Prologue
~And so it begins~

The strong wind gathered the hot arid sand up and swirled in and around the tangled wreckages that covered the desert floor. In the scattered debris that made up a rudimentary, unsophisticated settlement a small group of figures huddled together to try to escape from the worsening storm. High above the tempest hung the massive form of the Golden Saucer, the greatest amusement arcade on the planet, the place of dreams. From all over the planet people would flock, just to see the chocobos race, to test their fighting skills in battle square, or simply to experience the overwhelming wonder of the place, what some do not know is that sometimes those who enter do not leave - they go somewhere else. Far below the lights and the fun hid those who had become victim to the Golden Saucer and its unspoken rules, confined to the sand to live, or to die…
Despite the raging storm a lift descended from above carrying two occupants, when it reached the bottom one of them was hastily throw out into the swirling walls of sand and the lift ascended skywards again. The figure did not move from the place where it lay, almost instantly sand began covering the body up. It happened so many times that the huddled watchers were not surprised and so they did nothing to help, down here you needed only one thing - the will to survive, without it you would die within days. The figure moved slightly - perhaps this one was not ready to give up yet, a few of the huddled figures quickly rushed over to help.
Long after the winds had died down and desert had once again returned to slowly baking its occupants the group of prisoners sat in one of their shacks as they talked about the new stranger. "He don't look like the kind of person Dio normally sends down 'ere, hell he don't even have a weapon on em," one of them said. "He's a bit young an all ain't eh, can't be more than ten or so" said another, "how the 'ell did he get into the saucer?"

The stranger sat silently outside, staring out into the vast desert, wondering how hard it would be to cross its unfathomable distance, it couldn't be easy since there were so many people still here, how many had tried and failed? he sighed and put his head in his hands. The sound of footfalls made him turn around to face the person coming towards him, he saw the sparkling green eyes of a young girl.
"What is someone like you doing here?" he asked, taken completely off guard at her visible innocence.
"That is not really important," she replied. "But I do know that you shouldn't be down here, you are too young!"
"What do you care?" he grumbled.
"Shut up and listen to me!" she put her hands on her hips in a stubborn gesture and glared at him. "If you don't want to get out of here then okay but I'm gonna leave, if you are going to keep being foolish fine, otherwise shut up and hear me out!"
"Okay! Okay!" he put up his hands. "So what do you want me to do?"
She laughed a light laugh and grabbed him under the arms, forcing him to get to his feet, he followed her through a gate that led into the desert.
"Hey wait! We can't go in there!" he cried.
"Quit whining and come on!"she laughed tugging him farther, he sighed and let her lead him. It was then that he noticed that she was dressed like a man, he imagined that it must be in order to fool the other prisoners, apparently she wasn't stupid and knew what kind of trouble she would be into if they discovered her true gender.
"There it is!" she giggled when they arrived at a well hidden sand buggy, she shoved him inside and climbed in behind him.
"Now will you tell me what you are doing here?" he asked impatiently.
"I have fun busting people out of jail," she giggled. "I have spent last three years of my life traveling around here and there, I want to build up my strength so I can be a great fighter! It has always been my dream."
"My dream has been to join SOLDIER," he replied. "I came here with a friend of mine and we got separated, I was stupid enough to get into trouble and so they sent me down into this desert."
"Yes, I know, I was in the Gold Saucer and I saw them take you away," she said. "I uhhh.... borrowed this buggy and came down to fetch you, I hate seeing people hurt by that stupid idiot Dio. Anyways, I will be moving on from here real soon, I have spent enough time helping people like you, although its has taught me to be sneaky!" she smiled but it quickly faded when the alarms sounded in the distance.
"Oh no! Someone must have seen us!" she cried.

Behind them a number of prisoners had noticed the buggy and a desperate rush of frantic criminals was now tearing across the dunes towards their vehicle. The central lift once again descended - Dio's guards alerted by the sudden commotion amongst of the prisoners.
"I think we should get out of here before they get any closer," the girl said hurriedly as she spun round and jumped in behind the steering wheel.
"Don't you think I should drive?" he asked her.
"Why? Oh… because you're a man, how pathetic… get in silly," she fired up the buggy's motors and stamped the accelerator down just as he clambered into the passengers seat.
"My names Shadow by the way, we never got a chance to introduce ourselves," he replied as he frantically tried to keep himself inside the speeding car.
"Mine's Raven, and who say's that I wanted to know your name anyway… I'm only kidding," she laughed uncontrollable whilst driving at his startled expression.
"You're not like any girl I've ever met," he told her, embarrassment clearly showing on his face.
She looked across at him, taking in his appearance for a moment before saying, "Well you're just like every boy I've ever seen, scruffy and dirty!" She once again fell into fits of laughter.
"I really wish you would watch where you go whilst you do that you know," his nervousness was clearly showing, he made a desperate grab for the wheel.
"Stop that ! I know what I'm doing," she slapped his hand away and he quickly pulled it back, cradling it into his body. "And you want to be in SOLDIER do you? you couldn't even fight a cold!" as the buggy sped off across the dunes her excited laughter could be heard for miles, even though no one was around to hear it.

At the base of the Golden Saucer stood a huge figure of a man surrounded by several uniformed guards.
"What do you mean they escaped? Are we not in the middle of a desert? How can they escape from here?" Dio was furious with his guards.
"Well sir… erm… they had a buggy…" stammered one brave guard.
"A buggy eh… are you sure the heat wasn't just getting to you?" Dio though for a moment before saying "Okay this is what I want to happen… who was on watch?" a few guards saluted proudly to their master.
"Right, those guards who were on watch can proceed across the desert… on foot!" the guards began to protest but Dio's look silenced them "The rest of you can get back up to the Saucer. Captain, you can contact Shinra and tell the president that Dio has two fugitives that he would be very keen to retrieve, very keen indeed." Dio turned and entered the lift as the guards anxiously began to carry out his demands.

Raven spun the wheel hard, following her compass directions north. "We should be clear of this ridiculously large desert in no time!" she yelled over the loud roaring noise of the engine. She looked over and chuckled at his wide, horrified eyes. "You not going to be car sick are you?" she laughed.
"N-no," he said nervously.
"Oh damn! They are sending in reinforcements!" Raven growled. "Put on your seatbelt!" he hurried to do as she said as she quickly switched gears and punched the accelerator down to the floor. The buggy was much faster than the pursuing vehicles, it was specifically made for desert riding. It flew through the air as it finally reached the edge of the desert and landed hard on the grassy field. "Ouch!" she cried when her head hit the ceiling, she wished that she too had put on her seatbelt. Raven turned the wheel and the buggy skidded across a shallow crossing in the river and disappeared into the forest on the other side, she drove a little slower to weave around the trees and finally she stopped when they were about a mile into the thickening foliage.
"Why are you stopping here?" he asked.
"They will follow the buggy's tracks and find us in no time, we need to go from here on foot," she explained.
"But what about the buggy? I thought that you borrowed it," he replied.
"I did!" she laughed, "from Dio!! I'm sure that he will be happy to find it even though he probably hasn't even realized that its gone!" Shadow couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Raven ran through the woods with Shadow following closely behind her. "Look, there's Cosmo Canyon!" she pointed to a small village on the face of the mountain. They ran into the village and collapsed by the fire, exhausted from the run. "I'm so tired!" she moaned, curling up into a ball to go to sleep.
"Me too," Shadow yawned and lay down on the other side of the fire, "Raven?"
"Yeah?" she breathed.
"Thanks for getting me out of there..." his voice faded into a yawn. They both fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.

"They're just kids!" the SOLDIER looked down and the sleeping pair that had escaped from the desert prison.
"I don't think we should turn them over to Dio. There is no telling what would happen to them in that prison. Especially that real little one," the other one said, pointing at Raven.
"You're right, but what are we going to do with them?" the first one asked.
"Hell we can't just turn them over to him, they're too young to survive what he'll do," the guard turned to his superior officer and pleaded with him. "Perhaps if we only took one back he'd be happy."
They both looked at the sleeping form of Shadow and agreed, "He'll do nicely."

Raven awoke later that day and searched around Cosmo Canyon for her timid friend, but to no avail. Whilst searching she climbed to the very top of the mountain and she was somewhat surprised to find a that there was a laboratory at the top. Not afraid of anything that it may contain, and driven by her curiosity, she entered. She poked around the various devices for quite some time marveling at their complexity before a voice startled her.
"What can I do for you my dear, or are you just in my laboratory for a look around?" asked a strange looking man who had entered the room from a ladder near the middle of the room.
"I was looking for my friend… Shadow," Raven blurted out to the man.
"If your talking about the young man you entered the village with I'm afraid to say that some SOLDIER's took him away," said the professor.
"And after I went to all the trouble of rescuing him, honestly some people. I suppose that I will have to go find him then, do you know which way they were headed?" she asked the man, unsure of how he could know so much anyway.
"The last time that I saw them in my telescope they appeared to be heading towards Junon, but its more likely they are heading for Midgar, after all that's where the SOLDIER's that took your friend are from," said the man.
"If its Midgar that they are headed to then its to Midgar I shall go," swore Raven. "And I'll bring that silly little boy back!" She stormed out of the laboratory and the little man chuckled to himself in amazement…

Chapter 1
~Raven~

I slipped through the darkness around the Shinra building until I discovered a door off to the left side of the main entrance. I pushed it open and began to climb the flight of steps. I looked up and groaned, I had never seen so many stairs in my life! I ran, in a hurry to get up to the top, after about ten flights I began to slow down.
"How long is this thing?!" I moaned, out of breath. I kept going up further and further for about thirty minutes until I finally reached the top, I sat down on the top step and gingerly looked down. After a minute or two when I had gathered my wits I cracked open the door, once I was satisfied that no one was around I pushed it all the way open and strode inside.

