around the room, constantly stopping and starting as it went. At first, I didn't even know what I was looking at. But then, when I noticed the longest of the platforms move a little as the first went past it, I suddenly understood.

"It's a clock…" I realized.

Aerith nodded. "You're right, Jessie. The longest of those platforms must be the minute hand, the shortest is for the hour, and the third one is for seconds. The levers on the wall must control it."

I took a closer look at them. "Yeah. I'll bet there's a set at each door, too. We've gotta manipulate the clock hands to get across. But the trick is to figure out which tunnel to take. Any ideas?"

"We could work our way around the circle," she suggested. "Start at one o'clock and go from there. Looks like we're at ten now."

"It's as good a plan as any," I agreed.

Using the levers, I moved the clock hands until they made a bridge for us to cross. They were narrow, and my heart was pounding as I led the others onto them, but we kept our balance and made it to the other side. Most of the other tunnels turned out to be dead ends, but the four o'clock passage led us to a small chamber with an ornate stone pedestal in the middle. Something was hovering just above it, but I couldn't tell what it was amidst the pale green tendrils of lifestream energy swirling protectively around it like a miniature cyclone.

Aerith bowed her head and stretched out her hand, concentrating, and after a moment, the lifestream cleared and faded away, revealing a slender, elegant metal staff wrapped in tough black and red leather. On top was an elaborate headpiece shaped like a great eagle with its wings spread wide and a glittering red ruby clasped in each of its clawed feet. It had been masterfully sculpted from solid gold in intricate detail, and everything—from its curved beak to its talons and even the barbs of its feathers—was so lifelike I half expected it to take flight.

"Princess Guard…" Aerith murmured.

I gasped in recognition. It was the same staff I'd seen in the dream I'd had back at Fort Condor. The dream where I'd killed Aerith. A cold shiver raced up my spine, and I backed away a step. As hard as I'd tried, I was still on the path to that terrible moment becoming a reality. For a moment, I was tempted to grab the weapon and toss it in the clock pit, but I couldn't. It wouldn't have changed anything.

"Jessie?" Aerith asked, looking at me. "You okay?"

I took a breath and nodded. "Yeah. This place is just eerie. So how did you know what that thing was called?"

She didn't look too convinced but didn't press the issue, either. Her gaze went back to the Princess Guard. "I'm not sure. It just came to me. I think I was meant to have it. At least, for a little while."

"What do you mean?" I wondered.

Aerith shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

I had the feeling it did, but I knew she wouldn't say why. Cait and I shared a puzzled glance, and I shrugged helplessly, as in the dark about it as he was. The sight of that staff made me uneasy and a little afraid. I didn't want to hurt Aerith, but I could almost feel the walls of that dark vision closing in around me, pushing me toward it.

As Aerith took hold of the staff, there was a soft fluttering of wings behind us, and we turned to see the white eagle standing quietly on the floor of the passage we had come here from. Although I wondered how she had gotten here, it didn't really surprise me. And I couldn't be sure, but she seemed a little bigger that when I'd encountered her in Wutai. I glanced curiously at the eagle on the Princess Guard.

It was the same.

Aerith bowed respectfully to the white eagle, sinking to one knee. I did the same, feeling the familiar calm and peace wash over me. There in the presence of creation's light given form, I felt my resolve renewed. The eagle's eyes found mine, and like with Phoenix, I heard her words in my thoughts. Her voice was Materia's, and yet it wasn't. It was older, vast and timeless, a voice of terrible power and infinite compassion all at the same time. And so beautiful I can't even describe it. A glimpse of eternity itself. As I knelt there, I trembled in awe.

Do not be afraid. You know me, child, as I have known you since long before you were born. Speak my name. —

"Minerva…" I whispered as Aerith did the same.

You were never meant to be here, to survive past that fiery night when the steel sky fell, but even the will of the planet itself must answer to me. And I desired for you to live. You are needed. —

"I'm… needed?" I stared at her.

Much more than you know, child. A divergence is near. What was meant to happen in this place must not. The dark orb cannot be allowed to fall into his hands. You alone can prevent this. —

"Me?" I breathed, vaguely aware that Aerith was speaking softly to the eagle as well as if they were having a separate conversation and that Cait had hopped off his moogle mount and taken off his little crown. I gazed wonderingly at the white eagle. "How?"

