Indiscriminate Spellcasting

by AriannaLaTouche

Ranma gets caught up in the adventure of a lifetime, surrounded by girls, fighting for the fate of the world, and occasionally gets splashed with water. Sounds like a regular day for Ranma? Except there's no such thing as a regular day for Ranma, because he's starting out in Midgar. Ranma 1/2 X FF7

32. The One Chosen By Gaia

What a frelling year, am I right? To paraphrase Colonel Sherman Potter from MASH, "May the new year be a damn sight better than the last one, and may we all be together again before she's over." Still alive, still surviving, still COVID-free, miraculously. Had intended to get this out in November, but had some issues that prevented it. On the plus side, y'all get a nice little holiday season gift from me.

Comments and kudos and coffee, they are what I live on.
KuraraII: The exchange between Rufus and Shiro was one that went through a couple iterations. My editor/beta reader suggested that the scene would have been better if I had set it as a kind of internal mental-speed-chess between the two characters a la Death Note or Code Geass, which I agree with. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pull the scene off to my satisfaction, so I reverted to the existing version. I may go back and rewrite that eventually when I feel better about what I can do with it.
Mr. Haziq: I'd considered that as a potential end of that fight, but it felt too much like... well, kid Goku's Dragon Punch against Demon King Piccolo. There's nothing wrong with that scene, but it wasn't the direction I wanted to go. So instead we get this iteration, in which Ranma used an artefact-of-power to enhance an already ungodly strong chi attack to send a freezing tornado straight through the body of a semi-immortal phoenix-hybrid, separating his upper and lower halves and sending his nearly dead self tumbling to the ground below. Much less violent! :P
Kyleta: The worst part of Yuffie's character mostly being the annoying, mischievous ninja girl is that she seems to be like that in the other titles in the FF7 Compilation she appears in. She's... honestly kind of flat, in that regards. So... I decided to do something about that. This Yuffie is based on the original, but I've given her more depth and personal motivations. We're going to see more of what I have in store for her, and in fact for the rest of the Midgar Wrecking Crew, as the story progresses.
Ceps: Your comment was deleted. Get help.

I'm turning 37 in just a few days. Consider this the part of my birthday I share with everyone, since I'm probably not going to have cake this year. For now, on with the show!

EDIT, 5/8/2022: A few minor edits have been made to this chapter in order to properly line up with the next chapter.

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Chapter Thirty Two

The One Chosen By Gaia

[ ν ] - εγλ 0007, December 18

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Aerith sat up. And looked around.

She stood before an enormous pyramidal structure of dark stone, itself surrounded by a rolling moat of glowing green liquid - Gaia's lifestream, welling to the surface. A simple bridge of wooden planks lay suspended across thick woven ropes. Dense jungle canopy wrapped around the outside of the moat and hung over the peak of the temple, casting odd shadows as the sun burned overhead.

"Oh," she murmured. "It's this dream again." And began walking.

The bridge creaked beneath her feet as she crossed. The air was sweltering and almost stagnant within the confines of the humid forest. The sound of the lifestream beneath her, both its audible bubbling as it welled and flowed, and the subtler song of Gaia herself, filled her senses as she entered the open gate at the height of the temple stairs.

Aerith walked the halls of the structure for what felt like a long time, her heavy boots causing her footsteps to echo against the stone. It was always the same… unknown, and familiar, at the same time. The stone corridors were lit strangely, as if it was the smooth marble walls themselves which had been lit up as she walked, but never more than a few steps ahead of her.

She came to a large, open room, and the marble fell away to reveal a peaceful glen, the sun shining somewhere above, and a few birds flitting about. She sat down on a smooth stone near the largest tree, and undid the laces on her boots, shucking them off before letting her feet touch the grass. It felt heavenly, and she leaned back, letting her gaze wander along the spread branches of the tree behind her.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Aerith glanced around for the source of the voice, but saw no one. She stood up slowly, pulling herself up with her staff, before taking a few languid steps around the trunk of the tree. On the other side she met a man dressed in black pants and a black leather duster, open to the waist, his long silver hair trailing behind him. His left hand rested on the hilt of an absurdly long blade, attached to his hip. Aerith recognized it; it was the same sword that was found pinning the now-former President Shinra to his desk.

"You must be Sephiroth," Aerith declared in a light tone. She stood completely at ease, a placid smile across her face.

"Indeed I am," he responded evenly, taking one step forward.

"What are you doing here?" Aerith asked, gesturing around her to the idyllic glen surrounding them.

"You know why I'm here," Sephiroth answered, stepping towards Aerith again with one hand reaching out to her.

Aerith felt herself freeze, as some primitive, unnamed terror gripped her. The man in front of her was a SOLDIER, arguably the SOLDIER, a killer through and through. She knew she was alone here. Nobody was coming to her rescue. No one else would ever be able to reach this place. What chance would someone like her have against him? "Oh, yes, of course," she replied, her voice cracking slightly, the smile on her face faltering a bit.

Sephiroth reached behind her for the ribbon tied around her braid, and pulled free the pale green-white materia orb hidden inside the knot. The swirling light beneath the surface of the sphere reacted to his touch, seeming to shrink away from his touch. "It is good that you chose not to resist me," he said, his slit pupils focused on the materia in his grip. "There is nothing in this world I would not sacrifice to reach my goals… and you have…" he hesitated for a moment, breathing in as his gaze shifted to Aerith, "...so many people around you, just waiting to be gifted in tribute to your new god…"

Aerith's expression flickered, tears beginning to flow from her eyes as she stood in front of Sephiroth, knowing that she had doomed her world with her act of surrender. She could not look away, as Sephiroth rose up into the air, the glen around her fading into a scorched wasteland in a matter of seconds, the sun itself seeming to darken in answer to his power.

"And, at the end of it all…" Sephiroth's voice echoed around her, drawing the Masamune from his side, "you, too, shall prepare yourself for sacrifice."

Aerith nodded her head, and slipped down to her knees, her tears flowing freely as she understood the futility of it. Sephiroth turned the blade downwards, gripped in both hands, as he descended from the sky to claim her blood.

There was a moment where she felt the razor tip of the sword pierce her skin, and then there was only darkness.

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Aerith sat up. And looked around.

She was on the cargo deck of the Grace of Ifrit, surrounded by the still-sleeping forms of most of the other members of AVALANCHE. She glanced down at the digital watch on Yuffie's wrist in the dim lighting of the cargo bay. The time read 5:09 AM.

It wouldn't even be dawn yet.

Aerith curled her legs under her midsection and leaned back against the crates they had camped between. She managed to take one deep breath before her resolve broke. Inhaling again, her breath becoming ragged with the weight of her emotions, she lowered her head into her hands and wept quietly as the unwelcome memories of terror from her dream finally overwhelmed her.

She let her tears flow, waiting until they subsided to let her mind process out what it needed to. "That isn't me," she whispered to herself in reminder, wiping her face with her sleeve. "Not anymore. Zack did what he could to protect me, but he isn't here anymore. Ranma is protecting me now, but he's teaching me to protect myself. I won't let myself be that girl again." She wrapped her arms around herself, clutching at her shoulders as her words chased away the echoes of fear from the nightmare. "I'm strong enough to stand on my own, and I'm getting stronger every day."

She sat there for a minute or two, taking even breaths and piecing her self-control back together. After a time, she looked up. She remembered that Ranma and Cloud had been forced to sleep in the crew quarters that the troopers had all but taken over from the ship's regular crew. Red had volunteered for a deck watch overnight, confident that it would be the easiest way for him to remain undetected. But that should have left her with Barret, Tifa, and Yuffie. Barret was nowhere to be seen.

She shifted position, and lowered a hand onto Tifa's shoulder. "Tifa, wake up," she whispered. "Tifa."

"Whsmgl," Tifa responded eloquently, shrugging in her sleep.

"Wake up, Tifa," Aerith repeated, jostling the brunette more urgently. "I can't find Barret."

Tifa blinked owlishly, stretching slightly in the cramped hiding space between the various crates. "Barret…?" she mumbled groggily.

Aerith nodded. "I woke up a minute ago, Barret isn't here-"

"I'm here, Aerith," Barret called out quietly, rounding the corner of the crates at the end of the aisle. "Got up about fifteen minutes ago, decided to have a look around. An' I think we're gonna have to move soon."

"Why? What's up?" Tifa asked, coming to her feet. Yuffie blinked herself awake, yawning and stretching as she sat up.

Barret looked around uneasily, gesturing somewhat vaguely with his disguised gun-arm. "Ship's half-empty. Dunno where everyone's gotten to, but they ain't down here. Somethin' don't feel right about this."

Yuffie pulled herself up to stand between the others. "What's the plan?"