"Just my luck, he isn't even here," I muttered as I silently walked down the hallway. I stopped and peeked around a corner.
"What are you doing here?" I jumped, startled, and spun around. I shoved myself against a wall and stared wide eyed at the SOLDIER in front of me. He wasn't much older than me, three or four years at the most, he had long white-blond hair and green eyes that mirrored my own.
"Don't scare me like that!" I cried, looking up at him. He was taller than me by a few inches.
"You never answered my question," he replied seriously. I adjusted the hat on my head and fidgeted with the oversized blue shirt that I had stolen whilst trying to avoid his gaze - I didn't want him to be able to figure out my true gender, I didn't trust men anymore.
"I came here looking for a friend," I mumbled. "Some SOLDIER's took him away and I was told that they may have brought him here. He is just so young and I am afraid for him."
"You don't look very old yourself," he replied.
"I'm fifteen!" I spat.
"You look about twelve," he laughed. I kept forgetting that I appeared younger when I posed as a boy, I kept my gaze on the floor, afraid that if his eyes met mine then he would see the truth there.
"Hey! What's going on? Who is he?" My head shot up when I heard the deep male voice, I watched as a guard got closer and closer, finally I panicked and I broke into a run. Throwing open the door to the stairwell I began racing down the steps. "Don't just stand there!" the guard yelled at the white haired man, who appeared to be in mild shock. "He's getting away!" "I'll follow him down the steps you take the elevator," the white haired man instructed. The guard nodded and ran down the hall, the white haired man followed me. He burst through the door and looked over the railing to see that I was already way ahead of him. He raced after me, taking the steps two and three at a time, I looked up and saw him gaining on me so I pushed myself harder and faster. I looked up a second time and gasped when I saw how close he was, finally I saw the door and smiled as I raced towards it. Before I could get to it however it flew open and the guard from upstairs came running after me. "No!" I shrieked running back up the steps. The white haired man was in front of me, the guard behind me, I was trapped. I stopped, I looked down and then up, they were both so close. My heart pounded in my throat, my breaths grew short and quick, I could feel the pressure of fear and panic surround me, the seconds seemed like minutes until I made my decision, this was crazy! I felt something hit my legs and get tangled in between them, I screamed as I fell forward and rolled down the steps, my hat came off and my waist length, brown hair landed gently over my crumpled body, covering me like a blanket.
The white haired man stopped short when he saw me, the guard just stood there staring, in shock. "I can't believe I just did that to a girl," he muttered.
"Get the hell out of here!" the white haired man screamed at him. The guard jumped to, and ran back down the stairs, just as he was told. I groaned and pushed myself up, every muscle in my body protested as the pain surged through them. He approached me slowly and I pushed myself backwards.
"Stay away from me," I growled, glaring at him through the hair that had fallen in front of my face.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he promised. I wiped away the tears and my hair as I looked away from him. My mask was broken, I could no longer hide the sorrow that I had hidden from the world, I could no longer make people believe that I was strong and happy. I took a deep breath and sighed heavily.
"It doesn't matter," I muttered. "People have been hurting me all of my life."
"What?!" he looked surprised.
"My uncle," I sighed. "He had a really bad temper, every time he got angry at something or someone he would take it out on whoever was the closest to him. A lot of times that was me, my father made me take him his lunch up at the reactor." I shook my head and looked up at him with wide eyes, "Why am I telling YOU this?!"
I got up and hurried down the steps, obviously favoring my left leg. He caught up with me in no time and blocked the way out.
"Why don't you just let me go?" I moaned.
"I can't," he told me.
"Why not?" I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. "Because I am a trespasser and deserve to be thrown in jail for the rest of my life?"
"No, because I can't let you go back out there," he replied. "You wouldn't last two seconds in Midgar looking like that."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Like a woman," he laughed.
"Why do you care?" I muttered, turning my back to him.
"It's my job as a SOLDIER to protect," he said, I started back down the stairs, ignoring him.
"Oh!" I cried when I put my full weight on my left leg, I fell backwards into a sitting position and started yelling a stream of curses at the guard who had tripped me, the white haired man was at my side in moments. He grabbed my leg and I slapped his hand away, this time he put his hand on his hip.
"Will you calm down and let me look at it?" he asked impatiently. I crossed my arms and made a "hmpf" sound. He stretched out my leg and rested it on my knee while he slowly pulled off the knee high, black leather boot. "It isn't broken," he announced after examining my ankle.
"I could have told you that," I muttered.
He shook his head and looked up at me. I couldn't help but to smile at him. I had honestly never seen anyone so handsome and so serious! He pushed my boot back on and slipped one arm under my knees and the other under my back and lifted me up. I looked around as he took me outside and around the corner to a helicopter pad, I threw my arms around his neck and held on tight.
"You aren't putting me on that thing are you?" I cried, frightened.
"Its the only way to get to Junon without it taking a week, you don't have to be afraid," he replied, "It is completely safe." I turned my face into his shoulder as he approached the helicopter, the pilot was waiting. "We need to go to Junon," I heard him say.
"You got it!" the pilot jumped into his seat and started the engine, I felt the rush of wind as the propellers began spinning faster and faster. He got in and held me, seeing that I wasn't about to let go out of my fear of flying.
"Are you alright?" he asked, I nodded against his chest. "Why are you so afraid?"
"I have never flown before," I said into his shirt.
"Can't you at least look at me?" he chuckled, I lifted my head and looked into his eyes for answers.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked.
"Why not?" he countered.
"Because you are a SOLDIER and I snuck into the Shinra building," I said. "I have heard of people getting shot for doing that very same thing."
"Who says that I always play by the rules?" he asked seriously. "I do what I think is right."
"You aren't like most men that I've met..." I shook off the strange feeling that I was beginning to have and looked away. "I... I don't trust men," I muttered, not realizing that I was speaking out loud.
"Like you said, I am not like ordinary men," he sighed.
"No you aren't," I touched his face then pulled away as if I had been burned. I looked at my hands that I had clasped in my lap, I had clenched them so tight that my knuckles had turned white. His hand covered mine and my head shot up in my surprise, I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine.
"We're here!" the pilot called back, he set the helicopter down. I looked down and felt myself being lifted once again as he carried me into the big city of Junon.
"I have a room here where you can rest," he told me, I yawned, I guessed I was really tired. I laid my head against his chest and closed my eyes, it wasn't long before I was sound asleep.

"What..? Where am I?" I sat up and let my eyes focus in the dark room. I looked up, the moonlight was flowing through the glass doors that lead to a balcony bathing the room in a silvery light. I got up and stepped through the curtains that were being gently lifted by the ocean breeze, the wind caught my hair and pushed it away from my face as I looked out at the sparkling water, the moon illuminated the waves as they rhythmically rose and fell.
"What is it about you....?" I turned when I heard the quiet whisper, the nighttime sky made his silver hair glow a bluish color. He stepped towards me slowly, not taking his eyes from mine, "I can't just let you go. Not knowing where you are going or if you are safe. If I do... I will regret it. I will regret it for the rest of my life. I swear... you have bewitched me." He suddenly swept me into his arms.
"But..." he pressed his lips to mine before I could protest. I felt my feet lift off the ground as he picked me up, then he set me down and let me go.
"I'm sorry," he said gripping the balcony railing and looking down at the ocean. "I don't know what came over me."
I placed my hand over one of his and he lifted his gaze to meet mine. "Are you my destiny?" I asked quietly.
We looked at each other for a moment, the wind blowing around us, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks in the distance. He turned to face me and I tugged his cloak so that he was forced to lean forward and this time I kissed him, his arms circled around my waist.
"I hope so...." he breathed.

Chapter 2
~Shadow~

I hate this place, it's the only thing that I am sure of now. I don't know how long its been since the SOLDIER's brought me back to this bitter sweet prison. I have struggled for so long against the raging heat of the desert and the brutal survival methods of my fellow prisoners, I can only remember two things, my name… Shadow and her eyes - they were so green and clear. If I ever make it out of this terrible place I think that I will look for that girl, I owe her a debt for trying to save me so long ago.

Last week I traveled far out into the desert, I was not sure what for exactly but I knew that I had to go. Under any other circumstances a storm would probably have come in and I would have been swallowed up by the endless sands, but not that day. Instead I traveled for hours and hours without sustenance and for some reason the desert appeared to let me pass. God knows how long I could have walked for but it didn't matter because eventually I found they thing that I was supposed to find. Without direction or reason I suddenly stopped and began digging in the sand, I knew not what I was doing I just knew that I had to dig, so I did. Shortly after I had started to scoop sand up with my hands I located a box about five foot in length. As I lifted it out of the hole I noticed that something was inscribed into its lid, I quickly blew off the sand that covered the letters - the word ruby was carved into the lid in strange spidery lettering. I pondered the meaning of this word but could find none, so I reasoned that perhaps a clue may reside in the box itself, I gingery opened the lid - I was surprised that it did not resist, despite its visible age.

Inside the box was a piece of back, red and white cloth that appeared to be wrapped around something, as I unwrapped the smooth fabric I noticed that it was a garment, a cloak of types. Inside the carefully wrapped cloak was the most magnificent weapons that I had ever seen - they were both red in color and their smooth cool blades shone in the piercing sun, I held the swords in my hands and it felt so right! I couldn't believe that I had just found them, it was like they had been here waiting for me. I took my desert cape off and put on my new cloak, it felt like no other piece of clothing that I had ever worn, it was fastened at the neck by a strange looking clasp - it appeared to be filled with a glowing ball of materia, I was not completely sure what it was or how to use it, but I could work it out later. The bottom of the box contained two scabbards for the swords and a belt to fasten them too, each were bright red in color and both were inscribed with the word ruby, I fitted them to my body and put the swords in their scabbards. I then covered my new things over with my desert cloak, it was a shame to do so but I didn't want the other prisoners to see them, I then returned the box to its hole and did my best to cover it over, whoever had put it there might want the box to remain hidden, perhaps I would return here one day to replace the weapons. It was getting quite late now, the sun had gone down without my noticing, I had to get back to the camp before I froze to death - the hidden danger of living in the desert. I wrapped my cloak around my body and set off - I followed my solitary footprints across the sand and back to the camp.

Far beneath the sand the massive form of Ruby Weapon awoke for a brief moment. He moved his giant hand through the earth to clutch the box that he had held for so long. Once he had his possession back in his grasp he once again slipped back into his deep slumber…

***

As I entered the camp I felt that all eyes were on me - even though no one was in visible sight, my hand moved slowly to the hilt of one of my new swords and its leather handle gave me the reassurance I required. I quickly traveled to my bunk and crouched down in the shadows, already ideas were forming in my head about what I could do with my new possessions, one thing I knew, it was time to try to escape again, and this time for good!

A whole week of planning my escape and trying to hide my new belongings from my cell mates has lead to this day - the day of my escape. Whatever, or whoever had provided me with these wondrous swords had obviously intended for me to use them and I wasn't about to tamper with fate. At the same time I was very nervous because I have never been good at that kind of thing, I'll admit it I'm not much of a fighter, however I am fed up of this place - I've been here too long, so its now or never. My plan - its not very good, is to cause a commotion amongst the others and wait for Dio's guards to come down to break it up, I then plan to rush into the lift and back up to the Saucer, once I make it up to the Saucer I will fight my way out if need be. In fact the more I think of it the more I realize that it's really a very pathetic idea, perhaps I should just wait… no my minds made up I'm going to do something.

Suddenly the lift descended, it was time, I gripped the hilt of my swords - for some reason it always cleared my mind. The guards stepped out of the lift, I wondered why the had come down to the desert floor, they had never done that before unless they were delivering a new prisoner. Then out of the lift stepped the huge form of Dio himself, he motioned to the guards, pointing in my direction and the guards began walking towards me, it was then that it all happened…

The next thing that I remember was standing in amongst a small group of tents at the entrance to the Golden Saucer. The SOLDIER's all looked at me with startled faces as they manned their stores, I realized that I was now a fugitive and so I quickly ran out of the camp. Thousands of things began running though my mind as I raced across the plains, one of which was "Where the hell am I going?" I choose a random direction and continued my flight. Soon I was in a small group of trees and I decided to stop, I managed to locate a small pool of water and I leaned over it to take a drink. Very quickly I jumped back from the reflection that met me as I descended to drink, I was covered in blood! Again I leaned over the water and I took a long look at my blood soaked face - it had been so long since I had seen my own face but I was sure that it hadn't been so red the last time I had seen it. I rose to my feet and looked at my clothes - they too were covered in crimson blood, I struggled to remember what had happened. I sat by the pool and tried to gather my thoughts and very slowly it all came back to me…

As the guards had walked towards me I had suddenly drawn my swords as something came over me. I then rushed at them in a crazed frenzy as they struggled to draw their weapons, Dio just watched on as I mercilessly slaughtered his soldiers. Once I had finished with the two guards I began over towards Dio himself - he stood between me and the lift, he did not move a muscle, instead he just stood and watched me approach.
"Get out of my way," I snarled.
"And why should I little boy? Do you think the mighty Dio is afraid of you?" Dio mocked.
"Because if you don't move then I will kill you where you stand," I spat back, to my surprise Dio moved aside and beckoned for me to pass.
"Who am I to stop such a mighty child?" he laughed. "Anyway you won't get far." I took no heed in his words, I new that they would be waiting for me but I had no choice, as the lift traveled upwards I prepared for the fight - I was going to have to leave the Golden Saucer the hard way.