You will know. You are a wellspring of change, a new element in a journey you were never supposed to be a part of. In this, your enemy did not lie. But you need not be the change he seeks. —

I nodded, overwhelmed. "I don't understand, but… I'll do my best. I won't let him win. And… thank you. For changing my fate and letting me live. You guided Cloud in the pillar that night, didn't you? Sent him the dreams about my death so he could save me."

Yes, child. It was not your enemy's will that defied your fated end, but mine. And it was I who sustained your life when you were comatose. The shadows darken as their time draws near, and light will be needed to stand against them. You are one such light. —

My jaw fell to the floor. "I am? But why me?"

You once played only a small part in the larger tapestry of events. Your life ended too soon, and your light was snuffed out, overlooked and overshadowed by those of others. But I choose the lowly of the world, the meek and the forgotten, to rise and overcome. —

"I don't deserve this…" Tears slid down my cheeks as I spoke, "but I swear I'll do all I can to live up to the honor you've given me and stop this threat. I'm yours, Minerva. Body and soul."

Stay close to Aerith no matter what, child. Her destiny is near, but she will need your help now to reach it. You cannot stop the moment you fear from happening, but you can change it. And you must find a way, or all is lost. Your greatest trial is about to begin. —

Then, amidst a swell of bright light and softly glowing feathers, the white eagle rose gracefully into the air with a flap of its great wings. We had to shield our eyes against the sudden rush of illumination. When it had finally faded, the eagle was gone. The air was still, quiet, and I kept kneeling for a minute or two, overwhelmed by everything that just had happened. Aerith did the same, her own face not entirely dry. My hand reached out, found hers, and clasped it tight.

"Aerith…" I murmured as we helped each other stand up. "I… that was… I don't think I even have the words…"

She nodded, gazing at the place where the white eagle had been. "I know what you mean. So powerful and dangerous… and so much love. I heard her voice in my mind, Jessie. She spoke to me."

I'd thought as much. "And me. What did she say to you?"

"Things meant only for me to hear," Aerith answered, looking back at me. "Just as what she told you was for you alone."

What the white eagle had said to me had been too profound to put into words for anyone else to hear. I've never written or spoken of it to anyone, not even Cloud, until just now. Without her, I'd have died that night in the pillar just like I had in so many other timelines. Because of her, I've been able to not just live, but see and do and be so much more than I ever could have imagined. I owe her so much.

"Did you hear her, Cait?" I asked, looking over at him.

He put his crown back on his head. "Aye. Ahn I know what tae do. Some might not have expected her tae speak tae someone like mae, but I'm just as alive as ye are, lass. Not merely the stuffed toy I was in other times ahn places. But I think ye know that already."

I smiled. "I sure do, old friend. You've always been alive to me."

"Same!" Aerith agreed fondly. Then she motioned to us. "Now we'd better get moving. I know where to go."

After transferring all of her materia from her Fairy Tale staff to the Princess Guard and slipping her old weapon into the loop of fabric that had been sewn onto the back of her red jacket, Aerith led us out of the room and back into the passageway until we had returned to the clock chamber. Then she pointed toward the top of it.

"Twelve o'clock, Jessie," she said.

I nodded and went to the controls. "Right."

But as I was working the levers to move the clock hands into place so we could cross them again, Aerith tapped my shoulder. "Wait… not yet. There's something else we need to get here first."

Then she moved to stand in front of the wall just a short ways back from the levers and held the Princess Guard before her. The staff began to glow, and a moment later, a cleverly hidden door swung open with a grating of stone on stone to reveal a short, secret passageway with a set of stairs at the end of it leading up into the gloom.

We followed them and found ourselves back in the labyrinth but in a different area, a rooftop of sorts overlooking the rest. Hovering above a pedestal nearby and surrounded by tendrils of lifestream was another mystical artifact, and when Aerith raised the Princess Guard and used its power to clear away the barrier, I saw what it was.

"A ribbon?" I blinked.

Made of some soft fabric that shimmered like satin, it was a length of fine cloth like nothing I'd ever seen. Its color shifted gently from one to the next like the otherworldly rose I'd seen in my dream. With a nod from Aerith, I slowly reached out and took it. When I did, the ribbon's color changed to a bright, cheerful red that reminded me at once of my Avalanche headband and stayed that way. Although it was far too small for me to wear it like that, Aerith helped me tie it around my upper left arm just under my shoulder instead.