"Plan is you two-" he pointed to Aerith and Yuffie, "stay here and pack up. Tifa, you come with me and we're gonna have a look around. No offense, but if somethin' goes sideways, Tifa'll be better backin' me up." Yuffie scrunched her nose up at that, but didn't object. "Keep your heads down, try an' stay quiet. We'll be back in a few minutes."

Aerith nodded her understanding, and Barret turned back around the line of crates, Tifa trailing close behind. "Barret's right…" she said softly.

Yuffie yawned and stretched her arms overhead, before turning to the older girl. "Whaddya mean?" she mumbled, her eyes still half closed.

Aerith felt a shiver along her spine. "Something doesn't feel right," she answered.

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5:16 AM

Lieutenant, Second Class Sten Parson awoke after his customary six hours, no longer needing an alarm clock to get him up in the morning. The man had been in the regular army for most of six years, having signed up for basic training mere weeks before the end of the Wutai War, and the groove worn into his sleeping habits was one he now relied on. And his other habits announced to him, rather loudly, that something was off.

The crew quarters were in near darkness, only two lights currently flickering overhead, creating strange and moving shadows across the bunks. He sat up, reaching for the service revolver in his holster, an old Shinra Peacemaker Model A that had been introduced before materia slots integrated into weapons had become commonplace. His hand hesitated on the grip, and he gazed around in the near-darkness. No movement, nothing that would obviously trigger his senses, but he had lived a long time trusting his intuition. "Rise and shine, ladies," he barked loudly into the cabin. "That means now! Everyone, eyes open, out of bed, on your feet!" Within seconds, the telltale sounds of rustling fabric and shifting bodies began and then hurriedly stopped as the outlines of about two dozen men stood in the dim lighting. First rule of command, he thought to himself, remembering his mentor from the academy. If something's got you on edge, spread it around. Make them do the sweating for you. "All right," Lt. Parson continued, standing up from his bunk and drawing the revolver to his side, "every single one of you, tell me what you see that don't look right to you."

"Sir?" One of the newer privates asked, confused.

"Sir, the lights are dimmed in here," Cloud mentioned, still fully in his uniform.

"Flickering, more like, sir," came another voice. "This ship low on mako, or somethin'?"

"Can't be," the first voice argued, "ship's still running, you can hear the engi-"

"The clock by the door is unplugged," another voice called, interrupting the others, "and it looks like a lotta these beds haven't been slept in."

Parson glanced about as he heard the voice. "Jenkins, is that you?"

"Sir!" Ranma replied from near the back of the crowd, pulling his helmet up from the floor and placing it atop his head. Mentally cursing himself for his initiative and honesty, he resolved to keep his mouth shut if he could, going forward.

Parson gave a smile. "Good eye, Jenkins. Anyone else?" No other voices rang out from the dark. "Something's up. All of you, suit up this damn minute. Group up, three or more if you can't find your squad. Weapons down unless you see something, I don't want any friendly fire on this ship. Get out there, patrol the ship, and find out where the hell everyone is. Jenkins, you're staying with me until I find someone better."

Aw, hell, Ranma thought. "Sir!" he called in chorus with the others, saluting.

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5:21 AM

Cloud stepped into the hallway ahead of the others, closing the bunk room door behind him, and saw Barret and Tifa walking past in the dimly-lit passage. "Hey," he called to them, lifting his helmet just enough to show his face.

Both of them turned to face Cloud, all of them checking the hallways for anyone listening in. "What the hell is going on?" Tifa hissed.

Cloud shook his head solemnly. "A lot of the troopers are missing," he answered quietly. "Beds not slept in, most of the officers are AWOL, nobody's reported anything. The ones left in there are on edge."

Barret gestured around with his good arm. "Same story out here," he added, "I ain't seen but a couple sailors and one trooper in the last ten minutes. The sailors think it's Shinra doin' it, but you say some of them've gone missin' too?"

Cloud confirmed with a nod of his head. "The lieutenant in there's about to go give word to Rufus, and he's dragging Ranma along with him."

Barret's jaw dropped. "They found him out?"

"Actually," Cloud replied with a smirk, "Private Jenkins has distinguished himself some with his initiative, and has been assigned as the lieutenant's aide for now."

Tifa's jaw joined Barret's on the deck plates. "You're kidding."

"I'm really not."

The door opened, and out came Lieutenant Parson, followed closely by Ranma in his disguise. "Reese," Parson snapped, "the hell are you doin' out here?"

"Sir!" Cloud answered, as the two disguised stowaways backed off, heading towards the cargo bay. "Guarding this hallway. Whatever's going on, I don't want anyone else getting the drop on the men under my command."

Parson considered that for a moment. "About the smartest thing anyone's said this morning," he said, before turning to the private, "aside from this one here, anyway. Good. You go back in there and get two more, station one at the bulkhead there and one there," he concluded, pointing at the bulkheads on opposite ends of the hallway.

Cloud snapped off a salute, and Parson turned to leave, Ranma trailing behind. "Hope you've got your wits about you, Ranma…" he whispered to himself.

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5:37 AM

The bridge door leading to the private quarters opened, as Rufus Shinra entered, followed by Heidegger and Lieutenant Parson. "Where are my men, Captain Shiro?" Rufus demanded.

Shiro eyed Rufus carefully. "What are you talking about?"

Rufus stared across the room, shotgun in hand, but pointed at the ground. "We brought a half-company of troopers aboard this ship eighteen hours ago. More than half of them can no longer be found. Either you have them imprisoned in some bolt-hole that the rest of my men haven't found yet, or you've killed them and thrown the bodies overboard."

"I could accuse your men of something similar," Shiro began in an even tone. He raised one hand and began counting off on his fingers. "The bridge crew didn't report for duty this morning. Three men on nightwatch were not relieved by their assigned replacements. The ship's doctor is nowhere to be found. And my brother, Bushi, is missing from the engineering team. And now…" he looked directly at Rufus as he continued, "you tell me that… what, sixty of your troops are missing? Would you care to explain to me what the hell you brought onto my ship yesterday?"

Rufus returned the Captain's gaze, holding it for a long tense moment. "I honestly don't know what's going on, Captain," he said finally, twisting his grip on the Shortbarrel and sliding it back into the holster underneath his white longcoat. "But if it's affecting both of our subordinates, we should work together for the time being."

Parson glanced around the cabin. "Where the hell is Jenkins?"

There was a moment of confused silence between the men on the bridge. "Who is Jenkins?" Captain Shiro asked.

"I came in here with a private, one of the new recruits," Parson explained, his eyes flicking back and forth. "He was with me when I came up to the bridge."

Shiro looked at the lieutenant, puzzled. "You entered alone, sir," he said calmly. "I stood in your path, heard your request, and sent Kanazaki to relay your request to Rufus-" he turned and gestured at an empty chair left of center. Shiro glanced around the bridge. "Where the hell is Kanazaki?"

There was a pause as the men of the bridge considered the question. In the moment between consideration and action, there was a sound, or rather a sudden lack of a sound which had been present for enough time that its absence was suddenly very worrying. The ship's motor had stopped spinning.

A chill air settled over the men on the bridge, as their eyes swept back and forth rapidly. "Captain Shiro, how far are we from shore?" Rufus asked, turning to look out the bridge windows to the rear deck.

"Forty five kilometers," Shiro responded, though there was an edge in his voice as he realized the reason for the question.

Rufus nodded. "That'll do, then." He turned to Parson. "Lieutenant, are you rated for flight?"

"Uh, yes sir," Parson answered, his face screwed up in confusion. "But what about-"

"We're leaving," Rufus interrupted, one hand sweeping in a gesture that included himself, Heidegger, and the lieutenant. He then turned to Shiro, whose form blocked the path off of the bridge. "Assuming there are any survivors, our contract still stands. Aside from that, you're on your own."

Shiro stood stock still for a long moment, his eyes fixed on Rufus. The moment passed, and he let out a grunt, taking one step to the side. Rufus did not hesitate, and immediately moved towards the exit. "Your concern for the men under your command is... overwhelming," Shiro commented in an acidic tone. "Don't you agree, lieutenant?" he added, turning to Parson as Rufus and Heidegger stepped outside in silence. Parson hesitated briefly at the door, met Shiro's eyes, and looked away, following the others towards the helicopter that had been secured to the rear deck. Shiro shrugged. "Didn't expect much out of the boy anyway," he muttered to nobody in particular, staring out across the rear deck as the trio boarded the helicopter. He then turned back to his crew. "So, there's something on board, is there? Well, there aren't that many places to hide on a ship at sea, and whoever it is, they're about to learn the hard way." With that, he reached for the address speaker, waiting while the helicopter spun up and lifted away, flying due west.