As the doors opened the guards attacked and I quickly fought back their advance. There must had been about ten of them and I remember thinking that this was it, but I fought on with as much intensity as I could muster, my two swords whistled as they moved through the air. Before I knew what had happened the ten guards lay at my feet surrounded by pools of spreading blood, I quickly stepped over their bodies and raced towards the exit. As I reached the tram I noticed a number of people were getting into it, so I sheathed my swords and ran into the compartment. It was some time before any of the passengers noticed that I was covered in blood and before any of them began to scream the car reached the platform and I leaped out. I then found myself at the foot of the Golden Saucer covered in blood and surrounded by tents and stalls, I decided that it would be best to just run.

As I returned to the present from my alarming flashback I threw some of the cool water on my face to wash away some of the blood. I still could not believe what had happened and I guessed that either I was dreaming or I had died, either way I could not have just done what I had, I wasn't that brave. Too many things were rushing through my head so I lay by the pool and let them wash over me, before long I had fallen asleep.

My dreams were troubled as I relived the last year of my life and the struggles that I had gone through. I remembered the day that I had gone down to that prison and the daring escape of the green eyed girl. I remembered returning to the Saucer in the custody of the SOLDIER's and the look of utter contempt on the face of Dio as had dragged me back down to the prison. I remembered the year that followed and the hardships that it had brought, I certainly wasn't as fragile as I had been before, down in the sand I had matured quickly. I remembered my pledge that I would find that girl and so I decided that the next day I would begin my search - I had very little else to do. As my dreams became stranger a voice began calling to me while I slept, "Come to me," it said, over and over. I thought that it was just my mind playing tricks but it spoke again and again saying the same words "Come to me." Then I got an piercing image of the desert that had held me for so long before the voice beckoned to me one more time. The voice then stopped and the image disappeared, as I drifted deeper into sleep I forgot the strange message.

I awoke with the words once again fresh in my mind and for no good reason I started to walk back towards the desert. I never though about what it meant, I just walked through the forest and across the plains till the desert stretched out before me. After spending so long at its center it seemed strange to now be standing on the outside looking in, then to my total amazement I stepped into the sand and started walking across the dunes. I don't know how long I walked for but it seemed forever and the hot desert sun pounded on my forehead, eventually I stopped and waited. Suddenly and without warning the ground began to shake beneath my feet, however despite my brains instructions to run I remained stationary. From beneath the sand a giant hand appeared and swung down to take a grip on the surface, once again I tried to move but my legs simply would not obey, another hand appeared. Then an unbelievably large torso began to quickly emerge from the sand and within seconds a towering creature stood before me.

For what seemed like minutes it stood there not doing anything, and then the massive hand began to lift up. In a gesture of pointless defiance I drew my two swords and suddenly that hand stopped its ascent and returned to the creatures side, once again some time passed before anything else happened.
"WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" boomed a voice, not aloud, but somehow it seemed to be speaking directly in my brain.
"Shadow," I replied, speaking out loud, I had no idea who I was talking too.
"LISTEN CAREFULLY SHADOW BECAUSE I AM ABOUT TO TELL YOU A VERY IMPORTANT STORY, ONE THAT YOU WILL PROBABLY NOT UNDERSTAND BUT IT MUST BE TOLD TO YOU NEVERTHELESS," said the voice, again directly into my head. The creature in front of me then moved its massive red torso as it appeared to crouch in the sand.
"COME CLOSER TO ME YOUNG WARRIOR, AND PUT YOUR SWORDS AWAY," it ordered and I obeyed its words instantly. The next time it spoke it did so using a small whispering voice that sounded very foreign in origin.
"My name is Ruby, and I have brought you here to tell you the task that I have given you. A long time ago I and my brothers were not of this planet, instead we traveled the stars that fill these sky's, until that is we came to visit this world. Somehow my brothers became trapped and were unable to leave, I however managed to escape that fate. They reside now to the very north of this planet in a great wall of ice, where they have been for thousands of years. I came here to this desert to rest until the day came when an object powerful enough to free my kin moved on the earth, that day is now and I can feel its power, somewhere out there is the key to releasing my brothers from their icy prison and leaving this planet. However I myself cannot retrieve this object and so I have chosen you to make sure that it reaches the place that it must reach in order to free my fellow Weapons." I tried desperately to take in all the information that this creature was giving me, but I still wasn't sure why he had picked me. "I picked you because your life was about to end," the shocking news of my imminent death sent a shiver down my spine. "Today Shadow your were meant to die, but I changed fate in order that you become my vessel to freedom. I gave you those swords and the cloak because I knew that they would guide you away from the path that you had been given, I picked you from the countless numbers that I could have, and I see that I have not been wrong in my selection. Remember this young warrior, you belong to me now, you exist only to carry out my ultimate goal and in return I shall give you a chance to live longer than you were meant to live. At the end of this journey you will have seen the world my emissary and you will have done things you never though possible, that is your reward," at this point I should have felt intimidated by his words, but they made perfect sense.
"Your task my son has no description, only a name. There exists a man on this planet who will bring this all to pass and you must make sure that he is in North Cave when the time is right, fate will do the rest. This will be your task and it will take you many years and all over this planet, but you will succeed. The man whom you must find, protect and deliver is called Sephiroth and his destiny says that he will free my brothers, all you have to do is find this man." I tried to think if I knew anyone of that name, but I could think of none, how was I supposed to find one man in the whole planet? it seemed like an impossible task. "The task will only be impossible if you do not try, no matter what you think I have chosen you and you cannot fail. I now return to my slumber and I leave you with your task, I will be watching you however so do not forget your undertaking." Before I had a chance to say anything he started to descend back into the sand, soon only his hands and head were still visible. "Go and look for the child of Jenova Shadow, if you find my sisters son your task will be nearly complete, deliver Sephiroth to his fate and I shall be pleased with you." As the last of his body disappeared beneath the desert I turned and headed back towards the plains, it was going to be a long journey…

Chapter 3
~2 years later~

The fighting was getting worse, bodies lay all over the battlefield. The SOLDIER's fought with all the intensity that they could muster but they had been fighting for days and it was beginning to show. Lead by the impressive form of Sephiroth the SOLDIER's fought with everything that they had left, but time was running out and Sephiroth knew it. Somewhere in the dwindling ranks of the SOLDIER's Shadow struggled with two attackers. Sephiroth was besieged at the front of the battle with several attackers whilst at the same time trying to decided the best action to take. Being so far from Shinra and reinforcements there was no was to expect that any more SOLDIER's were coming, that left only one option - retreat.
"Retreat!" Sephiroth's booming command was heard by all and his men reacted almost instantly. Shadow heard the command and started towards the trees, the only cover that they could run too, once he and the other SOLDIER's were clear of the attackers they broke and ran into the forest. Shadow dodged and weaved through the trees, his cloak flowing out behind him, ahead he saw the form of Sephiroth and a SOLDIER in a black cloak, he quickly ran after them.

Sephiroth stopped once he knew that he was far enough away not to be detected by the enemy. The SOLDIER in the black cloak bent forward and Sephiroth patted him on the back saying reassuring words. Shadow burst into the tiny clearing and Sephiroth whirled around and pointed his sword at him. Shadow's arms quickly raised over his head, knowing full well that he had no chance in a fight against this man. Once Sephiroth realized that he was a SOLDIER he lowered his masamune and turned back to the cloaked figure.
"Are you alright?" Shadow could hear the whispered words and saw the cloaked SOLDIER nod his head in response. Sephiroth turned back to him, "we are heading to Mideel where we will be safe until we are found, lets just hope that it is sooner than later." Shadow nodded and watched as Sephiroth put his hand on the young SOLDIER's back to urge him to move on. He could not help but wonder why he was wearing a cloak or why such a powerful man was treating him so... oddly, was he a brother? He didn't remember hearing about Sephiroth ever having any family, he shook off the questions and hurried to catch up with them.
"Its a long way to Mideel," Shadow heard the figure say in a low voice. "I don't think we'll make it there by nightfall we should find a secluded spot and make a camp, preferably a cave so no one can see us." Sephiroth nodded.
"You are right," he sighed, then he chuckled. "As usual."
Shadow shook his head in amazement, was that a smile he saw on Sephiroth's face? This was the man who had the reputation for being so cold and unfeeling. Things were getting more strange and confusing by the second, this couldn't be the cold man that everyone had told him about...

"Do you want me to scout ahead sir?" asked Shadow to his commanding officer. "No, we'll all go, it will be safer that way," Sephiroth scanned through the trees but no other SOLDIER's could be seen. "It can't just be us!" he proclaimed "Where the hell is the rest of the squad?"
"They've probably scattered sir, but don't worry, they know how to survive," reassured Shadow. "Perhaps we should leave." Sephiroth once again leaned down to whisper to the cloaked figure and then he motioned for Shadow to follow.

Traveling through the trees Sephiroth had his mighty long sword drawn and Shadow held his twin katana, both were well trained and they moved through the trees with a deathly silence. The cloaked figure also moved with professional grace, and followed Sephiroth's moves very closely. Through the tangle of trees they went without leaving any evidence that they had ever been there at all, evidence of the skill of SOLDIER's best. Shortly into their speedy retreat they located a suitable cave and began setting up camouflage to cover the entrance. Once the cave was totally undetectable and Sephiroth was pleased that they would be safe if anyone should pass by, they all entered the cave.
Inside the cave very little was said, Sephiroth and the cloaked figure of Raven sat at one side of the cave and Shadow stood guard at the entrance. Sephiroth and Raven sat talking quietly to each other, Sephiroth's concern clearly evident on his face. Shadow stood quietly, thinking to himself how strange it was that fate had led him to the object of his destiny in this way. Ruby had intended for Shadow to direct Sephiroth's path, but Shadow never thought that they would be thrown together like this, it was very strange.