I looked at my new armband. "It feels so soft…"

"It's a Cetra design," Aerith explained. "The records back in Cosmo Canyon mentioned them. Looks simple enough, but this ribbon guards against any sort of magical ailment you might run into. Poison, silence, blindness, confusion, and more. Even transformations."

"Awesome!" I grinned. "I'm not in any hurry to change back into a frog anytime soon. But shouldn't you take this?"

She shook her head. "It was meant for you, Jessie."

"How can you be sure?" I wondered.

"The color," Aerith pointed at it. "It shifts to reflect its wearer. Red for you because of your close friendship with Biggs and Wedge and the headband you always used to wear as a symbol of that."

I smiled. "Yeah, makes sense. I've kinda missed wearing that thing, actually, but I like having my hair down, too. And those guys… I think about them a lot. And worry. They're like brothers to me, you know? A pain in the ass sometimes, but I love them."

"Ahn that fortune I gave ye back when ye left Shinra years ago said that red was yer lucky color, tae!" Cait chuckled.

"Oh, right! I remember that!" I laughed. "I guess it is, isn't it?"

He bounced atop his moogle mount. "Aye, lass! So take it as a good sign. I'd say our feathery friend wants ye to have it."

I felt the same way. "Yeah. Thanks, guys."

Our task there finished, we hurried back to the clock chamber and after I'd aligned the hour and minute hands, we carefully made our way across and entered the twelve o'clock passageway. It led further into the temple to another room, this one larger and rectangular. As we entered and looked around, I shivered. The walls on either side of us had been carved to resemble hideous monsters. Their cold, stony eyes seemed to follow us, and their claws and teeth were long, curved, and very sharp. Each wall stood about twenty feet or so away from us.

Between them, a mural had been painted on the far wall. It showed a huge, fiery ball of rock descending upon the planet from the stars far above. Was this what Sephiroth was after? Or had been in all the other times this journey had happened? Had to be. But why?

Suddenly the door slammed shut behind us. I rushed toward it, the others right behind me, but no matter how hard I pushed and pulled, it wouldn't budge. It was shut tight, and the room echoed with the sound of a heavy lock sliding into place, as if the temple itself was alive. Given all we'd seen so far, I thought it was a distinct possibility.

I frowned uneasily as I led Aerith and Cait back into the middle of the room. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"Look!" Aerith pointed with her staff.

I followed her gaze, and my eyes widened. The monstrous carvings in the walls on our left and right had come alive, their elongated heads and huge, muscled arms emerging right out of the stone itself to reach for us with angry snarls. They were still out of range, but as I drew and lit my talons and Cait started relaying orders to his moogle mount with his green megaphone, both walls began to inch toward us.

Aerith gulped. "Demon's Gate…"


As soon as I felt the ground rumbling under my feet, I stopped and hurried back through the jungle the way I'd come, ordering my troops to follow. Seemed like Avalanche had finally arrived and awakened the temple just as Tseng had said they would. I hadn't doubted him, not for a second, and I hoped he was okay. I still couldn't believe he'd asked me out. As happy I as I was about it, though, I put it out of my thoughts for the time being and concentrated on the job.

"Elena!" a familiar voice called.

I was about halfway to the temple and turned to see Reno heading toward me, Rude at his side. "Hey, guys!"

"Looks like Avalanche showed up, right on cue," he said.

"I knew they would," I agreed.

Reno fell in alongside me while Rude motioned for the SOLDIERs he was with—Third Class, mainly—to join the troops I'd brought. They moved smoothly into formation, but it didn't look like there were quite as many as before. Given the trouble I'd already run into out there with the local fiends, I wondered if they'd had similar problems.

"Looks like you lost a few of your men," I noted.

Reno grimaced. "Them damn clones swarmed 'em outta nowhere. Turned 'em into more of the same. Still out there, too, but they fell back once we felt the ground shakin'. Must've been when the temple showed up. You run into anything out there, Elena?"

I nodded. "Monsters. Whatever's going on must've stirred them up. I don't think they're gone, though. We'd better be ready."

"We will be," he said. "We're Turks."

When we made it back to the clearing, the temple was there, just as we'd thought. A huge stone ziggurat that rose up from the crater. It was fascinating, but I barely noticed it. When my eyes found Tseng, I forgot about everything else and rushed over to him, a mixture of worry, fear, and rage swirling in my stomach. He was wounded, holding himself as he sat tiredly against the pedestal, and near him were several members of Avalanche—the pilot, the ninja girl from Wutai, that strange, talking red beast, and the tall gunman with the red cape.