"Attention, all hands," Shiro began, as the chopper flew away into the pre-dawn sky. "This is the captain. The sound you have just heard is of Shinra's president and his entourage flying away in their helicopter. Several members of my crew, as well as many of the Shinra troopers aboard this vessel, have been reported missing. We believe that there is an intruder, possibly more than one, aboard the ship. As of this moment, I am ordering all crew, all troopers, and any stowaways aboard to report to the main deck, and we will begin searching the vessel from stem to stern in short order. Anyone failing to heed this order will be assumed to be part of the intruding party and will be thrown in the brig or shot." He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. "Report to the main deck within five minutes. This is the captain."

The PA squawked once as he returned the speaker to its cradle, before settling into silence once more.

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5:41 AM

The seven stowaways stared up at the PA speaker as it faded into quiet, and then back to each other, the question clear on each of their faces. "That's a hell of an ultimatum," Ranma muttered.

"Can't say I blame the man," Cloud admitted with a sigh. "Over one hundred troopers and sailors missing from the ship in less than a night? I'd want everyone in sight and under control too. Especially after that disappearing act you pulled, Ranma."

Ranma flashed a slight grin in response. "I wasn't about to walk in and sit down in the same room with Rufus, that's for sure. Looks like my old man's thievin' ways pay off for me this time."

A few seconds of silent consideration passed between them, interrupted by the sounds of dozens of boots traversing the entrance of the cargo deck from the forward compartment, and up the stairs to the main deck. All seven of them waited in silence as the troopers ascended the steps, the sounds fading into relative quiet once again. "What do you think?" Tifa asked softly, turning to Cloud. "Can we trust the captain?"

Cloud shrugged, shaking his head. "I think we don't have much of a choice," he said after a long silence, resting his chin in one hand in a gesture of contemplation. "We go up and reveal ourselves… or we stay down here, and either get imprisoned, get shot, or we fight back and kill everyone on board."

Barret nodded, a grim look clouding his features. "I ain't gonna accept any of those last choices," he remarked.

Ranma turned to Red, Aerith, and Tifa, seeing nothing he didn't expect to see on their faces. Then he turned to Yuffie, who had been silently perched atop one of the crates, still in her sailor's outfit, her expression guarded. "How about you, Yuffie?" he asked.

Yuffie didn't respond for several long moments, the only sound passing between them the hum of the engines. She let out a huff and shook her head. "I don't like any of it," she said, brushing an errant hair out from the front of her face. "But, nah, I don't have any other ideas right now."

Cloud inclined his head once. "All right then," he declared, turning towards the stairs. "Let's go present ourselves to the captain."

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5:44 AM

The sun was still well below the horizon as the remaining crew and passengers lined up above deck, the frigid winter air and wind biting at the assembled group. The deck lights had been turned to maximum brightness, and the entire forward deck was fully illuminated despite the darkness surrounding them. Ranma was currently in the third row with the other troopers; Cloud had taken position up near the center at the front row, and Red was currently on all fours behind a small crate near the starboard side. There were far less of the troopers than he had realized; of the hundred fifty that had come on board yesterday, there were fewer than a third that number standing around him. The sailors' ranks had been visibly thinned as well, with only about twenty left from what had been double that coming aboard. Barret stood prominently among them, the gunner's bulk stretching at the seams of the white sailor's uniform. He couldn't see where the girls had ended up on the sailors' side, but extending his senses slightly, he could tell Aerith was close by, her beacon of chi impossible to miss.

The captain was equally difficult to miss as he descended to the deck from the bridge, flanked by two others. His clothing was of a similar style to the others, navy blue pants under a heavy woolen suit that was probably once a pure white but which had faded some over time, the jacket breast flaps open to show a dark blue tone matching the pants. A heavy woolen coat hung over the uniform, the shoulders adorned with brass studs that showed some wear but were still polished. A long sword and sheath hung from the man's waist, and Ranma could tell from a distance that he had at least one other weapon on him.

"Morning," the captain spoke in a booming voice that cut over the sound of the vessel cutting through the ocean. "I am Captain Shiro, commander of this vessel. You all are either sailors, troopers, or stowaways. Troopers, your leaders have abandoned you, and I know enough about your chain of command to see that there's not a single officer among you at the moment. As a result, I am assuming command of all of you, until we reach shore. I am responsible for you, you are responsible for this ship. Follow my orders, provoke no fights with my men, and you will be kept safe. Once we are all safely docked at Costa del Sol, I will release you from my command, and you may return to your nearest base or wherever else you wish. If any of you have any objections, step forward now, and you will not be harmed."

There was a moderate amount of nervous shuffling of feet, but there was no outcry, no rush forward. It's just like Barret said yesterday, Ranma thought to himself. Most of these men are just here for the paycheck. At the front of the group, Shiro waved his hand for attention. "Stowaways are a regular feature of almost any voyage. We tend to let it slide as long as they pull their weight and don't make themselves a nuisance. But under the circumstances, that time is past. So if any of you are among those assembled, this is your moment of amnesty. Step forward now, and you have my word you will not be harmed."

Ranma remained in formation, his eyes resolutely on Cloud's back, two rows ahead of him, waiting for any signal to move. After what felt like an eternity, he saw the former SOLDIER step forward, pulling his helmet free and turning to face the captain. Ranma took a few steps forward, passing between the ranks of the troopers and evading the heavy hand of a questioning sergeant. He removed his helmet as well, standing in a more relaxed stance behind and to one side of Cloud. Red padded around the corner on all fours, flaming tail swaying slightly behind him, still wearing the Shinra jacket and helmet, but most of the rest having been discarded somehow. Shiro's eyes widened slightly at that, but said nothing. Barret strode out from the ranks of the sailors, followed by Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie, their presence raising more than a few voices among the other shipmates. Shiro turned and eyed them as well, but made no comment regarding their presence among his men.

The captain cleared his throat and waved for silence again. "All right, then. As of this moment, any person not standing on this deck right now is to be considered trespassing aboard the vessel. My first mate, Isshin-" and the man standing to Shiro's left stepped forward, "-has arranged for the ship's weapons locker to be opened, and all of the crew will arm themselves. You will be split into groups, with troopers and sailors alike. We are one crew for the time being, and you will behave accordingly. Nobody is to traverse the ship alone from this moment forward. If you find anyone alone, they are to be placed in custody; if they resist this, they are to be shot. Report to the first mate for your instructions. Dis-missed!" he concluded in a parade-ground shout, before turning to the seven stowaways. "You all will follow me, now."

Shiro's tone brooked no argument, and Cloud offered none, falling in line as they were led up to the bridge, the others following suit, Ranma bringing up the rear. The captain waited until all of them had entered the bridge, closing the door behind them. "Captain-" Cloud began, but was cut off.

"I'm sure you have your reasons," Shiro interrupted, waving a hand dismissively, "for crossing between the continents without using official means. But with what's going on aboard right now, you're in a difficult position. So I need you to tell me, right now, that you're not the cause of my missing men," he finished, reaching for the sword at his side.

Ranma watched as the blade was drawn from the scabbard. It looked like someone had taken a jian and a katana and mated them to each other; the blade straight but single-edged and ending in a triangular point that faded into the thicker spine. His momentary confusion was broken when the blade ended up pointing straight at him. "Wait, wait!" he cried out, not wanting to start a fight in such a limited space. Regardless of his confidence, he could tell that it would get ugly fast, and he had no way to ensure everyone's safety if the situation devolved. "I swear, we had nothing to do with it! We're going after this guy named Sephiroth, and we-"

Shiro moved deceptively fast for a man his age and size. The tip of the blade pressed against Ranma's neck, pinning him to the navigation console with no room to maneuver. The others circled around, but it was obvious there was no way to intercede without risking his life. "Sephiroth… is dead," Shiro declared forcefully. "Five years now. You all came aboard my ship chasing a ghost?"

Cloud took a tentative step forward. "He's alive, captain," he said calmly. "I was there. And if I'm right, Sephiroth is here, now, on this ship."

Shiro froze at those words, his sword's tip still pressed to Ranma's neck, but it seemed as if the rest of him faded away from the intent. After a long moment, the tension unwound itself, and Shiro pulled the blade free from the martial artist, holding it at his own side before turning to face Cloud. "You've got two minutes. Explain."

Ranma reached for his neck reflexively, feeling the divot where the tip of the blade had pressed against his skin. "Jeez, old man, was that really necessary?" he muttered half-heartedly.

Cloud ignored him. "A week ago, most of us were imprisoned in Shinra Tower. We managed to escape, but in the process we came across the corpse of the former President. A two-meter-long curved blade was sticking out of his back. Officially, it looks like Rufus has us pegged as the assassins in the news reports, but we're pretty sure he knows who is really behind it as well." The blonde paused for a moment to let that sink in. "We've got our own reasons to chase Sephiroth, but they're way too much to go into right now. We're not fans of Shinra either, but if none of this had happened, we'd have just ducked out quietly when we got across to Costa. We don't want to start anything anywhere that's going to get civilians involved, and we don't want to drag your ship or your men into our fight. That…" he trailed off for a moment, taking a breath, "that's really all that I have that matters right now."