Raven sighed very loudly and looked into the darkness of the cave. She could hear the pitter pat of the beginnings of a storm outside, she knew that it would rain heavily tonight. Sephiroth busied himself building a fire as Raven stood and stepped a little farther into the shadows.
"You shouldn't go in there," Shadow said, watching her movements and wondering if he was mistaken in thinking that it was a man who was hidden inside the black cloak - no man he had ever seen moved so silently and gracefully, much like a cat.
"Do not worry about me. I know what I am doing," he heard a growl and turned to look through the branches.
"If you say so," he muttered, he heard Sephiroth chuckle behind him and he once again glanced back at them. Raven had moved out of sight from them both, Shadow looked at Sephiroth.
"Don't you think that we should make him stay here?" Sephiroth gave Shadow an amused look and shook his head.
"Don't worry about HIM," he chuckled. "There is no danger here."
"Are you sure about that?" the voice came from inside the cave and Sephiroth got up to check up on her, Shadow followed close behind. They stepped into a large cavern that was lit up unnaturally, the cloaked figure stood on the opposite side of the cavern behind a very large beast that appeared to be a red dragon. "I don't think its friendly!" she called to them, the beast roared and snapped at her. She jumped back out of the way of its very sharp teeth and moved to the side, attempting to get to Sephiroth.
Sephiroth saw that the beast wasn't about to leave her alone so he cast a lightning spell to get its attention. The dragon whipped around, its tail knocking Raven off her feet. She landed face down on the ground, her long hair spilled out to rest on the stones around her, Shadow stared at her, amazed. Sephiroth held his sword ready and called to Shadow, "Can you see her?"
"Her?! What?" Shadow was totally taken by Sephiroth query.
"Can you see Raven you fool," barked Sephiroth as he tried to get into a better position.
"I… can see her, she's okay.. I think," Shadow tried to move between Raven and the dragon in an attempt to stop it from getting closer to her but the Dragon kept moving around. "We're going to have to take it on sir, its too close to her," Shadow would normally wait for orders but this situation called for quick thinking.
"Very well, attack from both sides and make sure it doesn't get to her," Sephiroth drew his long sword and rushed the dragon, it turned to face his attack. Shadow pulled his swords out of their scabbards and rushed into the fight, he couldn't let Sephiroth die here or he would fail in his task.
The battle was furious and the dragon had the best of both of its attackers on several situations, things were looking desperate - it was just too strong. Both heavily wounded and gasping for breath Sephiroth and Shadow both attacked again and again with wild slashes and stabs. The dragon turned from Sephiroth and focused its attentions on Shadow who struggled under its furious attack, his red swords sliced at the beast and the dragon screamed in anger. At the same time Sephiroth viciously attacked the creatures tail, slicking huge chunks out of its body. Once again the dragon screamed - this time in desperation, it struggle to fight off the renewed attack and in total despair it hit Shadow with its strongest magic.
Waves and waves of fire washed over Shadow and the heat was immense. The dragon put all of is MP into the attack and the fire burned hotter and hotter, Sephiroth said a quick prayer for the lost SOLDIER before running up the creatures back. All the way up its body he ran till he reached the head, taking his sword in both hands he drove the cold steel into the creatures head with every ounce of strength he could muster, the dragon collapsed and the wave of fire stopped.
Sephiroth jumped off the smoking carcass and quickly ran to the side of the fallen Raven, it appeared that she had hit her head but even as he reached her she was beginning to come to.
"It'll take more than that to keep me down," she said in a hoarse whisper that showed that she was more effected than she'd like to say.
"Never mind that, you'll feel better in a minute," Sephiroth stepped back and cast a cure spell over Raven, who instantly began to feel better.
"What about that SOLDIER?" asked Raven. "Where is he?"
"He's dead, the dragon got him" said Sephiroth as he looked across to where Shadow had been. It was still quite smoky but in the mist Sephiroth could make out a shape in the dissipating smog. He walked over to where Shadow had stood to find the SOLDIER's remains, but was surprised to find none. Instead there was a man-sized black shape that stood where his fellow attacker had stood not moments before, as he stared into the blackness it began to clear and take form. Seconds later the cloak unfolded and Shadow re-sheathed his swords, he looked about in amazement at the dragon and himself.
"What the hell?!" proclaimed Sephiroth. "Nothing could have survived that."
"I know," agreed Shadow, "but something saved me." Shadow looked down at the clasp that fastened his cloak and the materia glowed a bright Ruby colour, standing out in the gloomy darkness.

"So you have special materia huh?" Sephiroth looked at it closely. "Its a good thing or you wouldn't be standing here now." He turned to Raven who sat on a rock with her face buried in her hands and her elbows propped up on her knees, he walked over to her and knelt beside her. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"No," she shook her head, "I was foolish… I could have got you guys killed, and for what? All because of my curiosity!"
"Its alright," Sephiroth said. "Even I didn't think that there was anything in this cave. Don't be so hard on yourself." She sighed and looked up at him.
"I suppose so," she said quietly, she put her hand on his face and looked at him sadly. "You're hurt," she said, clearly upset.
"Its just a scratch," he said with a smile, Shadow watched as she glared at him. "A scratch can be more than it appears. Its looks as though I get my chance to make up for my stupidity, sit down."
Sephiroth did as he was told and sat down in between Raven's legs. "Don't even think about going anywhere," Raven said to Shadow as she quickly braided Sephiroth's hair to keep it out of the way. "You're next." Shadow watched with interest as Sephiroth removed his cloak and let Raven's expert fingers stitch up the wounds on his body, healing seemed to be one of her strong points. He wondered if she would ever consider teaching him the art, it would be very useful. Sephiroth got up and Raven motioned for Shadow to sit down, he sat and removed his cloak and she tended his wounds as carefully as she had Sephiroth's. When she was finished he rose to his feet and turned to thank her, she was in the process of getting to her feet when she suddenly cried out. Sephiroth grabbed onto her to keep her from falling, "What's wrong ?" he asked.
"Its my ankle again," she muttered. "It still does this from time to time ever since that incident at the Shinra Building."
"At the Shinra Building?" Shadow asked, curiously.
"Its a funny story actually," she laughed. "I went there to find this silly little boy who got captured by SOLDIER's......." She looked up at Shadow, her amused eyes flaring emerald green...

Chapter 4
~Reunion ~

Her green eyes shone with the same sparkle that they had so many years ago and Shadow noticed this. It had been three years since they had seen each other but almost instantly they knew exactly who they were.
"Shadow is that you?" Raven asked as she looked at the young man before her.
"Raven… its been a long time hasn't it," said Shadow, and he could not help but smile. Meanwhile Sephiroth looked at Raven and Shadow with a bemused look on his face, but he waited till they were finished talking.
"I was taken back to the Golden Saucer by some SOLDIER's," whispered Shadow, scolding himself for getting emotional. "I thought that you had been taken to Midgar so I went there," replied Raven, he green eyes still sparkling. Then she quickly turned and said "This is my Sephiroth… I mean Sephiroth." She quickly corrected her statement. Shadow looked at Sephiroth and Sephiroth at Shadow, "I know who he is Raven, I have been under his command for some time."
"I remember you now," announced Sephiroth. "You were the special SOLDIER assigned to my group weren't you?"
"That was me, I talked to the president and specifically asked to be put into your squad, I wanted to see the great Sephiroth in action. Sephiroth looked around the cave. "In the current situation I wouldn't say I live up to expectation."
"No, you don't live up to expectation, you exceed it by a long way," Shadow thought to himself, it was clear why Sephiroth had been picked, he was very strong.

Raven sighed, "Well I knew that it was my luck that you weren't at Midgar. Still, I guess it was my destiny to go because that is where I met Sephiroth."
"Really?" Shadow asked. "Then I guess you are right, fate works in a strange way." Shadow knew just the extent that the statement could reach to.
"You are right there," she looked up at Sephiroth. "And it is strange to see you again in this way, I had not even recognized you since you have grown so much. You are fourteen now right? Alot changes in three years."
Shadow looked at Raven and nodded then he turned away and blushed, he caught Sephiroth's smile in the corner of his eye and lowered his gaze to the floor. Raven turned and looked around the cave. "I'm cold, lets go back to the fire," she announced, very matter of fact. Then she disappeared back in the darkness, Sephiroth chuckled to himself then followed her. Shadow hung back for a while to look around the room, he stepped over to the spot where Raven had fallen earlier and noticed a dark puddle very close by. He knelt down beside it and touched his fingers to it, when he lifted his hand back up his eyes widened. "Blood," he whispered to himself. He wiped his hand clean and ran to find Raven and Sephiroth. "Her stubbornness is gonna get her killed."

Back at the warmth of the fire they talked long into the night about what had happened to them since they met all those years ago. Sephiroth did not say much, instead he chose to listen to their stories and stare into the intoxicating eyes of Raven. They both kept back important facts from each other, Raven her love for Sephiroth and Shadow his destiny given to him by Ruby, instead they talked about the things that had brought them to this cold, damp cave. Long after the fire had gone out Raven slipped into a deep sleep and just as Sephiroth was about to rest himself Shadow called him over. "I might be stepping on your toes here but you realize that she's no where near as well as she say's she is, I found blood back in the cave, that dragon hit her pretty hard," Shadow tried to predict what Sephiroth was going to say in response but the tall man's eyes gave nothing away. "She likes to think she is very strong, and she is… perhaps too much some times," Sephiroth looked genuinely worried about the way Raven disregarded her personal safety.
"Then we'll just have too look after her then won't we," whispered Shadow, just in case Raven was still awake.
"She won't like that one bit you know," whispered Sephiroth back.
"I know but she'll just have to deal with it won't she," they both chuckled lightly at their newly hatched plan, Raven slept silently. The two SOLDIER's talked for a little time after that, formulating a plan for the next day and talking about Shinra business, Shadow and Sephiroth were far from being friends but it was a start.

The next morning Raven woke to the smell of breakfast cooking on the little fire, as she wearily rose she was presented with a flask of water by Sephiroth and shortly after a piece of meat was given to her by Shadow.
"Eat and drink Raven, you have to regain your strength," said Sephiroth as he crouched near her.
"Right, what the hell is going on here?" demanded Raven, she was in no mood for this.
"Nothing, we're just looking after you, you seem to have a knack for getting yourself into trouble, so we thought we'd look after you for a while," replied Shadow, without even looking at his partner in crime.
"I don't need men," mumbled Raven, but her protests were not heeded, it appeared that she was going to be pampered for a while.

Raven crossed her arms and glared at them as she sat silently against the stone wall. "Men are so stubborn," she muttered to herself as she twisted to look at her side, the cut was still open and oozing out blood. "Damn it, nothing ever goes my way!"
"What are you talking about?" Sephiroth tried to see what she was looking at but she turned before he could.
"Its nothing!" she cried. He didn't listen to her, instead he pulled aside her cloak and saw the cut before she could push him away.
"Nothing huh? Why is it that you are so insistent about tending to our wounds but ignore your own?" he asked.
"I don't know," she sighed. "I guess I just don't want to be a bother to you. I get you into enough trouble already."
"Raven, you will never be a nuisance to me," Sephiroth told her. "If you remember I was the one who wanted you to come with me, doesn't that prove that I do not think that you are only in the way?"
"I guess so," Raven sighed. "We should get moving, you know. It would be a lot easier on us if we could get to Mideel."
Sephiroth nodded. "Well first things first," he announced. "You are letting me stitch up that wound." Raven finally relented and laid across his lap to give him easy access to the cut on her left side.

A few hours later they were on their way through the humid forest to the island town of Mideel. Raven groaned and sat down on a log over looking the ocean, "I hate being like this," she muttered.
"It's alright," Shadow replied. "It isn't like we are in a hurry anyways."
"Yeah, I know, I just hate being helpless," she breathed as she looked out at the water, there was a rustle in the bushes behind them and both Shadow and Sephiroth drew their swords. A large group of armed men leaped out of the brush and attacked them, it was the same men who had attacked their squad. Raven leapt to her feet and cringed when her side screamed in agony, she knew when she couldn't fight so she pulled herself up into the nearest tree and pulled her light-weight crossbow off her back. She loaded the weapon and fired on a man who was trying to climb the tree after her, it caught him cleanly in the shoulder and he fell from the tree. It was clear to her that they were outnumbered by a dozen or so men but Sephiroth and Shadow both fought fiercely.
Sephiroth sliced through his opponent and rounded off the next who was coming up behind him. Raven surveyed the area and watched as a man rushed at Shadow, who brought up his swords in time for the man to impale himself on them. She loaded the crossbow again and took aim at one of the men who was double teaming Sephiroth.
"Hey! What the?!" Raven felt the hit as one of the men climbed high enough to swing his staff at her. She fell back but caught herself by wrapping her legs around the branch she was hanging on. "Oh this is just swell!" she cried as she realized that she was open for an easy attack. She pulled up her crossbow and fired at the man who had knocked her down, he grabbed the protruding arrow and fell back. Sephiroth finished off the last of the men and rubbed the sweat from his brow.
"There could be more of them coming we should get out of here," he said.
"Hello!" Raven cried. "Could somebody get me down from here?!"
Despite the danger of the situation Sephiroth and Shadow could not help but split their sides in laughter at the sight of Raven suspended upside down on the tree branch with her arms crossed over her chest angrily. Once they managed to regain control of themselves they both walked over to the stranded women and helped her down. Raven looked at the both of them with a look of utter disgust and she stormed onwards through the trees with her laughing chaperons behind her.

