Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > General > Writer's Corner > [s]Final Fantasy VII: Blood of the Living

[eiko guy]

I missed the installment vefore this one. SO now I am caught up. Gaah I am obsessed with your story....and jealous.

[James Leopold]

I want to have Tylas' babies!

This story is great. I especially loved the bit with the hybrid bitchslap. OMGSH to quote Eiko Guy, If you don't continue this story I might die.
You've even got traditional FF characters! The serious leader, the guy who everyone loves, the annoying one, the black mage, the white mage, the freak and the pilot.

This is a very well thought out piece of writing and you should be pleased with yourself. I've probably spent the last two hours reading the recent chapters!

Yesh, please continue.

[Dragon Mage]

OMG, thank you!! This means a lot to me!!! There aren't enough smilies to show how happy I am!!!! :biggri: Thank you!!! *squee* FYI, chapter 12 is already underway! I'll try and get it done before schools starts for you all!

[Dragon Mage]

Well, I managed to get this chapter done before school started! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I've already begun the 13th chapter. Enjoy and comment!! (I love it, as you well know. This is the only website where anyone has said anything and I'm posting it on 4 forums!)

Chapter 12—Angel of Death

Eventually, Tylas stood, gently disengaging his sisters’ arms. He was more than a little self-conscious with the entire group watching at such an emotional moment. In an attempt to save face, he began the introductions. “Everyone these are my sisters, Sarah, Alexis, and Whitney.” He laid a hand on each one as he said their names, as if this would help them distinguish one from the other, despite being their being identical.

The girls still clung to Tylas, gazing shyly at the odd group before them. Melody, in an attempt to break the ice, bent over with her hands on her knees and gave one girl a friendly smile. “Hello, my name is Melody!”

In response, the girl buried her face into Tylas’ side, hiding her face from view. This adorable action gave rise to some good-natured laughter from the group.

“Oh dear. I’m afraid I’m not to good at introductions,” Melody said as she straightened.

“No, she just gets a little shy around strangers sometimes,” Tylas told her. He tried to coax the girl, Sarah, to look up so he could introduce her but she stubbornly refused. He gave up on her, and turned towards another, who was latched onto his other hip.

During the course of the introductions, the shy one, Sarah, had eventually revealed her face again, her curiosity more powerful than her shyness. When all names had been told, there was an awkward silence, which Avona broke.

“Well, are you hungry?” Avona asked the girls. The three nodded their head quickly. “Come here then, let’s get you something to eat.” The mage knelt on the ground, waiting for the girls to come to her. They all looked up at Tylas, who nodded, and they dashed to Avona, eager for something to stop the growling in their tummies.

“Now watch closely,” Avona said, holding up her hands, fingers spread, to show she wasn’t hiding anything. Then, reaching over to one girl, she appeared to pull a bread roll from the girls’ ear. The three gasped with delight, and Avona was immediately bombarded with questions on how she had pulled off the stunt. One girl even lifted up her sisters’ hair and looked closely at her ear.

While the white mage doled out what little was left of her meager rations to the girls, the others briefly conferred with each other. “It’ll take that Remnant some time to get things organized. Not only that, but he’ll have his hands full trying to track us down, and he knows we’ll be ready for him if tries to attack us,” Crystal told them. “ So that buys us time to get organized ourselves, make a plan to finally take him out. We can stay at my place in the meantime.”

The others nodded, agreeing. Though it was still early in the morning, and there was plenty of daylight left, weariness had spread through them caused by a bad night’s sleep and their exertions of battle. The only one that didn’t seem tired was Melody and the triplets.

“Hey, come on you three. Let’s get you something to eat,” Tylas called to his sisters. Avona had already expended the crumbs of their rations to the girls, and each girl was cheerfully gnawing on a hard bread roll. At Tylas’ words they skipped over to him. He put one on his shoulders, held the hand of another, and the third skipped ahead of them as they made their way to the airship. Tylas didn’t seem to mind the fact that his hair was being covered in breadcrumbs.

The others watched the odd group “Aren’t they just adorable?” Melody asked, coming up behind Crystal as they followed the siblings.

“Yeah. They’re gonna need some clothes though,” she replied, bringing up this new problem that she wasn’t quite sure on how to solve.

Melody simply laughed as she climbed aboard the Phoenix. “Oh, don’t you worry about that! I’ll take them to get them some clothes. And you can come along too!”

“What?!” Crystal turned her surprised look towards the blond. “Why?”

Melody giggled. “Oh, please girl! You need some new material. I mean, seriously, that outfit is so every-day. How do you expect to get any action with that kind of gear? You need something spicier.”

The swordswoman gaped at Melody, completely bowled over at this slam against her dress style. Spicier? Who was she to say that?! Where did she get off telling her she needed to change her wardrobe? What was she trying to pull? She put one hand to her shirt as if clinging to it protectively. “But I like this shirt!”

Melody snorted. “I can tell. You’ve only got about twenty of them!” Their conversation was unable to continue at this point since they all had to strap in for the flight. Melody purposely sat next to Crystal so they could talk without being heard over the roar of the engine. She leaned over and spoke softly into Crystal’s ear, “You know you’ve been gettin’ looks, don’t you?”

Crystal glanced over at her. “That so?”

“Yup!”

“So? What about it?”

Now it was Melody’s turn to gape. “Girl, you are not going to just let this opportunity slip by, are you? You gotta play with them a little, keep them on their toes!”

“Yeah, right, whatever. Looks from who, exactly?” Crystal tried to steer the conversation away from the current topic by giving herself a possible opening into something far different, if Melody didn’t ruin it.

Melody simply grinned at her. “Oh, so now your interested huh?”

Crystal merely gave her a sidelong look. “Don’t get me wrong, looks are a compliment. But if it’s from that pervert over there,” she gestured towards Jazz, “Then I know I’m in trouble. Or from Sir Grim and Dour,” this time she pointed towards Valic, “Then I know I’m really in trouble.”

Melody laughed. “Oh come on! Jazz is cute, you gotta admit, and Valic ain’t so bad… What?!”

This last part was exclaimed on the account of the look Crystal gave her. Crystal needn’t say anything, however and Melody was left scrambling for something to counter the message of the swordswoman’s gaze. “Well, what if it was Tylas giving all the looks, hm?”

Crystal blinked. She hadn’t even considered him. “Ha! I knew it!” Melody crowed in victory at Crystal’s silence. “You like him!!”

Crystal glared at her, one that meant business. Melody duly swallowed her playfulness, something that happened very rarely. Melody knew she had crossed a line, that Crystal could only take so much. “Sorry. I pushed it, I know.” There was a small pause as the two women waited for the other to speak. Suddenly, Melody looked up, her eyes flashing. “But, that won’t stop me from finding you something new to wear!”

Crystal sighed.

* * *

Jazz landed the airship in Kalm’s airfield, where they unloaded Melody’s car and Crystal’s motorcycle. The Phoenix was then moved into the hanger, in order to hide it from view. It would take a while for the Remnant to reorganized, but there was no need to take risks. This way, their location wouldn’t immediately be given away when some random hybrid passed the town and saw the very same airship that had attacked in the mountains causally parked at Kalm.

Crystal led the group to her house, where an elderly woman with gray hair greeted them. Her warm, bright eyes were full of joy and there was always a smile upon her wrinkled face. She greeted Crystal with a hug and then gave the same treatment to everyone else, just after she had learned their names. The only one she didn’t hug was Valic, who’d opened his eyes alarmingly when she came near. Instead, she settled for a handshake.

“Everyone, this is Mara, my housekeeper,” Crystal announced.

“Oh my, it is such a joy to meet all of you!” Mara exclaimed, now hugging Tylas in greeting.

“Crystal, it’s been such a long time since you’ve brought anyone over! And such a handsome young man too!” she said, this last comment directed to Tylas, whom looked at the floor and scratched the back of his head awkwardly, his face reddening in embarrassment.

“Mara, please, don’t do this again,” Crystal said.