Shiro stared at the man in contemplative silence. "You think," he began after a long moment, "that Sephiroth is on my ship, killing my men?" Cloud nodded in response. Shiro sheathed his sword, and gestured broadly around the room. "Then you all are coming with me to help search the ship. Don't fall behind."

Barret took a step forward. "You mind if we get changed first?" he asked.

Shiro looked the larger man over. "Very well," he relented. "You'll probably all want to keep the jackets, it's damn cold out here this morning. Through there," he gestured to a door to one side of the bridge, "is a pair of rooms you can use to prepare yourself. No weapons, though, not until I say so. Meet back here in five minutes."

"Thank you, captain," Cloud responded, and they turned to go.

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5:59 AM

"Isshin," Shiro called to his first mate as he descended from the bridge, flanked by Ranma and the others. "How many have you sent below?"

Isshin turned and saluted the captain. "Six teams, five men each."

"Don't send anyone else below," Shiro ordered. "We may have a name for our intruder, I'm going down there with this rabble to confirm." He leaned in close and whispered something to Isshin, who paled visibly even in the freezing air. "Keep it under your hat. Keep them busy up here, and make ready the lifeboats. If we can't restart the engine, we may be forced to abandon ship."

Isshin nodded, and Shiro led them to the stairwell leading below deck. Barret stepped forward and approached the captain as they reached the top step. "What did you say that freaked that guy out so bad?"

"He said 'Demon of Wutai'," Yuffie answered before Shiro could respond. "It's our name for Sephiroth."

Cloud nodded his understanding. "He was responsible for… a lot… during the war."

"The hero to one side," Red commented sagely, "is the hated enemy of the other."

Shiro shook his head. "Out of all of you, this fleabag getting past Shinra's watch, in their own uniform, no less, is what bothers me most."

Red let out a huff of disappointment. "I do not have fleas," he replied in a tone of indignation, "and I cannot help it if their standards are lax."

Ranma chuckled. "You mean like them not guarding the fire escape?" he added. That got a laugh out of most of the others as they reached the bottom of the stairwell.

The silence of the engine was only enhanced by the further quiet of no other noises. There were no footsteps, no sounds of moving crates, nothing that indicated anyone else was below deck at all. "This feels… wrong," Aerith observed, as they rounded the first stack of crates. "Where is everyone?"

The cargo area was abandoned, except for a lone dark-skinned sailor sitting on the deck, his uniform covered in blood and three deep slashes across his torso. As the party rushed down the stairs, he looked up at the seven of them, his eyes slightly distant. Cloud stepped forward. "Did you see?" he asked. "Did you see who attacked you?"

The sailor nodded weakly. "...not… human…" he whispered, before going slack. Cloud reached forward and held his fingers against the man's throat for a moment, but felt nothing. He shook his head, and reached up to the sailor's face, pulling his eyes shut.

Shiro looked the sailor over. "Owen…" he muttered. "I'm sorry, old friend."

Tifa gave Cloud a questioning glance. "If it is Sephiroth, how the hell did he get aboard without anyone noticing?" she asked. Cloud gestured to the others with one hand, raising an eyebrow, but said nothing else in response. "Yeah, yeah," Tifa acknowledged with a roll of her eyes. "But like the captain said earlier, there's not that many places to hide on this boat, and with us all split up at different points, you'd think we'd have spotted him at some point."

Cloud reached over his shoulder, only to remember his sword was safely tucked away in… wherever it was that Ranma hid things. "Captain, under the circumstances, requesting permission to arm ourselves." Shiro hesitated for only a second, then nodded his assent. "Everyone, circle up. Ranma, weapons?"

Ranma nodded, and moved his hands past each other in a familiar pattern. A moment later, the Buster Sword appeared in his hands, lifted with some effort, and passed over to Cloud. Barret reached for the bandaged 'stump' at the end of his right arm, pulling the wrappings and padding free to reveal his gun-arm. Shiro's eyes widened, but made no comment. Ranma's hands passed by each other again, and Aerith's staff and Yuffie's shuriken materialized before being handed to their respective owners.

Yuffie blinked once as she watched the large objects materialize seemingly out of nowhere. "Oh, I am so gonna learn that trick," she commented with a grin.

Ranma flashed a brief smile, then turned to Cloud. "So… what's the plan, o fearless leader?" he asked, facing the former SOLDIER.

Cloud waved his free hand towards Shiro. "Depends on the captain here-"

"Hah," Shiro barked out, cutting him off. "You can stop deferring to me, sonny, I won't get in your way. You seem to have some experience of your own. I doubt you took that tunic off someone else, anyway," he continued, pointing to the SOLDIER uniform underneath the Shinra blues he was wearing.

Cloud shrugged noncommittally, before peeling the jacket free, tossing it to the floor. "Never liked that coat anyway. All right, we're going to go through and clear this ship, one room at a time if we have to. One thing before we go in there, Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever's down there, if it's Sephiroth or just some monster, I want you to remember…" Cloud's tone turned from 'commanding officer' to 'parent catching their kid in the cookie jar'. "We're all on a boat, in the middle of the cold ocean, in the winter, we're still an hour away from land at this thing's top speed, and we're not moving."

Ranma's brain briefly hiccuped at the idea of 'winter' being a season on a different planet, but refocused his attention. "...okay… why are you telling me all this?"

Cloud sighed. "Remember that trick you pulled when we were leaving Midgar?" Ranma nodded. "Don't do that, here."

Ranma paused for a moment, considering his words. Then understanding dawned. "Oh, right, yeah. That."

Yuffie glanced between the two in confusion. "The hell did you do in Midgar?"

Ranma grinned sheepishly, running one hand along the back of his neck. "I… uh… I exploded a hole through a couple meters of reinforced concrete highway and dropped a mechanized battle tank through it a hundred meters to the ground below." Yuffie and Shiro stared at him in tandem disbelief. "He's right though. I'll have to keep some of my more destructive techniques off the table as long as we're still on board."

Cloud nodded, and snapped his sword in place on his back, as the others pulled away what was left of their disguises. "Let's go."

Shiro paused for a moment as the seven stowaways lined up through the door. "What in Da-Chao's name did I let aboard this ship?" he asked regretfully to nobody in particular, before following them to the forward compartment.

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6:03 AM

"I smell blood," Red whispered as they advanced through the hallway.

Ranma nodded. "Me too."

A sharp, coppery tang filled the air, and in the flickering lights of the narrow hallway, the group saw trails of blood smeared across the walls and floors. "It's just like at… Shinra Tower," Aerith said, feeling a chill down her spine as she said it.

Cloud put his hand up to the door to the forward holds. "Barret, that four-way junction should be ahead, about five meters after the door. You and Tifa sweep right and check the bunks. Yuffie, you're following me to the left into the mess hall. The rest of you, stay here and keep your eyes peeled." He pushed the door open and waited for Barret and Tifa to step through, then went through himself.

The others followed, Yuffie two steps behind Cloud, hunched over some to make herself look smaller. Ranma turned to the younger girl. "You gonna be alright, runt?" he asked.

"What happens if I say no?" Yuffie asked, trying to hide her nervousness.

Cloud turned and looked Yuffie in the eyes. "Then Ranma and I go in, and you stay out here to keep them safe," he answered, gesturing to the others.

Yuffie wavered for a moment, but shrugged. "I guess I'll have to be okay, then," she muttered, "cuz I'm not that good at playin' guard dog."

Aerith smiled, and looked over at Ranma, who was looking a little greener than he had been after the smell of blood had been mentioned. "Are you going to be okay?"

Ranma gave a weak grin in response. "I'll manage," he replied, steeling himself as they approached the split in the hallway.

The two groups split off, leaving four standing in the hall. Shiro looked the group over. "There's more to that story the boy was telling," he commented. "A group like yours doesn't come together on a whim."

Aerith considered the statement for a moment. "We have our reasons, yes," she confirmed, holding her staff down to her side. "But it's… way too much to go into right now."

"Hmph," Shiro replied, but said nothing else.

After about a minute, Barret and Tifa returned from the right side of the junction. "Not a soul," Tifa said. "Checked every bunk, and the toilets. No bodies, either. Just… more blood."

"Mess hall's clear too," Yuffie said, Cloud returning behind her. "All that's left is what's up ahead."

"Engine room," Cloud muttered. "Barret, you and me." Barret nodded, and stepped in behind Cloud. Cloud strode forward, put his hand to the door, and pushed gently, the metal hinges squealing loudly. The two men stepped forward into the room, checking the corners, behind the door, and anywhere else. Three bodies lay about the room. One man in a heavy dark-blue naval coat stood in front of the engine, silent and still even as the group piled into the room one after the other. "Sephiroth…?" Cloud whispered. He stepped up to the figure, and pulled on his shoulder.