"That's Mideel alright," whispered Sephiroth "If we can get within its walls we'll be safe until the Shinra reinforcements arrive." "Easier said than done sir, there's a large group of the enemy stationed just outside the door," said Shadow, who had just returned from scouting the area ahead. Raven looked at her two companions and thought for a moment.
"Why don't we just walk in," she recommended with a sly grin.
"Walk in!" they both replied looking at her as if she was mad.
"Yes, I don't see why we can't, I mean we're all good fighters and they won't stand a chance," she hesitated with her statement because they were both looking very strangely at her.
"What your proposing Raven is total suicide, those are the same men that were wiping out the squad, what makes you think that we alone can beat them?" asked Shadow.
"We don't have to beat them silly, just make it through them," she scolded back.
"She has got a point Shadow, if we storm them then we could make it through before they know what's going on," said Sephiroth.
"But how are we going to get across the plain without them noticing us, they'll see us coming a mile away," Shadow could see no way for the plan to work.
"We'll use this," said Raven as she produced a ball of materia from within her clothing.
"What is it?" asked Sephiroth.
"I found it back in that cave, its sleep materia," she replied.
"Will that work for this distance? We are quite far away you know," questioned Shadow.
"We'll never know until we try will we?" said Raven as she began to cast the spell.
Shadow watched on in amazement as Raven called on her Chaos Angel magic to combine with the sleep materia, her green eyes closed and all of a sudden midnight colored wings appeared behind her. She lifted off the ground and cast the sleep spell over the army of men, one by one they fell over into a deep sleep. Raven's feet touched the ground once again and the wings began to glow, they soon disappeared and she opened her eyes with a smile. "Lets go!" she motioned with her arm for them to follow and they raced across the field to the gates. Sephiroth pushed them open a small ways and let Raven and Shadow go in under his arm before following them, Raven fell back against the wall and sighed.
"I don't think that I want to be doing that anymore," she muttered. Sephiroth took that as a cue and bent to lift her up in his arms.
"Are you alright?" Shadow asked.
"Not really," she groaned before falling unconscious.
"What the.... Sephiroth what happened to her?!" Shadow looked from Raven to Sephiroth questioningly.
"Chaos Angel takes a lot of energy. It isn't a materia magic, it is her own special power that only she can possess," Sephiroth explained. "I wish that she wouldn't have used it, she's still weak from the cut on her side."
"If she hadn’t used it we wouldn't have got inside the city," Shadow replied.
"That's true, but I sometimes get this sense of protectiveness that just takes all other thoughts away....." he shook his head as if wondering why he was telling this boy his personal thoughts and walked away silently. They checked into a hotel and took Raven to the room where she could rest.

"Hey Raven, wake up," Sephiroth nudged the girl awake. "Come on we can go now, help came and we're leaving."
"Help came? My god how long was I asleep?!" she cried as she quickly woke.
"About a day and a half," he answered her.
"WHAT?!" she looked alarmed.
"Settle down!" he said. "You used up a lot of energy and your body had to rest," she dropped her face in her hands.
"I don't feel like I slept at all," she sighed.
"That will go away soon," he promised.
"Where is Shadow?" she questioned him.
"Don't worry, he’s already left for Junon, I am taking you there and then I am going to Nibelheim," he told her.
"Nibelheim?" she looked confused. "Why can't I go?"
"It is an easy mission, there is only a handful of us going, besides you need your rest," he said. "Do not get angry at me, I won't be gone long, two days tops."
"Alright, alright," she moaned. "Lets just leave this place."

Chapter 5
~Sephiroth's Disappearance~

Dressed in the normal blue uniform of the escort guards and carrying a normal looking sword it was easy enough to accompany Sephiroth without being detected. I had to be on this mission to make sure that Sephiroth found out the truth about Jenova and Shinra’s secret project, if he did then he would do the rest. I felt bad about leaving Raven alone but I had no choice in the matter, Ruby had once again called to me and told me that the task was at hand, I did as my master commanded.

The small car trundled along, we all remained silent as we traveled to Nibelheim. Apart from the driver their were four of us, Sephiroth, myself, another escort guard named Cloud and his friend Zack, a first class SOLDIER. Cloud and Zack were rookies and this was one of their first missions, Sephiroth of course was team leader. As a looked across to my friend's love, I noticed that he was somewhat withdrawn, his eyes showed that he was miles away - probably thinking about Raven. I couldn’t help feeling bad about this, I knew what I had to do and I knew that it meant the Raven would be without her love for a while, I vowed that I would look after her till he returned from North Cave. We stopped at the town and Sephiroth ordered us all to get out, we did as instructed and followed our leader as we walked through the town.

Up to the reactor we went and all was quiet until we reached it, we relieved the SOLDIER’s that guarded it and myself and Cloud waited outside while Sephiroth and Zack went in. It was quite some time before anything happened but suddenly there was a commotion from inside the building, Cloud and I raced inside to help. The scene before us was both bizarre and strange, Sephiroth stood there with Zack lying at the foot of the stairs, we cloud not believe what we were seeing. Sephiroth was quite unlike I had ever saw him, a madness filled his eyes and he didn’t look like the same person, Cloud ran at him to avenge his fallen friend. As he had Sephiroth fought I watched on in amazement, Cloud had very little chance of beating Sephiroth and I wondered if I would be next to fight the white haired SOLDIER, I hoped not.
Sephiroth’s sword slid through Cloud’s body with ease as he lifted the SOLDIER off the ground, Sephiroth laughed insanely, I knew then that the truth of his birth had destroyed him, I mourned his loss. Showing tremendous strength Cloud managed to push down on Sephiroth's sword until his feet touched the ground, then with a massive heave he trew Sephiroth over the side of the walkway, I had to react quickly. Using my materia I used all my strength to relocated Sephiroth’s body, it was a hard magic to cast and it drained me of all my energy, I collapsed to my knees, as I saw Sephiroth materialize in North Cave inside a bubble that would sustain him till the time was right I finally knew that my task was complete, I then blacked out and collapsed onto the floor.

When I awoke there was no sign of either Cloud or Zack, I appeared to be alone in the reactor, I took the opportunity to see what Sephiroth had saw, I walked up to the room that held Jenova. A massive metallic statue lay on the floor, its wires lying all over the place, the machinery in the room still clicked and whirled, Jenova was still alive and contained. I looked into the tank that held Ruby’s sister and I was shocked to see that Jenova looked very different form her other kin, she looked very evil. I shuddered at her appearance and I turned to leave the place, hoping that Jenova would remain there for ever. As I walked out of the reactor it suddenly hit me, Raven!! She, and the rest of the world would be told that Sephiroth was dead, I raced out the door - I had to get back to Midgar quickly!

Chapter 6
~Raven Changed~

I walked through the streets of Midgar wondering what could be taking Sephiroth so long to return from Nibelheim, I sighed and stepped out of Wall Market. I spotted the large television and stopped to watch Shinra's announcement.
"We regret to announce that our greatest SOLDIER, Sephiroth, has disappeared in action whilst carrying out a mission for Shinra. There has been no word from him or his team, who have also disappeared. We will mourn his loss greatly......" I couldn't hear anything else. I stood there wide eyed, not able to move or say anything, then I let out a scream of anguish that sent chills down the spines of anyone close enough to hear it.

"She is in shock...." I heard the voices all around me say.
"Do you have any idea why she might......." I opened my eyes but all that I could see was a bright light.
"......she needs to rest, I have never seen such a case of hopelessness....." I heard a door open and close then I heard Shadow's voice.
"Raven? Can you hear me??" I heard him say.
"I.... I can't see...." I choked out.
"That's only temporary, I promise," he said.
"Sephiroth!" I began to cry when I remembered why I was there, I tried to roll off the table but Shadow held me down.
"Settle down before you hurt yourself," he scolded me.
"But Sephiroth..... where is he?? Surely you know!!" I cried.
"I'm sorry Raven," he sighed. "All we can do now is just wait and hope that he shows up." I fell back and stared at the blankness, it was all that I could see, the despair surrounded me like nothing that I had ever felt before. What was I going to do? How was I going to be able to make it through this? How could I live not knowing where Sephiroth was?

"Raven....." I looked around but no one was there. "Sephiroth?" I asked into the nothingness. "Raven....." "Sephiroth!!" damn it, why couldn't I see him? I could feel him, he was there. "Sephiroth?? Where are you??" "Raven, I need you, help me…" "Sephiroth!!" my eyes were hot with unshed tears, was I even awake.....?? "Help me raven…"

I woke up and looked around, I could finally see again. Why was it that when you go blind you see darkness and all that I could see was light? I rose to my feet and walked to the window, how did I get back to Junon?
"Shadow?" I looked around the room but he was nowhere in sight, did I dream the whole thing? I never went to Midgar did I? I sighed and sat down in a soft chair. The newspaper beside me caught my eye. "No!!" I screeched. "Why couldn't this just be a nightmare? Damn it Raven wake up!!" I slapped myself hard across the cheek, leaving a red mark. I began to tremble as I slid to the floor and hugged my knees, I couldn't stop the tears from pouring out as I sat there hugging my knees to my chest. "Sephiroth...." I whispered to myself as I rocked back and forth. "Sephiroth, I will find you, I will find you if it is the last thing I do...."

Shadow approached the door to Raven's quarters and spoke to the guard that was posted there.
"Is she alright?"
"Well actually I just looked in on her," the guard answered. "I think she’s completely lost it."
"What?! Don’t speak about her like that!" Shadow pushed past him and walked into the room. He found me still sitting on the floor, my face red from crying and blood trailing down my arms where my fingernails had dug into them without my even realizing it.
"Raven!" he exclaimed kneeling beside me hurriedly.
"I thought I was dreaming," I moaned when he lifted my chin up. "I saw the paper.... I wasn't dreaming, all of this really did happen, Sephiroth is gone!"
"Raven, don't hurt yourself like this," Shadow pleaded with me. He picked me up and laid me back in the bed then he went back to the bathroom to get a wet cloth to wash my arms off with.
"You have to stay with me Shadow, you have to help me. I have to know what happened," I whispered. "I can feel....." I slipped into a troubled sleep and Shadow looked down at me sadly.

I awoke and stepped out onto the balcony to let the fresh ocean breeze blow my hair out of my face, just like all those years ago. I had just taken a shower and was feeling pretty good on the outside but my insides were broken apart, people have taken a liking to calling me the "Ice Queen" for walking around in dead silence everywhere that I went, Shadow had broken quite a few jaws over it, but still they continue their cruel ways.
I looked out at the tormented waves as they rolled around and crashed against the rocks. "Has it really been five years since Sephiroth has been gone?" I asked myself quietly. Shadow watched me from the doorway and sighed, I went through dramatic mood swings now, first I would be hopelessly depressed and then intensely angry. He could never tell if I was going to lash out at someone with my blades, I did it often, usually when someone would mention Sephiroth. He even had to pry me off a man once because I overheard him suggest that Sephiroth had run off. "I had almost killed the SOLDIER," I thought as I remembered it. I had leaped at him with my daggers raised high and landed on top of him, about to tear through his throat when Shadow pulled me away.
"What happened to the carefree Raven I used to know?" I could barely hear his words but I pretended not to. I know where she went, she left when the cold Raven moved in, when Sephiroth disappeared. The thought of Sephiroth being possibly dead made my heart ice over, I guess it was my mind's way of defending myself. I was so confused, I walked back into the room and Shadow was gone, probably to go to bed, it was getting late....