The woman gave her an innocent look. “What? It’s good to see some of your new friends, for a change. She never brings anyone over for a visit you know, but I can’t think of why. Come, come, you all must be hungry. Let me fix you something to eat.”

Ignoring Crystal’s protests, Mara ushered the entire group into the kitchen. Jack, not about to be ignored, was jumping all over the new guests, knocking Melody clean off her feet and immediately set to licking her face. The blond sat on the floor, giggling wildly and shouting for help. Crystal pulled the dog off of her, and the triplets surrounded Jack. The shepherd was overjoyed at this much smaller company, one he didn’t have to knock over to lick, and the four were soon busy playing around the living room.

After the chaos of greetings, and whatnot, everyone eventually settled down, including the dog. Jack was at his usual position, underneath the table with his head on Crystal’s feet, and the others were seated as well. They began to catch up on things, telling Mara what was going on, since the elderly woman simply exalted in hearing their conversation while she fussed over them.

Mara saw to it they were all fed and when all explanations were told, the triplets were given a good wash. The giggling girls helped comb each other’s hair out afterwards; however, their yellow pajamas were in a sorry state.

Melody, looking upon the only attire the girls had, sighed. “Oh well. They’ll just have to wear those a little longer.” She took the girls clothes shopping in Edge, dragging a reluctant Crystal along with her.

“It’s so good to see she’s making friends again,” Mara told Tylas as he helped her clean up. The elderly woman kept the others busy with chores, save for Jazz and Moriah, who’d gone to check for damage on the airship. Despite her age, she had a charm and authority about her that was hard to resist.

“Really? Why doesn’t she bring any of her other friends over?” Tylas asked, making light conversation.

Mara sighed. “Oh I wish I knew. Truth to tell you, I don’t think she has any friends. It’s such a shame really.” She swept the usual floor debris into the dustpan and dumped it into the trash. “She’s such a nice girl and I think she gets lonely. Mind you, I don’t think she even knows she’s lonely. She just sits around some days, staring into the distance as if she forgot something. Poor dear doesn’t even notice I’m watching her.” At this point Mara sighed, and began unloading the dishwasher, Tylas putting the things away that were stored high in the cupboards above that Mara couldn’t reach.

“I care for her as if she were my own, and I certainly don’t want to see any harm come to her. She can win any battle but she’d fall easily when comes to other people,” Mara continued. “It’s a relief to see her bring so many charming young people to her home. I’ve never seen so many people in this house before.”

Tylas glanced over at the couch were Valic was reclining, nose buried in his spellbook. Charming; yeah, right. He let the old woman ramble on about Crystal and her lifestyle, taking in this information about the enigmatic woman he had come to regard as one of his closest friends.

The sunlight was turning golden and the shadows growing long when Melody and Crystal returned with Tylas’ sisters. The triplets came bouncing up to greet their brother, all wearing outfit’s of the most vivid red. He laughed when they jumped on him, almost knocking him over.

After saying hello, they were distracted by Jack, and gleefully went to play with the big dog, brandishing toys they had ‘gotten’ for him. Tylas turned towards the approaching Melody, whom had numerous bags draped over her arms. “They insisted on getting red, you know that?” she said. “Seriously, you’re a bad influence on those girls. No fashion sense whatsoever!”

“What? It’s not my fault! Blame tradition,” he defended. Melody stuck her tongue out at him and held out one arm weighed down with bags. “Well, you can make up for it by helping to bring in some things.”

He duly relived her of a few bags, while Jazz, who’d returned hours earlier, was being pried out of the house by Melody. Just then he saw Crystal walking up the driveway.

She had gotten a whole new outfit. While she had kept the black pants her usual, sleeveless shirt had been abandoned in favor of a black leather vest. The vest only came down to her midriff, leaving her abdomen exposed, had it not been for another sleeveless, purple shirt underneath that came a few inches short of the waistline. As it was, a tantalizing inch or two of skin was well visible. A purple belt of some kind of silky, woven material had been added, and fell well past her knee on her left leg, adding more color to her attire. The new outfit showed off her shapely figure nicely and she seemed unaware of the new affect the outfit had.

“Damn! Man, she is [i]hot[i]!!!” Jazz said, coming up behind Tylas. Tylas quickly looked away, and focused on handing the pilot some bags. He had been thinking the same thing. “Jazz, just drop it,” he muttered.

“What?! Drop it? Waddya mean? Man, that is one hot chick right there!” Jazz said, toning his voice down as Crystal came near.

Tylas turned away from the sight of the swordswoman approaching in the golden sunlight and shut the car door. “I’m telling you man, she ain’t interested. You’re just gonna get hurt.” Tylas meant ‘hurt’ in the physical meaning, but Jazz clearly thought he was referring to a different usage of the term.

“Ha! Yeah right. She’ll fall for me, just you wait and see. No woman can resist me,” Jazz scoffed.

Tylas simply shrugged and handed Jazz a few bags as he walked by the pilot. He quickly made his way into the house, not wanting to witness the demise of the pilot in the driveway. Inside he was instructed to put the bags down on the couch so that the girls’ new wardrobe could be properly gone over by Avona and Mara. Women; he’d never understand their obsession with clothes.

Just then Melody squealed and dashed over to the door, dragging Crystal over to the center of the living room. The swordswoman, taken by surprise, was easily dragged across the room by the blond. “Okay, now what do you think?” Melody asked the other women excitedly.

“Oh, very nice, something new for a change,” Mara said. Avona nodded in agreement. “What kind of belt is that?” the mage asked. Melody grinned at her. “It’s actually a scarf, but you can get away with anything these days!”

Melody twirled one finger in the air in front of Crystal, indicating for her to spin around. Crystal simply glared at Melody and crossed her arms. “This is stupid,” she said, voicing Tylas’ earlier thoughts.

“Oh come on, just spin around; let them see. Come on!!” Melody nagged, her grin never fading.

With a great sigh of tried patience, Crystal did as she was asked, dropping her arms and quickly spun around. As she completed her turn, Jazz came up to her and grabbed her around the waist, pinning her hands against his chest. In one smooth movement, he had turned her spin into a rather suggestive dance position. He gave her his most charming smile while Melody whistled and the triplets laughed.

The two continued to slow dance around the room, though it was clear that Crystal would have preferred a much different kind of ‘slow dancing’. One that was not so peaceful. “You’re very beautiful,” Jazz said softly, gazing into her eyes. She didn’t respond. If anything, her eyes narrowed. He took her silence to mean that she wasn’t upset. In reality, so many insults had risen to her tongue that she had a hard time picking out any that were suitable for her rage and were appropriate say in front of the little girls. To make the situation even worse, Melody had turned on the radio and had tuned in a slow, romantic song.

“That’s a very nice outfit. Makes you even more beautiful, which I didn’t think was possible,” Jazz said, knowing that women won’t allow a kiss with only one compliment.

Thunder on her face and lightning in her eyes, Crystal was about to say something very inappropriate indeed when Tylas saved the pilot’s life and his sister’s ears. Clamping one hand on Jazz’s shoulder in a firm grip he said, “May I cut in?”

Jazz wanted to tell him to buzz off, but couldn’t in the current situation. Tylas’ tone made it quite clear that it would be a mistake to refuse. Grudgingly, Jazz released the furious swordswoman and stepped back. “Yeah, sure,” he said.

Turning to Crystal, Tylas made a gentlemanly bow and held out his hand. “Milady?” With great dignity, she took his offered hand and the two began dancing properly to the slow song coming from the radio.

Crystal was inestimably thankful for Tylas’ timely intervention. Unable to tell him with the current audience, she stayed silent, though the previous rage in her demeanor had melted away. When the song had ended, their dance came to an end. There was much cheering and catcalls from the other women; Jazz was leaning against the wall, sulkily watching the entire scene. He was of the sole opinion that he had been cheated out of a very good opportunity.

Afterward, in an attempt to whisk away the traces of Crystal’s palpable fury, Mara made them all sit down for dinner. Crystal made sure to distance herself from Jazz, pointedly sitting next to Tylas to show where her favor lie.