The man turned with the momentum of Cloud's grasp, and slumped forward, his face a mask of terror, frozen in place on a corpse. Ranma turned away, and the others squirmed in revulsion and disgust. "Not him," Cloud said, his voice a little shaky.

"Kanazaki…" Shiro whispered. "My navigator. How the hell did he get down here? He was on the bridge with us, and vanished from sight before Rufus left."

Ranma blinked. At that moment, the air in the engine room seemed to grow thicker, colder, the space pressing in on them. "Anyone else feel that?"

Aerith shuddered noticeably, her breathing shallow, eyes darting around, the anxiety clear on her face. "Feels like… if death was something… tangible…" she muttered.

Before anyone else could respond, there was a sound that appeared to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. A deep, menacing laughter, echoing strangely, filling the engine room in an odd cadence. And a voice, joining in from whatever source the laughter poured forth from.

"After a long sleep… it is time… time… to awaken…"

Each of them glanced around in every direction, looking for the source of the voice. Cloud's eyes were rooted to the spot where the crew member in the blue coat had fallen. "Show yourself, Sephiroth!"

Ranma felt a chill on his spine, and dropped into a combat stance. Aerith shivered as well, and readied her staff. The others, seeing Ranma and Aerith's reactions, lined up in suit. For several seconds there was nothing but the gradually fading echoes of laughter. Aerith spotted it first. A glow in the center of the chamber, about five meters in front of Cloud. From there, a figure slowly rose up, through the bottom of the deck, until it hovered a half meter above the surface of the deck. Slowly, the figure slid down, his feet touching the deck. Dressed almost entirely in black, from his boots to his pants to his long duster, his skin pale but healthy, his long silvery hair falling straight behind him. He opened his eyes, which glowed an intense green, with almost feline pupils.

"Sephiroth…" Cloud breathed. "You're alive."

Yuffie practically froze. Shiro reached for his sword, but hesitated, unable to bring himself to draw. Ranma watched the man carefully, every sense in his body screaming danger at him, base instincts urging him to run, flee, bow down and beg mercy. He ignored all of those, and focused his attention on the man's movements, trying to get a read on the kind of man who could phase through a steel plate in the boat's hull.

"Sephiroth?" Shiro muttered from the back, but Yuffie shushed him urgently, eager to avoid drawing the attention of the legendary swordsman.

Sephiroth glanced between the assembled party, their weapons drawn, his gaze calculating and dismissive in almost the same moment. "...who...are you?" he asked, his voice working as if he had not spoken in years.

Cloud stared at Sephiroth in disbelief. "It's me, Cloud!" he shouted. "Don't you remember me? Five years ago… the fire, in Nibelheim…"

Sephiroth's attention was not on Cloud, however. He pulled up his arms, staring at his hands. "Who... are you...?" he repeated, his eyes refocusing on Ranma.

Ranma winced as the warrior's attention fell on him., feeling a strange pressure against his mind. A feeling of unease and discomfort washed over him, as if something were breathing down his neck. "Who, me?" Ranma asked, looking puzzled. He pushed down the vague sensation of discomfort and powered through the fear with his trademark bravado. "I'll trade ya, my name for whatever you're usin' to keep your hair lookin' like that. Akane'd kill for your secret."

A few unexpected giggles slipped out behind him. Sephiroth did not react to them, his gaze continuing around the party until it fell upon Aerith. "Who are… you?" he asked a third time, though the cadence in his voice was different.

Aerith met Sephiroth's eyes, trying to keep her composure as his presence washed over her. Moments later, she began trembling in fear, staff held close to her chest. "No…" she whispered. "You can't…" she turned her head away, the staff dropping to the ground with a metallic clatter as she crouched down between the others, hands over her ears. "Stop… get out… you can't do that… I won't…"

"Hey!" Ranma shouted, moving himself between Aerith and Sephiroth. "Whatever it is you're doin', knock it off!"

Sephiroth's mouth twisted up into a cruel grin. He raised his eyes from the brunette, trembling on the floor, to sweep his gaze across the others again. "Cloud…" he whispered. "The time… has come."

Cloud blinked. "What time?" he demanded. "What are you doing, Sephiroth?"

"It is time," he repeated. Sephiroth's body began to float, and his face twisted into a cruel grin. Without warning, he flew directly at Cloud, who flinched, pulling his blade forward to guard himself. At the last moment, Sephiroth veered sharply upwards, and vanished into the darkness above them in the cabin.

"What are you-" Cloud started, turning and staring after Sephiroth into the shadows above them.

"Cloud!" Tifa screamed, pointing forward in the cabin.

The creature descended from the ceiling in what could only be described as a splashing motion, its form fluid and gloopy at first, as if a bag of bones had been filled to overflowing with raspberry jam and thrown on the engine room deck. It would have been comical if it was not obvious from the smears of blood oozing from beneath it exactly what had happened to the troopers and sailors that had gone missing.

It began to pull itself upwards from the steel plated deck, musculature being bonded to bones harvested from the bodies of over a hundred men before their very eyes. There were no legs, instead being supported by an enormous mound of flesh and cartilage that spread outward from its center. Its bluish-purple skin rippled, several toothy orifices appearing at various places around the folds at the bottom of its body. Two long arms extended out from what could generously be called its torso, terminating in a trio of razor-sharp claws, and two more appendages extended up and out from its shoulders, the tips glowing an unmistakable mako-green. A massive head formed of what appeared to be a dozen skulls fused together at terrifying angles, a cruel mockery of a rictus grin bound to its features.

The monstrosity towered above Ranma and the others, hunched over even in the high space of the engine room, its gaze sweeping slowly over each of them. He guessed that the thing might be a dozen meters tall out in the open, and its energy felt disturbing even to his unrefined senses, a rancid, chaotic swirl of chi that practically assaulted the mind. Even without looking at it, it didn't take much for him to decide that this was the source of his unease. "What the hell is it?" Ranma whispered.

"Whatever it is," Barret responded, loading a fresh belt of ammo into his gun arm, "it is one… ugly… motherfucker!"

Ranma glanced backwards for a moment. Aerith remained on the ground, eyes wide with abject terror, scooting away a little at a time, her staff forgotten on the floor. Is it Sephiroth doing that to her? Ranma wondered briefly, remembering the unpleasant sensation he himself had in the presence of the mysterious man. Or is it this… whatever-it-is? Doesn't matter, I'm not gonna let that white-haired pretty boy get away with it!

Before Ranma could act on his thoughts, Shiro shouldered his way forward into the midst of the party, holding aloft a broad-barreled pistol, aiming it straight at the creature's arm. "Out of the way, you lot! This is my ship!" the captain shouted, his other arm resting on his scabbard. "And Goddess be damned if I'm not going to fight to defend it!"

In response, the monstrosity screeched, an inhuman sound that promised nothing but pain and death. It lifted up slowly, its lower body somehow suspended on nothing but air, spinning around in a bizarre circle, its arms and body spinning like a top while its face remained unmoving, staring them all down. After three uneven rotations it stopped suddenly, pointed both arms and both tentacles straight at Shiro, and dropped to the ground with a thud. The moment spun, crystallized, and froze. And so did Shiro, the look of confusion on his face stuck as he stopped moving completely.

Ranma turned to see the captain, frozen as if petrified, not even twitching to keep his balance. "What the hell?"

Tifa turned towards Shiro as well, her eyes widened in shock. "Shit, it's got Time magic!" she shouted.

"It's got what?" Ranma called back in disbelief.

Tifa shook her head. "It's called Stop, he's frozen in time right now!"

Ranma blinked in shock. "He gonna snap out of it?" he asked.

"He'll be fine in about two minutes," Cloud interrupted, "but right now we have bigger problems."

The tentacles above the creature's shoulders twitched, and twin beams of intense green light swept across the deck just in front of the party, carving through the engineering section to one side and continuing on all the way to the wall. The heat and pressure from the mako-powered beams scored into and melted through the deck plates, leaving a mess of suddenly red-hot metal at the broken seams.

The metal hull groaned in response.

Cloud glanced down at the gap in the deck, seeing the exposed innards of the cargo ship. "...oh, hell." The hull creaked again. And a spray of water erupted from below the damaged deck. Cloud shouldered his sword, pulling Shiro's statue of a body into an awkward fireman's carry as the sea began to gush inward. "Everybody out of here, right now!"

The group started to scramble for the engine room door as the floor began to perceptibly tilt towards the bow of the ship. Ranma glanced back as he realized that Aerith was still frozen with fear, cowering near the now burnt-out engineering panel off to one side of the room, staring up at the monstrosity in the middle of the rapidly flooding vessel. "Damn it, Aerith," he muttered, "what is that thing doing to you?"