"Tseng!" I called. Then I snarled at the Avalanche group. "You hurt him, didn't you!? Bastards! I swear I'll kill you! I—"

"Elena!" Tseng cut me off at once. "It wasn't them."

I skidded to a halt. "What?"

"Boss, what happened?" Reno gaped.

"Sephiroth," Tseng explained. "He showed up after you left and did this. Cloud and the others found me and saved me."

I lowered my fists. "They… they did?"

"Aerith and Jessica, to be precise," he went on.

"Jessie helped you?" I stared at him in disbelief. "She didn't have to do that. Not after what happened with her mom."

Tseng nodded. "I know. We've put the past behind us."

From his tone and meaningful gaze, I knew what he was implying. Jessie and I had been friends once, and although I'd been furious about her being in Avalanche and determined to bring her down for keeping it from me and making herself my enemy, it was getting harder to keep that rage going. She'd risked her life to save me in Wutai, even with the rift that had grown between us. And now she'd helped save the man I'd fallen in love with. It was my job to stop her, but… I realized then that I didn't want to. Not anymore. I didn't know if we could ever be friends again, but I could at least help her as she'd helped me.

"She's in there now?" I gazed at the temple.

"Yes," Tseng answered. "She and the rest went inside some time ago. These four stayed behind to wait for you and protect me should any of the Sephiroth clones or local monsters show up."

I turned to the pilot. "I… I'm sorry. Thank you for helping him."

"Ain't a problem," he said, puffing on a cigarette.

"Wait a minute…" I looked curiously at the gunman. "You used to be a Turk, didn't you? And not just any Turk, if our intelligence reports are right. All those dangerous missions you did back then. Best shot we ever had. They say your aim was legendary."

He shrugged indifferently. "That was a long time ago."

"Then you vanished after that mission to Nibelheim," I went on. "It was a big mystery. I'd really like to know what happened."

"No. You wouldn't," the gunman stated, his voice soft but emphatic.

I shivered and looked back at Tseng. "So what's the plan?"

Tseng gazed intently at me, Reno, and Rude. "We were wrong. The promised land isn't what we thought. Sephiroth revealed that to me. So we're not fighting Avalanche today. Something else is hidden inside the temple. I don't know what it is, but it's dark."

"Look," the gunman pointed past us. "It calls to them."

We all turned to see a swarm of monsters emerging from the trees. Insect-like neck hunters with thick, tough green hides and barbed tails, giant bloated caterpillars with huge maws lined with teeth like needles, hippogriffs with the front of half and wings of a hawk and the back half of a horse, and spirals that rolled in on their narrow, lavender bodies as their spiked tails whipped around threateningly. And with them were a host of Sephiroth clones, muttering to themselves as they shambled on. Leading the pack was an ironclad, a giant made of solid metal. It held a massive sword in one steel hand as it approached.

The pilot put out his cigarette and readied his spear. "Damn… this just keeps gettin' better and better, don't it?"

"Oh, we can take 'em!" the ninja quipped, shuriken in hand.

"Remember what Cloud and Jessie said," the red beast added. "We can't let any of these creatures get into the temple. The black materia is calling to them. Sephiroth must be trying to use them to get it, hoping one of them will reach it before we do."

Tseng looked at us. "He's right. Help them."

"Alrighty," Reno nodded, hurrying into position and activating his shock rod as our troops and SOLDIERs prepared for battle. "Looks like we're gonna earn our pay today. Ready, partner?"

Rude fell in beside him, gloved fists raised. "Always."

"Let the troops handle the lesser beasts," the gunman advised as he took aim with his triple-barreled shotgun. "Focus on the ironclad. The armor is weak under the neck and at the waist."

The monsters swarmed in, a writhing, snarling, chittering horde of sharp claws, snapping mandibles, and curved beaks. The ground shook with every step the ironclad took, but we stood firm and didn't budge. I was sweating in my dark blue suit and my heart was pounding fast, but I was also determined to do all I could to protect Tseng and do my job as a Turk to help keep all hell from breaking loose.

As I drew my gun and braced myself for the fight, I thought about my former friend, an enemy I no longer wanted. "Do what you've gotta do in there, Jessie. You had my back when I needed you. Now it's time I had yours. I won't let any of these things get to you."

Seconds later, the enemy struck.