After the meal they sat around the living room, content to let their worries melt away. They had just pulled off an impossible rescue, they’d dealt a severe blow to the enemies’ moral, and now they were safe. Satisfied, they all watched the triplets playing with Jack in the middle of the living room. When the triplets’ yawns began to grow in length and frequency, Tylas deemed it was time for them to go to bed. At this announcement, everyone else agreed to get some sleep as well.

There was first the brief fiasco of getting the girls dressed and ready for bed. Finding a place for everyone else to sleep immediately followed that. The two guest bedrooms were taken by the girls and by Avona and Melody, one of the rooms containing two twin beds. Moriah, who’d joined them earlier under the disguise of an illusion, curled up comfortably on the floor and was soon asleep. Valic slept on the couch, which folded out into a bed of sorts, while Jazz was left to fidget upon a narrow cot dragged up from the depths of a basement storage room and which smelled of mildew.

Jack accompanied the triplets that night. The big dog lay in the middle of the large bed, a little girl on each side with two little arms wrapped around him. Tylas stood in the doorway, studying the scene with a smile on his face. The girls had indeed insisted on wearing red, the new color of their pajamas. They no longer liked yellow apparently. The bedside lamp burned brightly, keeping the darkness at bay.

Crystal quietly came up beside Tylas, and peered into the room. “Oh, he is such a happy dog,” she said softly, smiling slightly. “The traitor.”

Tylas laughed quietly at this. “Yes, he certainly is.”

Crystal looked at him. “Are you sure about sleeping here? I can still boot Jazz off the cot and onto the floor if you want it.”

Again he laughed. “I’m fine, but thanks for the offer. Jazz better watch his back from here on out, huh?”

Crystal snorted. “Damn straight. You just saved his life today with your fancy footwork. Thanks for that, by the way. We’d have to find another pilot and I don’t think Cid would be so forgiving when he found out I killed his best pilot.”

Tylas grinned. “Yeah, well, I warned him. Look what happens when he doesn’t listen to genius.”

Now Crystal laughed softly and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s good to see you smiling again.” Before he could think of something to say, she had bid him goodnight and disappeared into her room.

After a few moments, Tylas decided he’d better get some sleep as well. He went over and sat in a chair next to the bed his sisters were sleeping so soundly in. His spear rested against his shoulder, the butt end nestled in the soft carpet at his feet, and within a few minutes, he was asleep. Here he stayed for the rest of the night, a sentinel against the dangers of night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning received mixed greetings from the companions. Tylas descended the stairs being led by his sisters, not quite aware that he was awake yet. Jazz stiffly unfolded himself from the cot and began the painful process of becoming flexible again. Melody, however, bounced down the stairs with the ever-present smile, ready to begin the day.

“Hello! How did you all sleep?” she asked with that loathsome morning cheer.

Valic, who was not an early riser by any means, answered brusquely, “Darkness never sleeps.”

At this Melody simply giggled and poked him in the ribs. “Awwww! You’re so cute in the morning!” This remarkably erroneous statement floated in the air for a few moments before Jazz burst out laughing. He sat down roughly and slapped the floor in his mirth.

“And what are you laughing at?” Melody asked him, giving him an odd look. The pilot could only shake his head and laugh. “N-nothing!” he finally managed, catching his breath. “Nothing at all.”

She gave him a look that indicated quite clearly that she was joining Avona in her opinion that Jazz was wrong in the head. She made a mental note to ask the white mage to have a look into the redhead’s mental health when she could find the time to do so. She then bustled off into the kitchen in search of breakfast. After a few minutes, everyone began to migrate towards the kitchen, following the scent of that life-sustaining liquid known as coffee.

When he came to the sad realization that he was indeed awake, the first thing Tylas did was get some coffee. Sipping the scalding liquid, he dully watched Crystal as she decided what cereal to eat, when a question came to him. This was quite unusual, for extensive mental activity is generally disabled in the morning until a sufficient amount of coffee has entered his system. Then, and only then, will he begin to think about anything other than waking up. Today, however, was an exception, for curiosity is a very powerful thing.

“Crystal,” he began thoughtfully. “Why don’t you ever cook?” He had noticed that he had never seen her eat anything that wasn’t ready to eat out of the package or cooked by someone else, as with pizza or Mara’s cooking.

Crystal turned around with a cereal box in hand and uttered a short laugh. “I don’t cook because I can’t. I am the only person to date that has burned rice, I think. And believe me, I didn’t try that again.”

Tylas sipped his coffee while his brain processed this information. Meanwhile, his sisters bounced around him, involved in the busy activities known only to them. He did a mental double take when he finally understood her words. “Wait… You can’t cook rice?” This was a bit surprising. Even he could cook rice, and that was saying something.

She shook her head as she fished for a bowl. “Nope. The greatest disaster of all was when I burned canned soup. The kitchen smelled for days.”

Now that some coffee had been imbibed he was functioning better, and at her words he gaped at her. It was quite a feat to burn soup in the first place, but canned soup was even more unbelievable. “Then you always eat cereal for breakfast? Don’t you miss having …” he fished for a word momentarily, “um, say, pancakes instead?”

Again she shook her head, now standing on tiptoe to reach the back of the cabinet. “It’s usually cereal for me. I eat out sometimes but never for breakfast. So really I can’t miss pancakes because I’ve never had them.” She stopped her searching for a bowl and frowned at the cabinet then turned toward him. “Why do—What?”

Tylas was not alone in his thunderstruck gaze; his sisters had stopped their antics as well and were staring at her as if she had just said something blasphemous. Melody, had entered the kitchen just in time to catch Crystal’s last words and looked at her as if she were a beaten puppy. Then Tylas stood, a look of resolution coming over his face. “Okay, that’s it. You three set the table.” That said, he steered Crystal to a chair and quickly put the cereal back where it belonged before she could utter a single protest or query.

Without any further orders, the triplets began to set the table for breakfast, requiring only a momentary pause to ask where everything was kept. Meanwhile, Tylas busied himself at the stove, and pancakes were soon piling up on a plate placed next to the stove to receive them.

Jazz took a seat next to Crystal, wincing slightly as stiff muscles creaked their protest to such movement. Crystal favored him with a sidelong glance, observing his discomfort with amusement. “Sleep well?” she asked.

Jazz merely smiled at her, not one to give up on something easily, especially a beautiful woman. “Never slept better!” he lied.

She merely raised one thin eyebrow at this obvious falsehood. “That’s good. Going to be doing a lot of hard work today.” She slapped him good-naturedly on the shoulder, but was a bit to firm in applying this gesture. He grimaced something spectacular but said nothing. Slowly, he reached over and grabbed his aching shoulder. He stood and hobbled off and was heard going upstairs, apparently to talk to Avona, whom had yet to make her appearance. However, the white mage wouldn’t be able to remove that lingering scent of mildew that hung about the pilot and he would soon realize that when his aching muscles had ceased to pain him. Then he would belatedly realize, with much cursing, that he had tried to make a move on her while smelling of foul mold. His chagrin would be crushing. Crystal grinned wickedly.

After a while, Crystal began to grow impatient, forced to stay seated while everyone else around her was busy. Eventually, she was called upon to produce the maple syrup. Naturally, she didn’t have any, never having a need for it. After many loud lamentations on how it ‘just wouldn’t be complete’ without it, she went searching downstairs for some. After a good long rummage, she managed to produce a very dusty bottle of maple syrup. She had no idea how she had come by it; most likely Mara had gotten it when getting groceries.

Finally, when everyone was seated, they began their breakfast of pancakes. Tylas watched eagerly as Crystal took her first hesitant bite. “Well?” he asked. “Mmmm. This is really good!” was her response and she took another bite. Tylas fairly beamed with pride.

Though Crystal had told Jazz that there would be much hard work ahead, there really wasn’t. As was with the previous day, they all took this day as a break, of sorts. Today they would make their plan of attack as well as do anything else that had to be done before they initiated their strike.