Without another word, he ran full-tilt back into the room, wading into the freezing seawater and feeling his body shift to her girl-half as she approached the other girl. Without a word, she lifted Aerith up in both arms and started back for the exit, narrowly evading the creature's razor-tipped claw as it swiped through the air at their retreating forms.

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6:11 AM

Cloud set the still-frozen form of Captain Shiro down to one side of the bulkhead, as the others began to pile through into the cargo deck. Red bounded through first, followed by Yuffie, Tifa, and Barret… and then no one else. Cloud leaned out to peer down the hallway.

Ranma ran as fast as she could, carrying Aerith in her arms through the darkened corridor, as a pair of claws stretched down the hallway towards them. "ShutitshutitshutitshutitSHUT IT NOW!" she shouted to Cloud, the panic rising in her voice as the creature's grip neared. She inhaled sharply, focusing her energy and blurring, darting through the hatchway backwards, sprawling out on the steel deckplates to cushion Aerith's unaware form as they fell. Cloud slammed the pressure door shut, locking it tight. A fraction of a second later, there was a pair of metallic thuds, the extended arms of the monster slamming into the sealed door.

"What the fuck was that?" Tifa gasped, waving one hand back at the bulkhead they'd just left from.

Cloud let out a sigh and ran one hand over his face in exasperation. "It was a trap," he said finally. "Sephiroth knew we were on board. He lured us down there with that… thing… to try to wipe us out. And… I led us right into it."

Yuffie poked the unmoving captain with an extended finger as the others talked. "Always wondered what this looked li~ai~ieee!" she squealed as Shiro suddenly sprang to life in front of her.

"The hell are you on about, girl?" Shiro began, before stopping in confusion and looking around, still clutching at the oversized pistol in his hand. "How did we get here? What's going on?"

Cloud stepped forward. "The monster on the ship has Time magic. It Stopped you, then put a hole in the hull of the ship," he explained, his words quick and concise. "The ship is taking on water. We have to evacuate."

Shiro remained still for just long enough to process the information he'd been given, accepted it with a solemn incline of his head, and reached for an emergency speaker built into the bulkhead. "Attention all hands, this is the captain," his voice echoed around them from every speaker on the ship. "We're taking on water. Abandon ship. Repeat, all hands, abandon ship. This is not a drill!" He turned and faced the others, gesturing for them to follow. "That means you too, come on!"

All eight of them ran back to the main deck as the vessel began to tilt forward, the weight of the water beginning to pull the ship down. Shiro continued past as the lifeboats were prepared. "Where the hell are you goin'?" Barret shouted after him.

"I'll catch up," he called back. "One final duty to perform!"

"...final duty?" Ranma wondered aloud.

Isshin, the first mate, stepped forward. "He's sending a distress signal to other ships," he said, before gesturing to the lifeboat. "Get aboard, he'll be back."

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6:14 AM

"This is the last broadcast of the Grace of Ifrit," Shiro spoke into the radio. "Our engine has been sabotaged, and we're taking on water. The saboteur was none other than Sephiroth, who unleashed some kind of monster aboard my ship. I was aided by a group of seven stowaways, who managed to help fend it off long enough for what was left of my crew to get to our lifeboats.

"If anyone finds any survivors, check all of them before letting anyone on board," he continued. "Sephiroth escaped somehow and may still be out there. Captain Sonozaki Shiro, signing off."

Shiro reached for a red orb secured to the bridge console, snapping it free with a grunt of effort, and placed it in his pocket before leaving to join his crew.

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6:17 AM

The crew had wasted no time, bringing a dozen boats to ready in less than ten minutes, and managed to get everyone safely aboard the lifeboats. Each boat managed to carry ten men, their outboard motors struggling under the weight, but still able to keep up.

The first explosion from the sinking ship's overheated engine sounded two minutes after the last boat entered the water. The ship began sinking much faster after that, and was completely submerged a few short minutes later. By that time, the lifeboats were all pointed for shore. The captain, his first mate, and the seven stowaways sat in silent contemplation for the remainder of the now-doomed voyage.

Nobody was around to witness the dark shape emerge from the shadow of the vessel. It circled the sinking wreckage once, then turned west.

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7:09 AM

The lifeboat had been pulled ashore, Yuffie hanging her head over the side as she slowly recovered from the rough waters leading to the beach a few kilometers south of Costa Del Sol. The air was already considerably warmer now that they had made it to land, despite sunrise still being a half hour away, and the nine members of the lifeboat slowly clambered out onto the sandy cove. The beach stretched for less than a hundred meters inland before terminating in a tall cliff, worn jagged from the ocean's gradual erosion. Despite the remote area, someone had clearly been here before, as a narrow sloping path had been hewn into the rock up to the mainland.

"So…" Shiro began calmly, meeting Ranma's eyes as she hopped ashore, a perplexed look on the captain's face. "This may be indelicate of me, but I been meaning to ask-"

Ranma rolled her eyes reflexively "Yes, I'm a girl now," she groaned, reaching a hand up to help Aerith down. "Normally I'm a boy. Ask me about it later, I'll tell you the whole thing… but I don't have it in me right now."

Shiro's expression softened some, but the look of confusion was still present. "Long story, I take it?"

Ranma sighed. "It's complicated," she admitted, as Red leaped easily down to the beach. She took a step towards Aerith and lowered her voice. "What happened back there, on the ship?" she asked. "You were actin' like you'd seen a ghost or somethin'."

Aerith shook her head. "Sephiroth… when I saw him, it was like…" she hesitated, squeezing her eyes shut against the memory. "It was like he was reaching inside me, like he was trying to take something from me… and then… when…" she trailed off.

"It's okay," Ranma whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He can't hurt you now. And if I have anything to say about it, he won't hurt you again, either."

Aerith shook her head frantically. "No, you don't understand, Sephiroth wasn't the one doing that. It was Jenova!" she hissed the name.

Ranma remembered back to the tower. "That thing that Sephiroth broke out last week?"

"I could hear its name," Aerith continued, not reacting to Ranma's question, "I could hear it speaking to me… and it was… it knew me." Her gaze grew distant and glassy, staring at something only she could see. She reached out and clutched at Ranma's arm, holding tightly to it as if it were the only thing keeping her in place. "It knew my mother… It knew my ancestors… It showed me how they died… a calamity… from the skies…"

Ranma did not move to break her grip, listening to Aerith's story. "Like… a meteor or somethin'?" Aerith flinched at the word, but didn't respond. Ranma wrapped her free arm around the older girl. "Listen, Aerith, I don't know what happened back there… I'm bad at this. Usually I punch problems until they stop bein' problems. But that monster… Jenova… whatever the hell it is, it sank, and it drowned. You're safe, I promise."

"Safe…?" Aerith turned suddenly, her eyes wide, staring out to sea. "No…" she said abruptly.

Ranma glanced around for a moment, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. She turned back to her student. "Aerith?" she prompted, seeing the look of fear etched into her face.

"It's coming…" she whimpered, dropping down to one knee, hands clutching at her head. Her voice gradually rose as she continued, "It's coming… it's still hungry… wants more… it'll never stop eating…"

"Oh, goddess, what's she talkin' about?" Yuffie asked in a woozy tone as she finally crawled out of the lifeboat.

Ranma felt the girl's panic rising, and a familiar tendril of fear at the base of her own mind. She turned her gaze out to the ocean and stared. It was choppy, uneven, and still dark. It looked pretty much the same as it had the entire- Wait, she stopped herself, focusing her gaze. Something out beyond the rocks looked like a band of shallow water… or a swell of water, as if the tide itself was being pushed aside in two directions. And it was headed straight for the very beach they were all standing on.

"Oh hell," she muttered, before turning and raising her voice. "Guys, we got company!"

The others turned to face the ocean as the swelling water rose and advanced towards them. "It can't be…" Shiro stared, disbelieving, as something began to emerge from the water.

"Shit, it's that freaky thing from the boat!" Barret shouted.

The monstrous form of Jenova broke the surface of the sea, the same morbid grin set into the space between several bare human skulls pressed into its face, as its body began to shift and stretch. A half dozen new arms joined the ones from before, skittering and clawing at the beach, pulling its heavy form along and leaving a massive groove in the packed sand. As it advanced onto dry land, they saw a mouth that had trapped what appeared to be an enormous shark, tail first, in its grip. Now freed from the water, the shark's thrashing became ineffectual as Jenova began to gnaw and consume the beast before their very eyes.

They all backed away slowly, save for Aerith, who remained immobile on the ground behind them, hands clutching at her head. The creature turned its mass towards them, with what could only be described as a look of menace across its face. In moments, a new maw appeared across its midsection, formed from row after row of serrated, razor-sharp shark teeth. Cloud drew his sword in response. Ignoring the reaction, Jenova turned its gaze along the shore to the north, pausing as if to sniff the air.

Ranma had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Is that way…" she trailed off, the words dying in her throat.