Chapter 7 ~Ruby's Reward~

My dreams were troubled, again he spoke to me and asked me to come to him in his desert prison, I could not resist. In the morning I packed up my things and prepared to leave Raven sleeping in her quarters, but before I could sneak away she found me.
"Where are you going Shadow?" she asked with a bemused look on her face.
"I have to go somewhere, someone wants to see me," I replied.
"And you were going to just sneak away without telling me" she looked very cross. "I can't believe you would just leave me here, especially after Sephiroth has been gone for so long," Raven said as tears appeared in her eyes.
"Sephiroth has been gone for some time now Raven, I think we'll just have to assume that he's dead," the look that Raven gave Shadow was very icy.
"He's not dead!" she shouted back. "I'm going to find him… we're going to find him, okay?" The tears now flowed down her elegant face.
"That's not my destiny," I whispered "I was only meant to lead him to his fate, not save him."
"What?" said Raven, she had not fully heard my whisperings.
"I'm going to the desert," I told her.
"The desert? But why?" she looked very confused.
"I don't know exactly, but I'll find out when I get there, so if you don't want to be left alone then you'll have to come with me," I hoped that she would choose to stay, I didn't know how Ruby would cope if she was there.
"Then I'll come with you, and after that we'll go looking for Sephiroth," I was worried that she would say that, I would have to take her to Ruby.
"Fine we're leaving now so you better go pack," I replied.

***

Once again the massive desert stretched out before me, but this time I knew what awaited me amongst the sand, my master. I started across the dunes and Raven followed me, not questioning my strange actions. She had not been the same since Sephiroth had disappeared and I was not sure what I could, or should do to help. I knew exactly where my friend was, but it wasn't for me to tell her that, fate would lead her to North Cave if it was meant to be so. We traveled for some time and I could see that the heat was getting to Raven so we stopped often to take drink and rest, once we had reached the spot I turned to my companion.
"Listen to me very carefully Raven because I need to warn you about what's going to happen. Your not going to believe your eyes but please don't run away or attack him I don't want you getting hurt," she nodded in agreement but her eyes showed a detached curiosity. Just as I had finished my statement the ground began to shake and Ruby appeared once again, I went to stand before him and again he crouched in the sand.
"Who is your companion my son?" he asked me.
"She is a good friend Ruby, she knew Sephiroth, thy nephew. I brought her here because she has very little left without Sephiroth, they were in love," I spoke the truth in front of Raven, I hoped that she would not hold it against me.
"Raven, I did not summon you here but it appears that my son holds a special place in his heart for you so I will allow you to witness this," Ruby turned back to me.
"Shadow thy task is now complete, you have delivered the chosen one to his fate and my brothers were freed. It appears that destiny had decided that my brothers had no place in time anymore - they have all been killed. It also appears that my sister Jenova has another son, a man named Cloud, he has killed my brethren, I grieve eternally for their loss for it is only myself, Emerald and Jenova now. Therefore your task is now complete and I must say that despite the failure of my intentions you carried out your task as well as you could be expected, I am pleased with thee. Now it is time for you to take rest for it has been a long journey and you deserve to rest," Ruby raised his massive hand and the sand beneath my feet began to move. As I descended into the sand I had a last long look at Raven, and as our eyes met I threw out a silent plea to my master.

"What have you done to Shadow?" shouted Raven as she drew her crossbow and bared it at my master.
"His destiny is finished, he will sleep with me until he is needed again," said Ruby in a calm voice.
"You just can't do that to him, he isn't yours to play with!" Raven had tears streaming down her eyes.
"In fact that is exactly what he is my daughter. You see I saved Shadow from his death on several occasions simply for the fact that I required him to do a task for me, now that he has completed this task he can rest." Ruby began descending into the sand.
"NO! You can't just leave me here by myself," Raven sank to her knees in the sand.
"Before I return to my slumber know this gentle Raven. My son wished you to know that the person whom you seek, the man named Sephiroth is in the North Cave. It was my sons wish to tell you that you and Sephiroth were destined to be together and therefore you should go to North Cave as quickly as you can. Do not lose hope when you reach there, if you keep faith and hope then you will achieve the happiness that Shadow wishes you to have," with those being his last words Ruby once again descended into the sand and soon no evidence that he or Shadow had been there existed.

Chapter 8
> ~Sephiroth Destroyed ??~

I arrived at the center of the crater at the same moment that Cloud and the others did. They fought Sephiroth and he used the last of the Jenova cells that were in his body, everyone slipped into darkness for the moment, thinking that they had killed him, I looked around then looked up at Sephiroth.
"Raven. Will you help me?" he looked into my eyes. "Help me defeat my enemies and we will go to the Promised Land together."
"Sephiroth...." my eyes were shining with tears as I held my hand out to him. "Take the power of the chaos angel, my love, I will help you." He took my hand and there was a blinding light as I was pulled inside of him, Sephiroth transformed once again, using my power combined with his own. Cloud, Tifa and Vincent appeared before him with their weapons ready to fight, I could see through Sephiroth's eyes that they were surprised that he was still alive, they begun their attack and I closed my eyes until it was over.
"What? How did you beat us? No! This isn't possible!" I cried. "Sephiroth!!"

I raced as fast as I could through the darkness. I didn't really know where I was but I knew that Sephiroth was close, I could feel it. I ran, not caring that my lungs began to ache or that my legs wanted to crumble up beneath me, I saw him ahead of me - him and Cloud Strife. Their eyes were locked as their limit breaks were building, the seconds ticked by as I grew nearer, then Sephiroth attacked. Cloud unleashed his mighty Omnislash and all was lost....
A shocked expression crossed over Sephiroth's blood-streaked face and even from this distance I could see the remorse lurking beneath his wondrous green eyes, the dreadful pain of loss. I could feel my body begin to shake violently as a scream erupted from my throat, there was a blinding light and Sephiroth was gone. I watched solemnly as Cloud picked up the discarded cloak that Sephiroth had dropped and he disappeared, back to the crater. How did I get here? Where is Sephiroth? I walked slowly as each question filled my head with even more questions, I walked to where my love had been defeated. Tears filled my eyes and I could no longer see, so I dropped to my knees and buried my face in my hands, I had nothing left to live for.
"Sephiroth!!" I threw my head back and my arms wide as I screamed his name, I had never felt such horrible sorrow as I was feeling at that moment. My body ached, sobs subsided into small gasps and sniffles, I rubbed away the tears and raised my glance, his sword.
"Sephiroth....." I got to my feet and walked towards the masamune that was protruding from the ground that was not there. I stepped towards it, eyes wide, and reached for it, my fingers closed around the hilt and I began to pull it free. Every moment that I held it I could feel him, I knew that he was still on this planet, I knew that he was still here, I just had to find him. I wanted to kill Cloud… I didn't want to kill him. I was so confused but there was one thing that I knew for sure, as long as I held the incredibly long sword in both my hands I could only think of one thing... I was going to find my Sephiroth.

Chapter 9
~Cloud and the Cloak~

Icicle Village was quiet, everyone was asleep and all of the lights were out, except one... I sat, working furiously over a piece of leather that I had bought at the item shop. I fixed in the easy release snaps on the special made holster for the masamune that I had to wear diagonally across my back, it was just too long to carry. I reached behind my head and weaved my thick brown hair into a long braid before slipping the holster and sword over my head, I scooped up my crossbow and left the room. My destination was the Golden Saucer where I had heard that Cloud and the other members of AVALANCHE were taking a vacation from their long journey.

Cloud stepped into his hotel room and flopped down onto the bed, exhausted from their day's strenuous activities. He heard movement in the shadows and hurried to flip on the light, when he rolled over he found himself staring down the point of an arrow. His gaze traveled up the crossbow to the woman holding it and winced as he seen the hatred flaring in her green eyes. "Where is Sephiroth's cloak?" I growled, my finger was itching on the trigger, he put his hands where I could see them understanding that I had no qualms about just killing him.
"What do you want with Sephiroth's cloak?" he asked.
"That is none of your business," I hissed. "Just get me the cloak!" He nodded and slowly slid off the bed, I held the bow steady as he crossed the room and picked up the black bag. "The question is..." I muttered. "Why YOU wanted this cloak."
"I suppose to prove that he was dead," he told me, tossing the bag on the bed in front of me. I reached inside and felt the hard, familiar shoulder guards and the wrist bands that he had worn. Without taking my eyes off of Cloud I picked up the bag and moved to the door.
"You had better hope that he isn't dead," I narrowed my eyes and then shot out the door before he could reply, Cloud raced after me running past Cid and Barret on the way.
"Come on!" Cloud yelled to them, not stopping, they didn't question, just followed in his pursuit after me. I ran to the tunnels and leapt into the one marked "Battle". Cloud, Cid and Barret followed me into the arena where the floor stood gapping open waiting for someone to be sent down to the desert prison. I turned and pulled the masamune from its holster, the buttons snapping open to release it. I held it in front of me and could not help but to grin at the sight of their shock when they saw the holy sword in my grasp.
"Don't think for a second that I don't know how to use this," I growled. "He taught me a long time ago before you took him away!" I pulled the sword into both hands in front of me, holding it straight up.
"There is no way," Cloud narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. "You can't beat me."
"Maybe not!" I laughed. "I don't have time to find out, I have things to do!" with those words I did a back flip into the hole. "We have to get down to the desert prison," Cloud announced. "Barret go get the others and then follow me." Cloud looked at them and then dropped down behind me.

I raced through the desert, holding my arm up to block the powerful sand winds that were blasting at me. I had returned the sword back to its holster and was traveling at a slow pace. It was so hot that I could hardly breathe and the sand was getting blown into my eyes. I wished that I did not pick a day like this to make my way through the desert, I soon stopped at the spot I felt was the place I had traveled from when Shadow disappeared.
"Ruby!" I screamed, my voice catching in the wind. "I can't do this alone! Please, let him come back to me, let him help me find Sephiroth!" I pulled his cloak out of the bag and set it at my feet. "Wake up Shadow...." I whispered before turned back the way that I came, back to the Golden Saucer where I could rest.
"There she is!" I hear Tifa yell, I spun around and pulled the sword free. They were approaching me at a very fast pace, there was no way I could take on all of them! I turned and raced away, not knowing where I was going, soon I lost them in the storm, but where was I?
"Damn you AVALANCHE!!" I screamed in anguish as I kept up my quick pace, could AVALANCHE win this easily? I was good as dead out here all alone, I walked far and long and soon began to grow tired and dehydrated. "Sephiroth...." I whispered. "...Shadow....." I fell forward and landed facedown. I still had the masamune gripped tightly in my right hand, the sword was my will, I knew that if I released it then I would die. So I held on with my life, my body was too exhausted to move on. "Damn AVALANCHE........." I muttered then all went black.