First, there was the problem of the triplets. Obviously Tylas could not stay to care for them, nor could they accompany the group. This problem was soon solved when Mara came over.

“I’d be more than happy to look after them!” The elderly woman sat at the table, sipping some tea and scratching Jack’s head.

“Thank you so very much,” Tylas said for what must have been the tenth time. Mara laughed. “I have five grandchildren their age and it’ll be wonderful to have some company.”

“And you don’t have to worry about their safety, either,” Crystal said. “You happen to be in the presence of one fine red mage.”

Mara beamed at the compliment. “Crystal, you flatter me. Besides, they’ve got Jack here to protect them!” She rubbed the dogs’ back vigorously, and Jack squirmed this way and that, delighting in the attention.

Relieved that his sisters would be well taken care of and protected, Tylas allowed himself to relax a little. Though Jack didn’t seem like the most ideal guard dog, Crystal soon proved him wrong. At one point in the day, Crystal knelt beside the shepherd and turned his head towards the three girls whose attention was caught by the T.V., rendering them still for a few moments. “Guard,” Crystal said to the dog, then left. From there on out, wherever the girls went, Jack was with them. If the girls were separated from one another the big dog could be found going back and forth between each, pausing for a slight pet before moving on to his next charge. Tylas was impressed with how well trained the dog was and his doubts vanished.

Throughout the day, the group had dispersed, each one taking care of a few loose ends that had to be dealt with. Melody had gone off to purchase some magic items they lacked; Valic had gone somewhere for his own mysterious reasons; Avona left to find some materia she had been looking for; Jazz and Moriah left to check and repair the airship, Moriah proved to be a wonderful assistant in this job provided the hanger was empty of others.

The only ones that had nothing to do were Tylas and Crystal. They passed the time mainly by preparing for the upcoming battle. Alexis, Whitney, and Sarah were fascinated by the curious weapons and materia the warriors utilized. They watched intently as the two sparred for lack of anything better to do. When the others began to return by late afternoon, the two were seated on the floor at the coffee table playing chess. Crystal was intent on the board before her while the triplets were busy braiding her long hair into many little braids as thick as a pencil. With three girls going at it, the swordswoman’s hair was nearly completely converted to braid form.

Crystal moved a bishop a few spaces. “Checkmate.” Tylas closely inspected the board and found that she was right; that made the seventh win in a row. “Damn. And you didn’t hear that,” he said, pointing towards his sisters. Despite his words, he still received the crescendo and accusatory ‘Awwww’ from the three. He merely scowled at them and began to reset the board as Melody walked in.

She paused when she saw Crystal’s hair and thought carefully before speaking. “I take it you didn’t want to try the Afro style, then?” she asked.

Crystal merely rolled her eyes. “They were bored. Your move,” she said to Tylas. Melody deposited her things in her room and returned to the living room in time to see Crystal take out one of Tylas’ rooks with a knight. The rest of the group members slowly trickled as the sun approached the horizon. Eventually, Tylas got better at his chess skills until the score stood three to twelve in Crystal’s favor.

Finally, everyone had returned and settled down to discuss their plan of attack to finish off the Remnant once and for all.

It was established right off the bat that another aerial insertion was out of the question, for undoubtedly it would be expected. At this Jazz cracked his knuckles, saying, “Excellent! I’ll finally get a chance to fight some of these bastards!”

Ignoring his comment, Crystal moved on with the plan. “Going over land won’t work either; those woods are swarming with hybrids. So that leaves one option: Magic. Now Valic, are you sure you can teleport all of us there?”

The black mage, swathed in shadows despite the brightly lit room, nodded. “I assure you it is of no undue stress to me. I shall teleport all of us to the crater you spoke of the other day. I believe that would place us out of immediate harm’s way as well as bring us as close as possible to the town.”

Crystal nodded, thinking this over. “Sounds fine to me. And that Remnant won’t expect us coming from the mountains either.” So the conversation continued, everyone adding their ideas and bits of information. Gradually a strategy was formed, needing only to be implemented to be complete. As they all drifted off to bed, Jazz using numerous extra pillows to cushion his uncomfortable bed, they felt a confidence that hadn’t been present in their first assault. They had seen and met the enemy, spilled their blood, and then left safely. They knew what was ahead and how to deal with it. Thus, no nightmares plagued their sleep that night, oblivious that they would be descending into one come sunrise.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Fascinating,” Avaric murmured, or rather, the thing that looked like the dead Remnant. It stood as its legs formed, seeming almost to draw itself out of the very ground but bringing the earth with it. Its journey through the ‘Lifestream’, as the indigenous creatures called it, had imparted to the alien the knowledge of all sentient creatures upon this planet as well as the planet’s history. It gazed around the ruined town, appearing human in all but the eyes, which glowed red as though they were smoldering embers.

Upon consuming the first creature it had caught, it also gained the knowledge of its prey. It had gleaned from the weak mind that one of its’ kind had come to this planet already. Jenova, they called it. Jenova should’ve been able to wipe this world clean, and yet it had failed to do so, which surprised the alien beyond words. After learning what happened with its kin’s corpse, the alien was infuriated and disgusted by the actions of these pathetic animals called ‘humans’. It would make them pay dearly for their blasphemy. Though the humans had killed Jenova, it was of little concern to the alien; it wouldn’t fail.

Looking back upon Jenova’s attack, it was pleased with the destruction she had wrought, though she had fallen in the end, by means that even it could not discern. However, wiping out an entire planet alone was simply far too slow, as Jenova had sought to do. The Remnant it had absorbed was of the right idea. The alien was impressed with what the Remnant had achieved, for it was merely a weak half-breed that depended solely upon its’ species genetic divinity. It would now pick up where the Remnant had left off, albeit with a different plan in mind.

The planet was rank with fear of the alien; it could smell it. Yes, the planet knew what it was and feared it all the more. The souls in the Lifestream had shrieked in terror with the planet as it had landed, and now the alien smiled as it bathed in the fear.

“Lazarus,” it said to the dead town. “And so I shall be. The agony and terror of an entire world come back from the dead. I shall be this world’s angel of death.” As Lazarus spoke, a pair of blood-red wings grew on its back, wings the color of the unshed blood of the planet. Wings the color of the blood of the living. Lazarus threw back his head and laughed as the planet shuddered in fear.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The crater the companions found themselves in had long since cooled; the meteorite nestled in scorched, shattered earth. The dried blood easily blended in blacked, burned ground and went unseen by the group.

They continued down the side of the mountain, still a ways yet from the town when they met an unsettling sight. A lone hybrid was meandering along the mountainside, stumbling and falling as if it were blind. The group quickly closed in to kill it before it would alert the Remnant to their presence but stopped when they came closer.

It looked right at them and blinked. Humans and hybrid stared at each other for minutes, the silence stretching between them. Finally, Jazz spoke up in an attempt to break the silence. “How are you?” he asked the hybrid.

“How am I?” it asked in a flat monotone.

Needless to say, this reaction caused quite a stir amongst the companions. The hybrid had answered them, but it wasn’t the Remnant speaking through it; that much was clear. Yet, not once could anyone recall any hybrid talking to them, Moriah excluded. It had clearly asked them a question in response to their own. To all appearances, it seemed to be looking to them to tell it what to do.

Avona was the one to come up with the explanation to this curious behavior. “Remember I told you that I found a set of rules or a program when I healed Moriah?” They nodded. The meandering hybrid continued to stand and stare at them. “Well… I think it’s asking for rules,” she said, a note of surprise entering her voice.

“Doesn’t that mean that whoever is controlling them is no longer… well, controlling them?” Jazz asked, looking a little confused. The white mage nodded. “Yes. I don’t know exactly why, but… the only thing I can think of is that the Remnant is too busy to control them, or something to that affect. That could be why this hybrid is wandering around.”

The group was mollified by this reasoning and returned the gaze of the hybrid. “Sit down,” Crystal said. It sat on the ground. “Heh.” She shook her head in some amusement and the group passed it, leaving it sitting on the ground. The hybrid’s behavior did not worry her in the least. In fact, it only assured her that they were striking at the right time, when everything was in a state of utter chaos.