"Aye," Shiro responded in a heavy tone, "Costa Del Sol." The Jenova spawn clawed its way along the beach, oozing ichor with each motion, but managed to park its mass in front of the footpath off the shore, blocking the path ahead completely as its limbs scrabbled for purchase amongst the craggy cliff. "Well, shit, there goes our only way off the beach."

Ranma looked up at the creature, the sight of it sending unwelcome images of being eaten alive into the back of her brain. She squashed them down and focused herself. "Got any ideas, o fearless leader?" she asked as the monster began to pull itself amongst the craggy cliffside.

Cloud shook his head. "I'm open to suggestions."

Ranma stared up at it, running through her options, shuddering in revulsion at the idea of being absorbed by the creature in front of them. Looks like I'll have to try that. "I think I can take it down," she said out loud. "But I need fire. Lots of fire.

Tifa blanched visibly. "Ranma, you crazy son of a bitch, we are not setting you on fire again!"

Yuffie blinked twice in shock and turned to face Tifa. "Wait, you what-"

"No time!" Ranma interrupted with a shout. "Tifa, not me, the monster! It needs to get real damn hot, right now, for this to work!"

Tifa hesitated for a moment, turning to Cloud for guidance. Cloud remained where he was, staring at Ranma. "This is a bad idea, Ranma."

"No, it's not," Ranma countered, meeting Cloud's eyes. "This is the best option we have right now. You saw what it did ta that big fish... gettin' close enough to punch it or cut it ain't an option, it could eat us whole. If we make a run for it, then nothin's stopping it from climbin' up the cliff an' eating that whole town we were headed to… and it'll probably get bigger an' stronger by doing it, so we can't risk drawin' this out. An' there's no way we can let it back into the water, no tellin' what kinda damage it'd do or where it'd show up. It's still risky to fight it at all, but if Aerith's right, we can't let that thing get off the beach, no matter what." She turned to face the towering form of Jenova. "I need ya to buy me some time. Everyone who's got it, I need them to throw the strongest fire magic at it and around it, surround it with fire, don't give it anywhere to hide or run to. Cloud, I need you and Barret to play defense, keep its attention focused on you, and make sure the others stay safe. I've got something that oughta take it out right here, but I'm gonna need your help… everyone's help… to pull it off."

Cloud ran that through his head, weighing it against the other options. A battle of attrition had seemed the best alternative to him, but Ranma's rapid analysis of the situation had given him pause. If the pressure waned for any length of time, it was very likely that they'd be overrun entirely, and a group this small didn't have the resources for a protracted fight against something this dangerous. On the other hand… "What happens if it doesn't work?" he asked.

Ranma snorted, her eyes remaining fixed on the obstacle before them. "If it doesn't work, you're gonna have to save me too, cuz I probably won't be able to move afterwards…" she let out a nervous laugh. "Bein' honest here, if this doesn't work, we're all probably monster chow anyway. So it's better if we don't hold anything back, and give it our best shot, ain't it?"

Cloud nodded, allowing himself a moment to admire the fighter's resolve, before retreating to the others. "All right, you heard her, let's light that thing up! Surround it with fire, and keep it from getting away!"

There was no need to say it twice. Tifa, Red, and Yuffie lined up well back from the monstrosity, focusing on their materia. Barret strode out to the front alongside Cloud, hurling a grenade at the Jenova spawn's torso as Ranma stepped into her position in the front line. The monstrous flesh opened up and snatched the explosive out of the air, and it disappeared somewhere inside the body of the beast. As a volley of Fire spells sailed overhead and towards the bloated form, the grenade exploded, rupturing the flesh from within with a gruesome splash.

The creature howled, an unearthly sound of pain and hatred that washed over the shore, as flames descended around it and onto it, searing the skin and cutting off its escape from the beach. Jenova turned and raked its claws outward, aiming for anything in range. Ranma unleashed an explosive Beta blast directly in the path of its limbs, igniting the patchy grass at the upper reach of the shore and engulfing more of the fleshy monstrosity in flame. The sand itself began to catch fire, the magically-produced flames refusing to be extinguished simply for a lack of combustible material.

The Jenova creature lashed out again, a thick, bulbous tentacle stretching out over the wall of fire that impeded its movement, swinging hard in the direction of Tifa. Barret stepped into the path of the blow, taking the attack in her place, sending him skidding upright with the force of the blow as the arm followed through.

Before the limb could pull away for another strike, Barret grabbed the appendage with his free hand, turning his gun-arm towards the nearest point just past his reach, and unloading a torrent of machine-gun fire into the bloated flesh. The tentacle snapped up sharply in pain, retracting before a trio of similar appendages slammed down towards Barret. Cloud darted forward, intercepting the strike with a spinning slash that severed two of the arms immediately, the blade sinking deep into the third.

Another scream of agony erupted from Jenova, and a new wave of tentacles emerged, over a dozen at different heights and speeds, determined to put an end to the threats that continued to engulf it in fire. Barret and Cloud braced hard and took the strikes as best they could, but the repeated impacts proved too much for them and sent them sprawling into the sand. Tifa set off a dense pillar of Fira in response, the column of flame intercepting the frenzied attack.

The hiss of seared skin joined the monstrous howls as Jenova retracted its limbs. As Barret and Cloud regained their feet, two more fleshy projections sprouted from what could generously be referred to as the monster's neck, shorter and stumpy, ending at a sharp, bony point on each. The tips of the limbs seemed to take aim, and without warning a pair of bright blue beams emitted from the tip, focused in on Cloud from both directions. Cloud managed to raise the Buster Sword to intercept the beams, the metal glowing faintly at the point of collision. The tips adjusted slightly, and another set of beams converged into the space where Barret had just been, as he dove out of the way, continuing to fire as he righted himself. Then the appendages turned to take aim again, past their rear line, at the defenseless, cowering form of Aerith.

"Aerith!" Cloud shouted out, waving his arm for her to get to cover. But there was no response, no hint that she understood what was happening.

Ranma swore under her breath, and blurred. Sand splashing in the wake of her accelerated movements, she ran past the others and scooped up Aerith, just as another pair of lasers fired. The beams struck where the two girls had been only an instant before, the sand crystallizing into glass where the attack struck.

Ranma carried the brunette to a small outcropping of the cliff, setting her down gently against the rocks. Aerith whimpered and covered her head with her hands again. "...not right… it's… I can't… ravenous… shouldn't… falling…" she sobbed incoherently over the sounds of battle beyond.

Ranma stared at her, the faraway look in her eyes, the fear and concern on her face, and felt a moment of uncertainty wander through her mind. "I'm sorry," she whispered, turning her gaze back to the ravenous monster. "I don't know how else to help you right now-"

As she began to move, Aerith's hand shot out like a snake and grabbed Ranma's wrist. Ranma gasped in surprise at the speed in her movements, beginning to pull away reflexively, but hesitated when she saw the look on Aerith's face. The thousand-meter stare had been replaced by a look of concentrated effort, as if the woman was reaching out from a great distance. "Help… me…" she groaned out, the exertion plain in her face. "I… stop… Jenova…"

Ranma nodded, meeting Aerith's eyes. "I don't know what that thing's done to you, Aerith," she said softly, putting her free hand over hers reassuringly as her tone darkened, "but I promise, I'm going to put an end to it."

Aerith shuddered in response, but her grip lessened, her arm falling slack to her side as she curled up in the alcove in the cliff. Ranma strode out from the alcove, walking forward through the rear line, hurling another Beta at the creature's base as she advanced. The explosive blast caused Barret and Cloud to retreat further, joining up with the rear line as Ranma stepped forward. The redhead reached down to her materia bangle and plucked free a single green orb, wrapping her fist around it tightly as she let the bangle fall loose from her wrist, plopping into the sand unheeded. Seeing the look on Ranma's face as she passed, Cloud began to wave the others back, realizing that she was ready to unleash whatever secret technique she had planned out for this moment.

Ranma gripped the Ice materia firmly, certain that she had no others on her before beginning. She began to shape and pour her mana into the spell, and directed it at herself. She felt the impact, the sudden sharp frost and the almost physical blow it dealt to her body. Need to focus, Ranma thought. Need the cold, not the pain. She shrugged it off, keeping her feet, and repeated the casting, aiming it in her mind's eye more precisely. The chill air wrapped around her right arm, and the impact of the spell felt reduced, as if it had been two components which were separated out from each other by a sieve. She fired off a third Blizzard, which slid over her arm effortlessly, the physical component removed almost completely. Better, she mused, looking up at the abomination in front of her. But I need more for this… lots more.