Chapter 9
~Awakening~

Just yards from where Raven had fallen the sand exploded upwards as Ruby tore to the surface. Moving quickly despite his size he was at her side in an instant, with a wave of his massive hand the winds around them stopped and the sand settled once again.
"She is dying father," said a figure who now stood at Ruby's side.
"I know my son, but I do not know what we can do," replied Ruby softly.
"She holds all her hope in that weapon, in the man who once held it," said the figure.
"Indeed she does, but it is not our destiny to help her, you are too young," said Ruby to the small person at his side.
"I may be young father but I won't stand by and see her die, I still remember her," said the shadowed shape.
"Do what you must my son, but remember the reason that you exist now, do not forget it." Ruby turned to his small companion "It has been such a small time since your birth my son, you are not ready to walk amongst these people, forget the girl, she has nothing to do with our task."
"The world I will gladly forget, but not this girl, I owe her my life father."
"Then do what you will, I will help you if I can," Ruby began to walk back towards the hole where he rose.
"Before you go father can you answer me something," asked the figure.
"Anything my son," replied Ruby.
"Is he alive?" asked his companion.
"If you mean the man who she desires I cannot honestly answer, with another of Jenova's children walking the world I cannot be sure if he is or isn't," responded Ruby.
"If he is I will find him," said the figure.
"You can do anything now Shadow, just remember our task, we Weapon's will leave this place soon and without you my son we cannot," Ruby turned from the newly born Weapon and returned to his hole in the sand.

I walked towards Raven's body, she still held the holy sword tightly in her hand. Nothing was going through my mind except the want to restore her, as I approached her side I sank down onto my knees and began to cast the most powerful of cure spells. As the spell dissipated through her body she did not move and still she lay there clutching the sword, I decided to try another approach so I lay down in the sand and let her thoughts wash over me.

Her dreams were strange as she cycled through all the occasions where she and Sephiroth had been together, I selected one of those memories and I focused on it. Suddenly her random dreaming stopped and she too began to remember that day - it was the day that Sephiroth and raven had met, I recognized the building, it was Shinra HQ. I watched as she relived the memory, meeting Sephiroth and her flight down the stairs, as she fell and damaged her leg I took control of the dream. As Sephiroth rushed to her side he ordered the SOLDIER to leave, instead where the SOLDIER had stood I now was, he looked at me in surprise.
"Who the hell are you ??" he asked.
"That is not important, this is not about me its about you," I replied, suddenly the image changed, we were now standing in the cave near Mideel, Raven stood before me.
"Why are you here, you are dead?" she asked.
"I'm no more dead than you are Raven" I replied, again the image changed, we were standing in the desert.
"I left you here, Ruby killed you," said Raven.
"Ruby did not kill me, he gave me a new chance, I have been reborn," I responded, the image cycled and we were standing in the Golden Saucer.
"It doesn't matter, he is dead," whispered Raven.
"He is not dead, we will find him," I hoped that I was right, now we stood in North Cave.
"See… watch," Clouds sword flashed intensely as Sephiroth's body was cut again and again, suddenly Sephiroth disappeared in a burst of piercing light.
"I did not see him die, did you?" I asked Raven.
"N-no," she hesitated.
"I brought you this," I said as I handed her Sephiroth's things.
"Thank you, I had thought that I had lost them," replied Raven.
"You have lost nothing Raven, now lets go look for him," I said.
"I can't do it alone," she sobbed.
"I'll be here, we'll do it together."

I sat up dusting the sand off my body, Raven stirred beside me, I rolled her body over.
"We'll do it together Raven," I whispered "Wake up and help me." Her eyes began to open. They focused for a few moments trying to adjust to the desert light, as she finally saw me she screamed and bore Sephiroth's sword before her.
"Who are you?" she spat.
"I am Shadow, don't you remember me?" I said, I was very confused by her reaction.
"Your not Shadow, you look like him, but you don't even look human," I wondered what her words could mean, I drew one of my swords and stared at my reflection. My face was the same shape but all color in my eyes had been replaced with the darkest black, she was right, I was no longer human.
"I don't know what has happened to me Raven, but you have to believe me, I am Shadow," she looked at me very carefully, her sword did not move.
"Why are you here?" she barked.
"I came to help you friend, you asked Ruby to return me and he heard your call," I did not lie, she had to believe me. "You were dying Raven, I helped you, we are going to go find Sephiroth."
"How do you know so much about me?" she asked, although this time not so forcefully.
"I met you when I was eleven, in a prison about seven miles from here, you saved me then and I have come now to return the favor," I wondered if this would convince her.
"Shadow… is that really you?" she asked in a small voice.
"Yes Raven, it is, now lets leave this place and go find Sephiroth," I said.
"He's dead, I saw it happen" sobbed Raven.
"I saw it too, if he's still alive then we'll find him," I replied, I moved closer to her and put my arm around her, the giant sword fell from her grasp. I bent down to pick it up and I handed it back to her.
"Keep faith Raven, if you keep hope then we'll find him," we began to walk back towards the Golden Saucer.

As we entered battle square AVALANCHE were talking to Dio and his guards, as they saw Raven they drew their weapons.
"Is that the girl?" Dio asked, pointing at Raven.
"That's her," replied Tifa.
"You never said she was with someone… hold on I recognize that man," Dio struggled to remember.
"Do you remember me Dio? I am not such a pathetic little boy now!" I shouted at him.
"I'll… I'm gonna kill you," Dio began to walk towards me.
"No… its him that I want," pointing at Cloud. "Child of Jenova, I want to fight you." Cloud sneered at me as he drew his Ultima sword.
"I don't know who you are stranger, but I know I want to kill you," Cloud said darkly.
"Then lets fight… we are here in battle square so let abide by the rule, me and Cloud, no outside help," I announced to AVALANCHE and Dio.
"Damn it!" shouted Dio, he turned to the other members of AVALANCHE. "Its up to your friend now, LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE!" The floor around Cloud and me fell away, isolating us from the others, I drew my swords and prepared to face the man who had beaten Sephiroth.
"I'll make this quick," laughed Cloud as he summoned Knights Of The Round, Raven watch as the thirteen knights pounded at me, but as the last of them hit I still stood.
"No one can survive the knights," said Cloud is amazement as he quickly struggled to cast the knights again, this time I was ready and I responded with my own magic. I summoned up all my powers and cast my inner magic - Shadow Weapon, as each of the knights approached to strike at me they were blasted away by some unseen force. Cloud looked at me in amazement as he struggled to find another type of attack, he began charging his deadly Omnislash. I watched patiently as he charged his ultimate attack, he looked at me with worry in his eyes - why wasn't I attacking. He struck with his limit break, as his glowing sword struck me it passed straight through my body.
"My brothers sword won't harm me Cloud, you've lost," I whispered at him so that no one could hear. "This is for my dead brothers, remember me Cloud and remember the girl, if you come near us again I'll kill you." I raised my swords and they burned in crimson rage, Ruby was with me now, I swung both my fiery swords at Jenova's second son…

Chapter 10
~The Search For The One Winged Angel~

Raven started dumbfounded when Cloud fell to the ground. Could this be happening? Had Shadow just beaten Cloud Strife? Raven grabbed Shadow's arm and pulled him out of the battle arena before AVALANCHE could recover from their shock, the last thing they needed was another fight.
"I can't believe you just beat him!" Raven exclaimed as they raced down the stairs.
"Believe it," he yelled back at her.
They both ran through the Golden Saucer as fast as their feet could carry them, behind them the shouts of confused AVALANCHE members could be heard. As they ran through the various area's, diving into tunnels to try to escape their pursuers they shouted a hurried conversation at each other.
"Where should we look first?" Shadow asked Raven.
"I don't know," she sighed. "Maybe we should go to Mideel where the lifestream is the strongest. The lifestream exploded in the crater after..... well you know," she could feel the long sword on her back and felt reassured that they would find him.
Shadow quickly pulled Raven into on of the tunnels, he hoped that it was marked exit.
"We'll talk about this more when were not running," said Raven as they entered the new area before them was the hulking blue cabin of the tram and they hurried towards it. As they entered the cabin the lift began to descend and just as it left the Saucer the members of AVALANCHE ran into the ticket area. As they watched Raven and Shadow disappear Cloud looked at his friends and said, "We're gonna make them pay, get to the Highwind we're going to follow them."

"I wish there were an easier way to find him," she sighed. "I have waited so long to see him and when Cloud came to the crater....." she balled up her fists and bowed her head so Shadow couldn't see the rage that hid behind her eyes. "Hey! Its alright," he promised. "We will get to him soon, we just have to be patient and keep our minds open."
"I am worried that people will recognize his sword," she replied. "It is legendary now."
"People will probably think it is a fake," he chuckled. "It will be better that way if they think that you are just trying to copy him."
Raven burst out laughing. "You know, I never thought about it that way!" she struggled to say, Shadow couldn't help but smile. He never thought that he would see Raven so happy ever again and it made him feel wonderful, he had Ruby to thank for returning him to help her.
"Hey! What's that look for?" Raven laughed, giving Shadow a slight shove.
"Just glad to see you back to normal," he laughed back. "I don't think I could have bore it to see you so sad again."
"Believe me," she sighed. "I am not completely back to normal. I have been through too much and I don't think that I will ever be the same, all thanks to AVALANCHE and Jenova. Did you know that Jenova killed all of my people when she came to the planet? Even if she is Ruby's sister I still hate her for killing them."
"I didn't know," Shadow said. "Well Ruby wasn't in this quest to restore his sister, just to bring out the other weapons, he didn't know that Jenova had plans for Sephiroth as well."
"I am just glad that Jenova is dead," Raven told him. "And there is no more of her left in Sephiroth, I made sure of that."
"Jenova should not live on in anything, she was evil, Ruby and the others knew that" said Shadow. "Ruby wanted the others free because he did not have the power to leave by himself, it takes three weapons, I know that now"
"So where to now?" Raven struggled to unclasp the heavy sword that was strapped to her back. "God how did he ever carry this thing, it weighs a ton!" Raven finally managed to free the sword.
"Mideel. I think your right about lifestream, perhaps we can get a clue from it," Shadow hoped that Raven would agree.
"Mideel it is then… Shadow?"
"What is it?" asked Shadow.
"Do you think that he's still alive?" Raven asked nervously.
"I don't think he is, I know he is, don't worry Raven we'll find him," Shadow lifted the hood of his cloak to hide his unusual face. "Get ready, we're at the platform," ordered Shadow. Raven looked at her silent friend and once again noticed the subtle changes in him, for one thing he was not the shy little boy that she had met so long ago - he had beaten Cloud, one on one. Ruby had changed him in some way and the person in front of her was not the same one that she had left in that desert so long ago. Of course there were the physical changes as well, he no long possessed his youthful, innocent look but now he was more aged, his eyes showed that he was more wise.

Shadow looked across at his friend Raven, he had thought that he would never see her again. Her long hair was still the same as it always had been but those beautiful green eyes now contained more sorrow than Shadow would have thought possible. With Sephiroth's great sword strapped to her back Shadow saw something in his friend that he had not before - he saw her visible love for Sephiroth. Although she looked like she would collapse under the weight of that sword - a sword that very few could hold let alone carry, she possessed such strength, such unbelievable strength.

Raven pushed aside the wisps of hair that had escaped her braid and stood to hop out of the tram. "We should go through the mountains to get to Costa Del Sol," she replied as Shadow hopped down. "We might be able to catch a ship there or stowaway if you like," she laughed. He put his arm on her shoulder and looked down at her.
"I hardly think we would need to sneak on," he chuckled. "I have plenty of gil to pay our way."
"Really ? Well that is excellent. lets be on our way then," she strode off and he watched her, even under the weight of Sephiroth's masamune she walked gracefully.