They reached the town with no further encounters. But something wasn’t right. The way they had just walked into the town wasn’t right. They had expected to fight their way through to kill the Remnant. Instead they found a wandering hybrid and an utterly desolate town.

Swiftly and silently they entered the town, slipping from shadow to shadow as they went past broken buildings.

“Come out. Cease this slinking about in the shadows.”

The voice reached all of them clearly and something within it froze their blood. They had been seen by nothing and in turn had not seen anything. But someone, something, knew they were there. The last thing they were about to do was come out of their cover. Everyone froze at the sound of the voice, not daring to breathe should it give them away.

“I said come.” This time they could not stop themselves from stepping out of their shelter. Crystal found herself walking down one barren street, mentally screaming at herself to stop. The others were experiencing the same thing, all struggling with their own bodies and helpless to do anything. Nothing; they could nothing as their bodies acted upon their own violation.

Everyone was heading in the same direction; the town square. As Crystal saw the square ahead of her, she fought with herself to draw at least one sword. Nothing. Her arms wouldn’t move. Gritting her teeth, she tried again, fighting the force that made her a prisoner in her own body. Through sheer power of will, her right arm slowly rose, reached over her shoulder, and drew one sword. Before she could concentrate on doing the same with her left arm, she had already entered the square, and she could see all the other companions walking there as well, clearly as helpless as she was.

In the center of the square was an ornate fountain. The sculptures were that of the founders of the town. Three men, one holding a shovel, another a pickaxe, and the third pointing at some invisible object.

The companions were guided to stand some twenty feet from the fountain then stopped. Immediately they felt the grip on their minds vanish, relinquishing their bodies to them once more.

Before Tylas could give warning, one of the statues in the fountain came to life. The third man, the one pointing off into the distance, lowered his arm and stepped off the fountain platform. As it descended, it changed shape; turning into the Remnant they had seen before, except for the crimson wings.

Just as it set foot upon the ground, they were upon it, everyone attacking at once. Valic summoned a ball of black fire and hurled it at the strange shape-shifter. Avona was casting a spell that would render the creature immobile. Melody’s foot was about to connect with its’ face, Tylas was about to skewer it through the middle, Moriah’s claws ready to rip off one red wing, and Crystal’s swords were rapidly closing in on their target.

There was a slight pause and everyone seemed to stop for a fraction of a second. Then a wave of force shoved them backwards, sending everyone tumbling to the ground. They were up in an instant, ready to fend off an attack. The man laughed at them.

“Such terrible manners. You should learn better.”

Suddenly, a pain like she had never known consumed Crystal. It felt as though her blood had turned to acid, every nerve was on fire, every fiber of her being was shredding. The agony was so intense she couldn’t scream, couldn’t breathe, and couldn’t think of anything but the unearthly torture. The others were being tormented in the same way.

It lasted only for a few seconds, but it felt like centuries. When Lazarus ceased the torture, it was all they could do to keep from falling over.

“Let me introduce myself. I am Lazarus. I will be your death.”

Gasping for breath, Crystal steadied herself before standing up from her crouched position. She tightened her grip on her swords and took a defensive stance. “I’d like to see you try,” she said, her voice hoarse.

Tylas was the next to recover, standing next to Crystal. “What the smurf are you!?” he shouted.

Lazarus smiled. Suddenly, an older woman with black hair with streaks of gray in it appeared before them, taking the place of the winged man. Tylas almost dropped his spear in shock. It was his mother.

“Tylas, my son…why did you leave me? Why did you run away? You left me to die! Why did you let me die?” she asked mournfully. “I love you so much. Why do you hate me?!” she sobbed.

That burning pain of guilt and sorrow that Tylas thought had left him came rushing back. It swept over him like a tidal wave, bringing fresh tears to his eyes. These accusations were the very same that had gone through his mind when he had learned of what happened to his home. Though over the initial pain of it, he still blamed himself for what happened, despite all assurances from his friends. To hear these come from his mother’s mouth was simply too much. He staggered backwards, shaking his head, denying what stood before his very eyes.

“I love you! Why did you abandon me?! I told you to come home, I begged you, but you wouldn’t listen! Why didn’t you just come home? Did you hate me that much?” she demanded, tears coursing down her face.

This was too much. Tylas fell under these words as though they were weapons. He sank to his knees, continuing to shake his head in a weak denial. “No, no, no…” he moaned.

Valic threw another fireball, but it was dashed out of the air by the same invisible force as before. And Tylas’ mother whipped to face him—and another woman suddenly stood there. A thin, narrow-faced woman with brown hair and eyes. She looked at Valic as if she were deeply hurt and shocked. “Valic, why did you kill me? Why did you kill your sister?” From behind the woman stepped a girl around twelve years old. “Valic?” she said, her voice trembling. “You promised to take care of me. Why didn’t you? I thought we were going to play.”

Valic stepped back, distancing himself from the phantoms. “No. I know what you are. It will not work,” he said, but his words were undermined by the uncertainty in his voice.

“Valic, why did you kill me?” the woman repeated.

The mage shook his head. “You know nothing. I did not kill them. I did not know!”

“You killed me! You killed me, you killed me, YOU KILLED ME, YOU KILLED ME, YOU KILLED ME!!” the woman shrieked at him. The girl that was his sister cried out for him to help her above the woman’s screams.

Valic simply stood there, arms hanging at his sides, head bowed; he took the blow of the words, flinching each time she said it. The mage had clearly lost his will to fight.

The two vanished, replaced by a tall, blond man. He was kind you’d find in the military, cold blue eyes degrading everything they touched, his square jaw didn’t allow for any smiles. “Melody!” he roared and she jumped. “You worthless piece of ! What the hell are you doing?! You can never do anything right! Why do I even ask you to do anything?”

Melody pressed her hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut as if she could block out the man before her. “You’ll never achieve anything,” the man sneered. “You’re not even worth the air you breathe. You’re the reason she died!”

“Melody, don’t listen to him!” Jazz called warningly. But the blond man’s voice drowned him out. Melody could only hear him. She tried to hold up under the foul words the man said but couldn’t stand the strain. “That’s not true!” she shouted back at him. “I hate you!” Then she started sobbing uncontrollably as the man continued to throw every foul word in the book at her, calling her worthless and a waste.

“Stop it!!” Jazz shouted at him, advancing with the staff in hand.

A bright redhead girl appeared, about fourteen, wearing a baseball cap. Her bright green eyes laughed as she turned to him. “Hey Jazz! I thought I told you not to drink anything before we left. Didn’t I say you should’ve called mom?”

The pilot visibly shuddered. “It’s not real,” he muttered.

“Jazz! Are you listening to me? Jazz! Come on, we’re gonna be late for the game!” She laughed merrily. She had a beautiful laugh, one that made you smile just hearing it. Jazz turned away from her, unable to look at her anymore. He kept telling himself that it wasn’t real, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about the real thing.

“Hey!” Crystal stepped forward. “Why don’t you try me, you sick bastard!”

The redhead disappeared, the winged Remnant forming once more. He stared at her coldly and she felt a chill run through her as her instincts told her to run for it. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. You don’t have anything on me.”

Suddenly it was on flame, and a scream ripped through the air. The others didn’t see what was at the center of the inferno, but Crystal did. What she saw made her retreat backwards, grab Tylas, and run.

The others followed her, running from the creature that had laid bare their souls and needled sore wounds. Behind them the screaming had stopped when Crystal fled and was replaced by a cold, echoing laughter that they could not escape no matter how fast they tried to run from it.

[eiko guy]

Wow. That chapter was..wow. I am floored by it and my stomach is curled up waiting for more. I am sooooo jealous of your natural talent.

[James Leopold]

Absolutely brilliant. A definite masterpiece.

[eiko guy]

Scary how this space monster can see their fears so easily.

[Dragon Mage]

I know it's taken a long time for this update, but school has me by the throat. Don't worry, I'm still writing it, but updates will take a little longer.