As she let the frost build up over her right arm, she began turning her attention to her own battle aura, willing it to cool, letting her emotions fall away from her. Not lettin' you hurt anyone or anythin' else. You hurt Aerith, you tried to hurt my friends, and you've already ended over a hundred lives today. No more. You get no mercy from me, she thought, before letting her righteous fury slide away as well. She clutched the green orb in her hand, focusing the Blizzard spell as tightly as she could on herself, feeling the icy chill as the castings washed over her again, and again, each one pushing slightly against her with the reduced impacts, but also enveloping her hand and arm in another thin layer of ice. The air around her began to steam visibly in the pre-dawn light, the humid air crystallizing around her as she continued to envelop herself in the materia-enchanced Soul of Ice.

"What is she doing?" Tifa asked, dumbfounded, as the temperature around them continued to fall.

Red shook his head, equally confused. "How is she doing it?"

Cloud's eyes flicked briefly back and forth between Ranma and the creature blocking their path. The rapidly plummeting temperature, the orb of materia clenched in her right hand, ice forming around the redhead's hand and wrist, creeping up her arm, and the distant, calculating look in her eyes told him something was about to happen. And then it clicked.

He said, back on his world, that he used his most powerful technique on someone… and it cut them in half… oh shit. "Everyone, get clear, right now!" he shouted, waving them back. "Keep up the heat, but stay back and get to cover if you can!"

The others retreated, keeping several meters between themselves and Ranma, slipping into the weathered holes and outcroppings in the cliff. Ranma remained motionless, eyes alert, body poised and ready to strike.

"...hell is that girl waitin' on?" Barret asked, peeking out from behind the rocky cover. Cloud waved him off.

The spawn of Jenova began to lift up from the ground, spinning in place as it prepared to cast Stop again. As it spun, the flames that clung to the ground danced and twisted around, forming a current of heated air following the direction of the spin.

Gotcha. Ranma twisted her torso around, spinning on the balls of her feet as her ice-covered arm swung down, forward, and up, her whole body moving in the corkscrew motion, determined to give it every extra bit she could. Her mouth opened, shouting out the words as the uppercut found Jenova's twisted, blackened energy, swirling in a chaotic spiral surrounded by the heat of the fire magic that had bombarded it, and collided with the arctic rush of Ranma's own calm, focused battle aura.

"Hiryū Shōten Ha!"

The party watched, disbelieving, as the currents of air spun around Ranma, focused into a freezing whirlwind at the tip of her outstretched fist, drilling into the monstrosity that had followed them ashore. The creature screamed in agony, the arctic current barreling into the center of its warped body. As the frozen tornado erupted fully from Ranma's outstretched fist, the spiralling winds and shards of ice began to tear at Jenova's flesh and dig into the bone.

Mere seconds passed before the winds intensified, boring a hole straight through the creature's torso, the vortex of air drilling up and through the wound before the hole began to ice over completely. The deadly frost spread rapidly through and over its entire body in moments, as the chill winds pulled at the others assembled on the shore. Ranma remained resolute, holding nothing back, focusing her mana through the materia orb clutched in her hand even as she pulled at every last reserve of her chi to power the icy whirlwind.

After what felt like ages, the winds slowly faded, and several of the others stood up from their cover to witness what had taken place. The air continued to steam as the built-up ice on Ranma's raised arm began to shatter and calve away into the sand. And in front of her stood the corpse of the Jenova creature, entombed in ice. Ranma took a staggering step forward, her chi almost completely drained, as the Blizzard materia fell away from her numb fingers into the sand at her feet. She hesitated for a moment, staring up at the monstrous entity before bringing both hands forward in a focused double-palm strike.

Or tried to. Her legs gave out midway through the motion and she fell backwards into the sand. "Frrgrrrjggrr…" she muttered in wordless frustration, struggling to raise her limbs off of the sand. She managed to find enough strength to lift her head and turn to the others, calling out, "Okay, I think it's dead now…"

Cloud gave a nod of his head in response, and turned to Barret. "Do us all a favor, Barret, and fill that thing with holes," he said solemnly.

Barret grinned, lowering his shades into place. "With pleasure," he growled out, flicking a switch on his gun-arm and leveling it at the frozen form of the Jenova spawn. With a sound like a thousand angry hornets swarming over the frozen shore, Barret's weapon unleashed a torrent of rapid automatic fire, the barrels visibly glowing after only seconds of sustained high-speed assault. The sound of gunfire tore across the beach, round after round piercing the macabre statue. The smooth surface of the ice became pitted and cracked, spiderweb fractures spreading outward from the upper and lower body, before the entire thing shattered into countless miniscule fragments. The ice particles dissipated almost immediately, the entire abomination vanishing with it. In mere seconds, the Jenova spawn was gone, with scarcely a sign it had ever been there.

Shiro stood up from behind the large rock he had taken cover behind, staring in shock as the monster dissolved into nothingness. "Da-chao no burasagatta in'nō, what the hell are you people?"

Yuffie gave the captain a reassuring smile, and gestured to the others. "Senchō, korera wa anata no inochi o sukutta bakari no hitobito desu," she offered quietly in response.

Shiro rounded on the ninja, who reflexively took a step backward. "I can see that, girl," he responded angrily, "my eyes work fine enough. But who-"

A large, dark-skinned hand lowered companionably onto Shiro's shoulder. Shiro turned and came face to face with Barret. His protective eyewear tucked back into his pocket, which left Shiro under the full force of the man's unflinching gaze. "Captain, I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to introduce myself properly before comin' aboard," he began in a mock-serious tone, giving a somewhat mischievous grin. "I'm Barret Wallace, and I'm the leader of AVALANCHE. I think… maybe you an' I oughta talk."

---

In the original game, the party stows away on a Shinra military vessel of some kind. The cargo vessel Shiro captains… or captained… is a civilian model, and is more akin to the kind you see carrying big train-car-sized steel crates in the real world; this one is smaller, but of a similar build. If you live anywhere in the Great Lakes area of the United States, or you've heard the song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I'm portraying a vessel like that one. In the real world, the top speed of these vessels is usually in the range of 30-40 km/h, depending on a number of factors.

Because everything else on Gaia does too, this ship runs on an enormous mako battery, providing power to a massive boiler that in turn drives the engines. I did a bit of research on this one, because the whole thing of ships immediately exploding the minute the engine room takes on water always felt very Hollywood to me. But turns out there's some truth in television there; a 'boiling-liquid expanding vapor explosion,' which is abbreviated to BLEVE, can occur if a pressurised container housing liquid that is being kept above its boiling point ruptures suddenly. This can happen for a number of reasons, but an excessively hot, pressurized metal container coming into contact with ice cold seawater is one possible trigger.

The helicopter used by Shinra in daily operation isn't really well shown, but owing to quite a few design similarities from the (extremely polygonal) model depicted in the original game, I've decided to base it on a Bell 47, a type of chopper made famous to most people in its depictions in the TV show MASH.

The Jenova spawn here is not exactly the same creature as Jenova:Birth. Circumstances have changed. Jenova:Ardenter, as I nicknamed it in my head when I was writing it, is a Jenova spawn gorged to the point of gluttony on human biomass. J:B did not have a ship overloaded with humans to consume in the original. This one has managed to go through about a hundred Shinra troopers and a couple dozen sailors in a single night, and has converted most of their… uh… parts, shall we say, into excess structure for itself. It is slower by far than the original, but it is always ready to eat. Visually, I was aiming for something that looked like the unholy combination of the original Jenova creatures with a broodmother from Dragon Age. My beta reader's reaction to the description seems to indicate I'd managed it.

Language lessons...

Da-Chao no burasagatta in'nō - Wutaian. I'll let y'all figure out for yourselves exactly what this translates as. It's based on an old sailoring swear a friend of mine used to use.
'Senchō, korera wa anata no inochi o sukutta bakari no hitobito desu' is a much more straightforward sentence, and basically translates as 'These people just saved your life, captain.'

Ranma's Techniques…

Hiryū Shōten Ha - Heavenly Dragon's Ascension Wave, or several similar translations. The most powerful single technique to be adapted into the Saotome School of Indiscriminate Grappling's repertoire. The technique is highly conditional, but incredibly powerful. At its most basic level, the technique requires three things: the user must remain emotionally calm and focused; an emotional or temperature differential between the opposing forces must be established; and the victim must be led through or tricked into a spiral motion of some kind. Whether it hits or misses, it's pretty much guaranteed to take the user out of the fight, as it consumes an enormous reserve of chi. Ranma's variant here was powered by both his voided emotion versus the chaotic spiral of death represented by Jenova, but also between the enforced temperature difference between his casting Blizzard on herself versus the repeated fire-elemental strikes on Jenova leading up to it. The end result is not quite as strong as the Gekkaja-enhanced version against Saffron, but it's certainly not holding anything back either.

As to how Ranma was casting Blizzard on herself, repeatedly, without outright killing herself? We'll get to that. But this chapter comes to a close now. Thank all of you for sticking with me so far, and for riding on this train as we go. Hope you all liked it! Feedback and comments welcome!