And this space monster has psychic powers. It can read their minds! Thus why it can see their fears. Creepy. And Thank you JL!

Enjoy!

Chapter 13—The River Styx

Avona had to teleport the group back to Crystal’s house; Valic was too agitated to concentrate on speaking the arcane words. Once there, Melody ran upstairs, still crying. Everyone stood there, not looking at each other, stunned by what they had just witnessed. They were so shocked they didn’t know what do, what to think. Eventually, Valic went upstairs as well, and Tylas followed.

Jazz stepped outside and stood on the front porch, staring at the railing. Moriah followed him and put a friendly arm around him, saying nothing. The two had become good friends over the course of the past few days, despite their less than friendly greeting. The pilot was silent for a long time. “It was my sister,” he said quietly after several minutes.

“No it wasn’t, Jazz. It was that… that thing,” Moriah said gently.

He acted as if he hadn’t heard her, his mind only on the past. His sister, Rhapsody Zephyr, loved baseball; she was the best player on the team. It was the night of the big game, and she was going to be late. He had to drive her there, but he’d been drinking. He knew he shouldn’t drive, he knew the risks. But the look on her face when she thought of being late made him act otherwise. Now she was lying in some hospital, in a coma for the last two years.

When was the last time he’d seen his parents? He couldn’t remember. They always regarded him with that mixed look of pity, disappointment, and anger he couldn’t stand. They wouldn’t speak to him anymore. He paid for all her medical bills, and prayed everyday that she would wake up. To hear her laugh, see her smile, see the look on her face when she whipped that ball through the air was all Jazz hoped for. And to hear her speak and laugh in that dead town had reminded him of what he had done and how she would never smile again.

*

Upstairs in the house, Valic quietly walked into Melody and Avona’s room, coming up behind the weeping blond. She had her back turned to him, her shoulders rising and falling with her sobs. The mage touched her shoulder and she turned around and looked at him, tears streaming down her face. She stared at him for a few seconds then suddenly threw her arms around him, buried her face in his shoulder and wept soundly.

Valic returned her embrace, quietly offering his support to the martial artist. He put one hand in her bright hair, the curls wrapping around his fingers. After a while she pulled back, revealing her face once more. “I-it was m-my f-father,” she stammered.

“Was he really like that?” Valic asked gently.

She smiled bitterly and nodded. “Yeah. He always wanted a s-son. But my m-mother died after I was born and he blamed me for it. H-h always said I’d n-never be anything.” She had the misfortune of having a father that loathed her for what she was. Everything she did was degraded and scorned. She could do nothing that pleased the man and gods help her when she did something wrong. Her grandmother lived with them when her mother died, but when she passed as well, the beatings got much worse. Finally a teacher reported her numerous bruises to the authorities and she was removed from her father’s harsh care. She lived with her aunt, a bright, upbeat woman, from then on.

Valic was amazed when she told him this. It seemed unbelievable that such a bright, happy person could have such a past. It was a miracle that she turned out the way she was today.

“What about you?” she sniffed. “Who were they?”

It had become a moment of sharing misery, apparently. Though the mage didn’t want to tell her of his dark past, he couldn’t refuse her. The look on her face and the hand clutching his robes made him tell her.

“It was my mother and sister,” he said softly, hoping she wouldn’t ask about their words.

His hope was not to be fulfilled. “Don’t believe what they said. It’s only saying that to get to you,” she said, sounding defiant.

He shook his head. “No. It was true. I killed them.” He quickly continued at her shocked look, hugging her tighter.

“Melody, in my craft, all power comes with a price. I was hungry for it; I would do anything for more power. In the end, it claimed the lives of all the family I had left. I… I had no idea what would happen to them.” His own voice sounded odd to him as some powerful emotion rose in his throat. He let go of her, not wanting to see the look of horror in her eyes, and turned away from her. “I wish everyday that I could go back and make everything right again,” he said. But that would never happen. And in the end, he was left with all the power he could possibly want, and no reason to use it anymore; for no matter how strong he was, that power could never bring them back. “Melody… my sister… you remind me of her so much. I wanted you to know that before you left,” he whispered, closing his eyes. Now it would come; now she would leave him, never to return, always regarding him with the same disgust and horror he had lived with all his life.

He waited for the sound of her leaving, but instead felt her wrap her arms around him once more. “Oh Valic, I’m so sorry! I’d never leave you because of that!” she said. The mage was stunned by her reaction, and gratefully returned the hug. He knew right then that he would always be with this woman he considered a sister. He would do whatever was needed to protect her, even if that meant giving his own life for hers. Melody knew this as well, without him having to tell her, and knew she would never lack a defender ever again.

The two stood there in the room, embracing one another, Melody a bit of light wrapped in darkness. Or maybe, it was the other way around.

*

Down the hallway from where Valic and Melody were, Tylas was watching his sisters sleep. He stood in the doorway, thinking about how much they had suffered. If only he’d gone home…

A hand appeared on his shoulder. He didn’t look away from his sisters. “Tylas,” Crystal said, “Don’t you dare think about what that thing said. Don’t you believe it for one second.”

He was silent for a long time before speaking. “But what if it was right? If I had gone home it would never have hap—“

Crystal interrupted him by turning his head to look at her. “Listen to me Tylas. It isn’t your fault. I was the one that asked you to come with me; [/i]I[/i] was the one that brought you away from your family. It’s my fault. If there’s anyone to blame for what happened, it’s me. Not you.”

He simply stared at her. She dropped her gaze, unable to meet his gray eyes anymore. “I… I’m sorry, Tylas. I’m the one that did this to you and your family. I should be the one to pay.” Again, she saw in her mind’s eye that raging inferno at the dead town and what lie within it. She shuddered, the image bringing questions and doubts to her mind that she would rather do without.

Without any warning, Tylas hugged her. Surprised, she stood there for a second or two before she realized what had happened, not used to such an action. She awkwardly returned the embrace, not sure what to do. “Thank you, Crystal,” he said softly. “Thank you for being there.”

He released her and within the narrow confines of the doorway, the two were unusually close to one another. Their eyes locked and Tylas’ heart skipped a beat as he met her violet eyes. Some strange emotion had risen in his chest and he couldn’t for the life of him look away.

“Tylas?” a small voice reached their ears. One of the triplets had awoken and the others were opening their eyes already. Tylas went to them, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Crystal didn’t stay around after that. A peculiar tumult of unknown feelings suddenly passed through her, and she didn’t like it one bit. She quickly retreated to her room, and sat with her back against the door. She rested her head against the door and closed her eyes. It’s all in your head, Crystal; just think it through… she thought to herself. As she always did when she was upset or angry about something, she simply let the silence around her take over, wiping everything clean. Within a few minutes, all her confusion, uncertainty, fear, and… something else, was gone entirely. She felt like her old self; calm, collected, in control—nothing more, nothing less. And that’s the way she liked it. Emotions only got in the way; just like people.

She stayed there for a few minutes, until she heard someone call her name. She opened her eyes slightly to see Zack standing before her. If he had been agitated when she last saw him, he was downright terrified now. It didn’t fit the former SOLDIER. “Crystal, oh gods, Crystal you have to go to the Forgotten City, now!” he exclaimed. “It’s the only way.”

She stared at him through half-open eyes. “Zack calm down. Now, what are you saying?”

At her nonchalant attitude and soft voice, the spirit, slightly glowing, calmed down. Her calm bearing reaching even him, beyond the grave.

“Go to the Forgotten City. You’ll find all your answers there,” he repeated. Crystal closed her eyes. Yes, that would be the place to find them. “What is it?” she asked, Zack knowing exactly what she was talking about. He uttered a short, bitter laugh. “Jenova the Second. Gods help us, but it’ll kill everything.”

Crystal sighed. She was suddenly tired, weary down to the bone. This alien, these strange feelings, everything; it was getting to be too much for her to deal with all at once. But she better, because everyone would be asking her what to do next. It’s the job of the leader to always know what’s up ahead. But for the moment, she simply wished she were alone, as usual. Having to deal with social dynamics simply wasn’t her strong point, and when she had to, she quickly tired of it, unused to and uncomfortable being around others.

They would go to the Forgotten City; the only trouble was getting everyone to go there and give a plausible reason to do so. She sighed again and wearily got to her feet, pushing aside all her troubles. “Thank you, Zack. We’ll do that today.” The City wasn’t too far away; they could get there by nightfall if they left soon. Zack nodded and vanished.

She left her room and caught a glimpse of Melody and Valic talking to each other in Melody’s room. She rapped on the door way and both turned towards her. “Get ready to go in an hour,” she said. Before they could ask why or where they were going, she left. She dispensed the same message to everyone else, again leaving swiftly before any queries could be posed. She then retired to her room again, simply enjoying the solitude.

Roughly an hour later, everyone, more or less recovered from their emotional ordeal, met in the living room, ready to leave as instructed.

“So, where are we going?” Tylas asked.

“Forgotten City,” Crystal answered. She continued before anyone said anything further. “That thing we saw… remember when I told you that Jenova was an alien?” They nodded. “Well, think of this thing as a second Jenova.”

Silence stretched as they all took this in. They weren’t overly surprised; what they had witnessed could not have come from this earth. What concerned them the most was how they were going to deal with it.

Valic, who was well informed on history, asked, “This creature wiped out an entire race. How are we going to kill it?”

Crystal shrugged. “Hell if I know. But the important thing is, the Cetra figured out some way to kill Jenova; if that means still exists, we’ll find out about it at the City.”

“But…” Jazz began. “You don’t really think we can kill it, do you? I mean, even if the Cetra managed to kill Jenova, they were still all wiped out! What can we do?”

Everyone looked at him, expressing neither shock nor disbelief. Jazz grew uncomfortable under the scrutiny, but met everyone’s gaze. Finally, Moriah spoke up. “Just because the journey is hard, and the end unknown, doesn’t mean there’s no point in trying,” she said softly.

This mollified the pilot somewhat, and he seemed satisfied. Instead, he came up with another question. “How will we know we’ve found this means of killing it?”

Crystal truly had no idea. They could be going straight into a trap for all she knew. But there was only one answer she could think of. “Pray.”

*~*~*~*~*~*

Only much later did Jazz cheer up, the others having recovered a while beforehand. Melody went around and gave everyone a hug; her way of making everything better. This seemed to make quite an improvement in Jazz’s mood and soon he was back to his old self.

It took about two hours for the airship to reach the snow-capped northern continent. Jazz landed the aircraft just outside the forest surrounding the archeological dig there. From here on out, they would be on foot. Within a short time, they were trekking through the Sleeping Forest.

Melody was instantly awed by the magnificent glowing, white trees of the forest. She circled one tree many times, staring upwards, gaping in wonder. She then delightedly announced that she would live here if she could.

Crystal had been here once before, and she’d never come back, nor did she care to. She had a good reason: The forest was full of people. Though to the others eyes the forest appeared completely desolate, Crystal saw thousands upon thousands of people walking in the forest. The soft light given off by the trees made the spirits own natural glow even brighter. They talked to the air, walked through each other, living lives that had long since ended. Crystal had spoken to a few old spirits before; not elderly people, but those who’d died hundreds of years ago. Though old, those ghosts never seemed to be disconnected with the world around them, as were those that filled the forest.

These spirits were utterly oblivious of the world around them, completely absorbed in the world of the dead. Another oddity was that they were all translucent. Some were barely visible. Crystal had never seen the like anywhere else. These spirits were ancient. Though Crystal didn’t know why they were so transparent, or why they were oblivious to the world of the living, but she did know that they were all Cetra.

Cetra; the people of the planet. An entire race dead, and here is where they went. Crystal believed that they had been gone from the living world for so long, they merely forgot about it, as though their whole life was a memory. Maybe they were so caught up in the Lifestream, their consciousness was tied up with the planet they so dearly loved when alive. Whatever the case may be, the forest was crammed full of spirits jostling about, taking up every inch of space while being no more substantial than smoke.

That’s how it was last time Crystal had been here. Now, however, every single spirit watched the group as they walked through the forest. Millions of dead eyes were turned towards them, and Crystal found it downright unnerving. As the group continued on, walking through unseen masses, Crystal became more and more tense.

A hand dropped on her shoulder. She spun around so fast her hair whipped Tylas in the face, and he stood there blinking at her, startled. “Sorry,” she said quickly, lowering her hands from her swords. “You surprised me.”

“I guess,” he remarked. “I called to you a couple of times, but you didn’t stop. We’re taking a break.” He paused and regarded her with a concerned look. “You okay? You seem kinda… tense.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine, thanks.” She didn’t care to elaborate, and Tylas didn’t push for more. They ate a quick lunch before continuing. Avona made a curious remark as they ate. “This forest feels dead… yet alive somehow,” she said musingly.

“How’s that work?” Moriah asked.

“I’m not sure,” the white mage murmured. She gazed off into the distance, as if trying to see something far away. She shook her head, breaking her trance-like state. “It feels so…” she struggled for a word.

“It’s like we’re being watched,” Moriah said suddenly. She too, was gazing at the depths of the inscrutable forest. “Can’t you feel it?” The silence of the forest swept over them, leaving only the nervous feeling of eyes boring into one’s back.

Crystal found some dry amusement in this situation. Moriah was staring right at a spirit not six inches away, and she couldn’t see a thing. “We should get moving,” Crystal said, breaking the quiet.

They hadn’t reached the edge of the forest by nightfall. It was still a ways to the city and they decided to set up camp, so that they would be rested enough to face whatever challenges face them the next day. While the others set up camp, Moriah lounged on a tree branch above them, much like a large cat.

Crystal found it hard to fall asleep. Every time she felt herself drifting off, that maddening feeling of someone behind her would jolt her to full wakefulness once more. Finally, she stopped trying. Sighing, she sat against one glowing tree, arms encircling her legs. She couldn’t sleep with so many eyes on her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They approached the city itself by mid-morning. Again, only Crystal could see the masses of dead standing in the city streets, staring at them. There were a few houses of the ancient city that still stood. The Cetra’s love of the planet was reflected in their architecture as well. Each house was shaped like a spiral shell and had a pearly sheen in the soft light.

Though they had no idea where they were going, they all felt an odd pulling, as if they were being drawn to a certain place. This feeling wasn’t at all like the foreign, cruel control they felt in the dead town. This presence was benevolent, and gently guided them in one direction. No one said anything; they simply continued on, knowing that they were being led to something good.

They came to a sparkling lake in front of a building shaped like a nautilus. The glowing trees grew close together here, making a wall of living light. Around the lake grew white and yellow lilies, also shedding a soft glow. Standing among the flowers, her back turned towards the group, was a young woman in a pink dress. Her brown hair was tied back in a twist with a length of pink ribbon. She appeared to be tending to the flowers.

This was the only spirit that Crystal had seen so far that wasn’t transparent or staring at the group, and she wanted to have a word with it. However, she was unable to do so with the others here, and she couldn’t tell them to continue on, not when danger could always be near. Fortunately, the spirit solved the problem. She turned to face the group and Crystal recognized Aerith, having been shown a picture of her at the Seventh Heaven Inn so long ago.

“Oh, good. Zack said you were coming,” Aerith said. “Don’t worry. Everyone has been expecting you.” She spoke to Crystal, who could only give a slight nod to show she heard and understood. Aerith smiled then vanished.

The group continued into the nautilus. In the middle of the floor, there was a railed-in area in the center, where a statue of some kind would be placed. However, the statue was absent, replaced instead by a stairway leading downwards.

Unhesitating, the group descended. They found themselves walking on a staircase of sparkling crystal, held in the air by no visible means. Below was the real city of the Ancients. The city appeared to sit in a crystalline bowl. Outside that bowl was empty space. However, it wasn’t the hungry darkness that seemed to watch your every move; instead it resembled the depths of the ocean, cool and soothing. Above, light from some unknown source shown down upon the city as though coming through water. Indeed, the very city itself appeared to be submerged: an Atlantis of the Ancients.

The group continued down the floating crystal stairs, and came to a halt before a white platform separate from the rest of the city. Pillars sunken into the ground in the water served to make stepping-stones to the platform, which was made of pearl polished to a mirror finish. They stopped before these stepping-stones, and waited.

They didn’t wait long. At first it was only a faint haze, becoming more solid until a woman stood before them. Her hair was golden wheat, lying flat against her head and cascading down her back. Her eyes were leaf green. The flowing gown she wore was made of swirling storm clouds, laced with lightning. A necklace of live goldfish swam around her neck as though they were in water. The companions and the woman stared at each other, saying nothing.

“Who are you?” Melody asked quietly.

They heard a voice then, though the woman’s mouth didn’t move. The voice was in their minds. I am Gaia.

“What do we do?” Crystal asked. There was no need to say anything else; Gaia knew what the swordswoman was talking about.

You need a weapon to kill Lazarus.

“Is there one?” Avona asked eagerly.

There is. Long ago, the Cetra forged many items of great power. These items enabled them to kill Jenova. However, both Jenova and the Cetra were destroyed in the final battle. You will need these weapons if you are to kill Lazarus as well.

“Where are they?” questioned Tylas.

They are hidden. Even I cannot find them.

“Then how are we supposed to get them?” Moriah asked.

The Cetra left no clues as to where the items are hidden. However, they foresaw that they might be needed in the future. They constructed one item that will lead you to the rest. I know the location of only this one object; the others you must find on your own.

“Well, let’s have it,” Jazz said.

This object is located in an area east of the Mythril mine, at the mouth of the river. Beware, for a guardian and a trap protect each object. You will have to survive these in order to reach the tools you seek.

“What’s guarding this object, then?” Crystal asked.

I know not. I will try to aid you the best I can. Be careful; you are my last hope now. With that said, she vanished.

The group continued to stare at the spot where an image of Gaia had appeared to them. They were silent as they took in the import of this new flood of information. Things had taken a drastic turn for the worst. What had begun as a crusade against one lone Remnant, which was formidable enough, had suddenly become something much more then what they had bargained for. Now, for the first time since the beginning of their long journey, there was a glimmer of hope.

Suddenly Jazz let out an angry exclamation, glaring at the vacant altar. “Hey, there’s some kites you and me gotta talk about!!”

* * *

The group immediately set out for the river Gaia had mentioned. As they retraced their steps through the Sleeping Forest, Crystal found that the myriad spirits had returned to their various activities. Though it was by no means normal to see such an unnatural sight, Crystal was greatly relieved to be rid of the burden of all those dead eyes.

In the course of their travels, they encountered only one monster, and the situation following afterwards was rather funny.

A sudden, loud rustling in some nearby bushes alerted the group to the presence of another. Tylas, the closest to the bushes, advanced cautiously, spear at the ready. He prodded the bushes with the spear tip and quickly stepped back a few feet when a creature stumbled out. However, when he got a better look at the newcomer, he laughed.

The little creature that faced him was decidedly water drop shape, and just as blue. Protruding from its large, wide mouth was a bright pink tongue, which curled ridiculously into a spiral. When Tylas laughed at it, it waved its absurd little arms at him, hopping from stubby foot to stubby foot in a comical sort of dance. As it did so, a blue fog drifted out of its mouth and enveloped the warrior before he knew could comprehend what was happening.

He did what all good warriors should do when faced with a gas attack and held his breath. However, this was no poison gas attack. To his great alarm, Tylas watched as the world around him grew. The trees towered above him, and average sized rocks became boulders. Everything stopped growing when he was a mere six inches tall.

The minimize attack had greatly shaken the now tiny Tylas. Thus, he did not react immediately when the menacing blue creature advanced until it was almost upon him. With a cry of alarm, he quickly retreated, jabbing the small spear at it in desperation. His minute attempts did him no good, and he was about to be scooped up in its cavernous maw before Jazz knocked it aside just in time.

Taking this opportunity to make a getaway, he quickly scrambled behind a medium-sized rock for cover. Panting, he listened as the others dispatched the animal. The sound of approaching footsteps made him come out from behind the rock, peering around to see who it was that had come searching for him.

There was an excited squeal as Melody spotted him. The comparatively giant blond bent over to get a better look at him. “Oh my gosh!!! He is sooooooooo cute!! Guys, come look at this!” Jazz and Valic were the first to arrive.

Jazz, upon seeing the tiny person, burst out laughing. “He’s a bloody midget!” he exclaimed. Melody burst into giggles. “Jazz, that’s so mean!” she scolded him playfully, her reproach not carrying much weight. Encouraged by her laughter, Jazz continued to crack more short jokes, some rather mean, but all very funny. Finally Melody, nearly doubled over with laughter and hanging onto Jazz’s shoulder for support, managed to gasp, “Stop it! W-we have to find out how to get him back to normal.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” Jazz conceded, a sly smile on his face. “Let’s get down to the point.” This only threw Melody into more fits of laughter, and Jazz grinned. Throughout the whole exchange, Tylas had become increasingly furious. His small face was nearly as red as his clothes, and if looks could kill, the two before him would have melted into the ground. However, they were oblivious to his diminutive rage, and continued on.

“Okay, knock it off!” came Crystal’s voice. She stepped between the two and Tylas, who clambered on top of the rock behind her. She folded her arms across her chest and sternly glared at them. “You’re being rude,” she said warningly. Her tone and gaze humbled the two. Sure that they were now feeling properly ashamed, the violet-eyed woman turned to the white mage. “Avona, do you have any spell for this?”

In response, Avona pointed at the tiny Tylas and spoke clearly the words of magic. A white light surrounded him and when it disappeared, Tylas stood before them, once more life-sized. And pissed.

Without any hesitation, Tylas swept the haft of the spear at Jazz’s legs, knocking the pilot to the ground, his staff flying out of his hands. Jazz pushed himself up on one elbow, an angry retort forming when he found the sharp spear point mere centimeters from his throat.

The pilot froze, not daring to move, gazing fearfully into Tylas’ expressionless face. They stayed that way for about a minute, before Tylas moved the spear from Jazz. “That was a warning,” he said coolly and turned away.

The redhead stood; angered by the humiliation he’d suffered. He roughly brushed off his clothes, muttering under his breath. He made a face at Tylas’ back just as Melody came up to him. She giggled as she handed him his three-section-staff, which he snatched from her hands.

“Oh, come on Jazz. You asked for it,” she told him, smiling.

“Hey, he overreacted!” Jazz defended, still glaring daggers at Tylas, who was ignoring him. “Completely uncalled for!”

Melody laughed. “Oh, and making fun of him doesn’t mean anything, hm?”

“Hey, you were doing it too!” the pilot accused her. Melody simply grinned at him. “Maybe, but he likes me better, because I’m so beautiful!” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

“Well, that’s true,” Jazz said, a cocky smile on his face, and he winked at her. Melody blushed, and opened her mouth to say something when Avona hushed them. “Look,” she said, pointing to Moriah.

While the two had been talking Moriah was acting very strangely. She tilted her head upwards, her eyes half closed, and sniffed the air. She said something softly to Crystal, who only nodded and drew her swords. At this action, the rest of the group immediately went on the offensive, weapons at the ready.

Moriah continued to walk around, sniffing the air, and walked deeper into the forest. The rest followed her as she tracked down whatever scent she had picked up. She suddenly stopped before one particular tree. “Who are you?” she demanded of the glowing tree.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then a man stepped out from behind the tree. A tattered red cape brushed the ground at his feet, and a golden metal claw covered his left arm, a gauntlet of some kind. “I would ask the same of you,” he replied, his deep voice rumbling through the silent forest.

“Vincent,” Crystal spoke up, “I didn’t expect to find you here.”

“Exactly. So why are you?”

Crystal had t