They did as planned and caught a ship to Junon harbor for 500 gil. It took a couple of days but soon they were both back on land, Raven rushed off the ship and hurried to sit down on the ground. "I never wanna see another boat as long as I live!" she groaned rubbing her head.
"We should hurry up before it gets too late to find a ride to Fort Condor," he replied.
"Why are we going to Fort Condor?" Raven asked.
"We just need to get a ride there and then we will have to walk the rest of the way south," he explained. "I have no idea how we will get across to Mideel though."
"Maybe would could find a fisherman or something to take us across," she wondered. "There has to be away, I really don't feel like swimming either."
They strode into town spotted a man packing up his truck with supplied, Raven hurried up to him. "Excuse me sir, but are you by any chance going to Fort Condor?" she asked.
"Yes, actually, I am," he answered.
"Great! Could you please give us a ride? Its a long way and we have no other way but to walk!" she pleaded, the man looked down at her green eyes and smiled.
"How could I resist a pretty thing like you? Hop in!" he laughed.
"Great!" Raven laughed and motioned for Shadow to climb up behind her. They sat in the bed of the truck as the man started the engine and pulled away from Junon.

Just before they reached Fort Condor Raven and Shadow thanked the driver before the jumped out of the truck. They sat at it's base while they tried to figure out how they were going to get across.
"Perhaps we should go looking for that fisherman," said Raven, they were both stuck for better ideas
"I don't know that any fishermen go that far, its still quite a distance to Mideel you know" Shadow scanned the horizon for any signs of life. "Its no good there is just no one around for miles, perhaps we were better off at Junon."
"It's a bit late to be saying that, right it looks like I'll have to find a way to Mideel, why does it always have to be me?!" Raven sighed and began trudging towards the beach, Shadow laughed, his friend was definitely back to her normal self. As they both stared across the waves they realized that this really wasn't going to be easy.
"I'm going to try something now, but I can't say that its going to work so don't get your hopes up," said Shadow as Raven looked curiously at him. He removed the materia from his cloak and placed in into the sand, standing over it he began to speak in a language that Raven had never heard before. It was not long before the silent waves began to increase in size as breakers began pounding the beach.
"What are you doing? Those waves are getting quite close!" Raven shouted over the noise of the crashing surf.
"Wait and see, I think its working!" Shadow yelled back at her while he tried to concentrate. Before long the waves were becoming alarmingly large and Raven was getting more and more aggitated.
"I really think we shouldn't stand this close!" shouted Raven.
"It doesn't matter, it won't be for much longer," responded Shadow as he bent down and picked the materia back up.
"That's it?" asked Raven. "You caused a little storm, that helps how?"
"Watch," as Shadow replaced the materia in its clasp the waves suddenly split apart and a massive head appeared from beneath the depths. As the massive monster rose from beneath the waves Shadow suddenly realized that they were indeed far too close. As a wall of water moved towards them he shouted at Raven to run.

Sitting on the sand soaked to the skin Raven looked very crossly at her friend.
"I told you we were too close you fool, you could have drowned us both!" she scolded him.
"I'm sorry Raven, I am new to this you know, oh by the way I'd like to introduce you to someone," he stood up and walked down the beach towards the creature. "Raven I would like you to meet Emerald, brother I would like you to meet Raven, Emerald has agreed to take us to Mideel, as long as we do something for him," said Shadow.
"And what is it that he want us to do?" asked Raven.
"Well I say us, really I mean… you," Shadow hesitated.
"Go on…" said Raven, her patience getting short.
"He wants you to… em… heal him," Shadow stuttered.
"Heal him! what on this planet could hurt him?" asked Raven.
"Apparently he had a close run in with AVALANCHE and Cloud, he's feeling a bit under the weather," whispered Shadow so that his brother didn't hear. Raven looked at the massive hulking form of Emerald for a few moments before replying.
"For a creature this size I will have to use Chaos to heal him. If I collapse you will need to help me."
"Alright," Shadow agreed and watched as Raven held the Full Cure materia in her hand and close her eyes. Soon a light surrounded her and the black wings appeared, she cast the cure spell and then the wings gave off their strange glow and disappeared. She fell to her knees and sighed. "Did it work?" she asked Shadow who was kneeling to help her up.
"Yes it did," he replied. "My brother thanks you."
"Lets just get across the ocean," she mumbled, struggling to keep her balance. They climbed onto Emerald Weapon and he began to swim across the ocean. "This is amazing!" Raven breathed as it reached the small island in no time, they jumped off and Shadow turned to thank Emerald in the strange language that they shared.
"We are pretty close to Mideel," Raven replied, she began to walk forward slowly. "It might take us a little longer than normal, I am still weak from the spell."
"Its alright," Shadow assured her. "We will get there when we get there and let me worry about the fighting on the way."
"Understood," Raven sighed. "Wow am I tired, I hope that we get there sooner than later."

They walked for a good couple of hours and Shadow picked off a few monsters along the way but at last they reached Mideel. Raven walked up to the town, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Look at this place!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"
"The lifestream," an old woman answered. "Came up through the earth a few months back and destroyed the place."
"A few months?" Raven asked. "Sephiroth couldn't have come up then."
"Did you find anyone in the lifestream?" Shadow asked.
"We found a young man about your age right before this happened," she answered. "Poor spiky headed thing was like a vegetable."
"Spiky headed? That had to be Cloud," Raven replied.
"His friends came to see him in that flying thing up there," the woman pointed.
"Flying thing?" Shadow glanced up at the sky and seen the Highwind hovering above them.
"They must have followed us!" Raven cried. "Lets get the hell outa here before they can find us!"
"Too late for that!" Tifa called to us.
"Shadow I am in no condition to fight," I said fearfully. "Lets just make a break for it!"

Once again they found themselves fleeing from AVALANCHE but this time with the Highwind they had the advantage, on the deck of the ship Cloud waited with the Ultima sword in hand.
"Its no good Raven, we can't outrun them, we'll have to fight!" shouted Shadow.
"I can't, I can hardly walk," Raven was looking very tired but with the Highwind so close Shadow had no choice.
"Go on ahead then, if you make it to the beach Emerald should be waiting for you, tell him that I said to take you far away," Shadow drew both of his swords.
"You can't just stay here, Cloud will kill you!" Raven yelled above the scream of the Highwind's engines.
"Don't worry about me, I'll catch you up later, now go!" Shadow turned to face the oncoming Highwind before blasting at it with lightning magic. Raven tried to protest but as she turned she noticed that he had already stopped, she wondered for a moment whether she should go and help her friend. He had told her to go but alone he could not face AVALANCHE, she couldn't decided what to do. The beach was in sight, she only had a short distance to run, she decided to try to get Emerald to help his brother. As she rushed to the beach as fast as was possible Emerald came into sight, he was crouched in the shallows of the water and when he saw her he began to move onto the land.
"Shadow is in trouble, you have to go back and help him!" she yelled at Emerald, he looked at her for a moment.
"CLIMB ONTO MY HAND," his booming voice spoke in her mind. He lowered his massive hand down onto the sand and she climbed on. As his hand rose up Emerald turned and began walking out to sea.
"What are you doing!? We have to go help Shadow!!" Raven screamed angrily at Emerald, however Emerald just kept on walking.
"He told you to go, didn't he!? Well if your not going to help him I will," Raven took protect materia from her clothing and cast Chaos Angel. As the glow receded and the protect spell covered over Shadow Raven sank down on Emeralds hand unconscious.

"Come an get me Cloud! Its me that you want!" Shadow shouted as loudly as he could. The Highwind stopped, obviously they had heard him. Cloud, Barret and Vincent then jumped over the side with their weapons drawn and they began to advance on Shadow.
"Now you die SOLDIER!" sneered cloud as he and AVALANCHE advanced on their enemy…

~Sons Of The Stars~

As the child of Ruby faced the child of Jenova the air crackled with magical energy, both our swords were drawn and hung expectantly in front of us, a gun shot narrowly missed me and Cloud turned to Vincent.
"Leave him, he’s mine," he barked, Vincent lowered his weapon, AVALANCHE stepped back from their leader as he and I began to circle around, taunting each other. I only had to fight long enough for Raven to make it to Emerald, then I would make a break for it, as Cloud charged I brought both my swords up to meet his Ultima weapon.
"I see you still have my brothers sword Cloud, you don’t deserve it!" I spat at him. He swung his weapon again I parried it with one of mine and swung my own sword which he danced away from.
"I wonder if you will be as easy to beat as your brother," he sneered, the madness of Jenova shone in his eyes. He lunged again, I just managed to bring my swords up to meet it, he was very powerful.
"I will carve his name into your hide son of Jenova, along with the names of all my other dead brothers," I flicked back his sword with one of my swords and lunged with the other, I was rewarded with bright flowing blood. Cloud looked down at the cut and renewed his attack, with twice the ferocity of before.
"I will take your head as a prize fool, and after I beat you I will kill everything that you care about, I might keep the girl though," he laughed at me, my rage overcame me and I swung wildly, he sliced a large cut down my back.
"Enough of this pointless banter, I will kill you now" he began casting magic. I changed a look back and I saw Emerald carrying Raven off into the ocean, I turned back just as the power of Bahamut launched me off my feet. I struggled to get up and I saw that Cloud was casting up another summon, I had to make my move now.
Drawing in all my power I touched my hand to the materia on my cloak and I pointed my sword at the Highwind.
"Ruby help me!" I screamed in the language of Weapons as I channeled Ultima magic through my sword. Not only did my father help but Emerald gave me some of his power also and the spell blasted into the Highwind’s side, as the ship fell the members of AVALANCHE all scattered to avoid it. I ran to the beach as fast as my legs would carry and I dived beneath the waves, were I swam for as long as I could, when I was far out to sea I waited until my brother returned to get me and take me to Raven.

Chapter 12
~Demented Experiments~

I awoke in the soft grass by the beach with the sun shining down on me. I sat up and was shocked to discover how far I Emerald Weapon had brought me, but why? Why did he bring me here? I rose to my feet and began walking towards Nibelheim, it wasn't that far away really, about 5 or 6 miles. I was still worn out from the chaos spells, it was the first time that I had used two so close together. I had grown stronger over the years, that sort of thing would have nearly killed me once. I sighed and stopped just outside of the town, did I really want to go in there? Finally I stepped into the town and noticed that more people were outside than there used to be, I walked in further and that was when I finally noticed it. Shinra Mansion laid in an enormous pile of splintered boards and shingles.
"What happened to the mansion?" I asked an older man who was sitting on a bench outside the gate.
"It collapsed after the meteor disappeared," he told me. "We tried to clean it up but it won't let us near it, every time someone gets to close they begin to feel heavy like the gravity is much stronger around it."
"Sounds like a demi spell," I muttered.
"That sword...." the man's eyes widened when I turned to look at the mansion. "That looks like the sword of Sephiroth!" I sighed loudly and ignored his remark. "Would you curse this village again after we have at last found peace?"
"Sephiroth wasn't a curse," I argued. "Shinra and Jenova were the curse."
"I think that you better leave this town immediately," the man glared at me hatefully. I looked at him sadly and turned toward Mt. Nibel. I would never again be welcome in this place, but I didn't care. I decided that I should go to the reactor, maybe Sephiroth was there.

I stepped inside the reactor and made my way to the door with the word Jenova written over it, so this is it. I pushed open the door and looked inside at all the broken machinery, Sephiroth had really destroyed the place all those years ago, but there was no sign of him now, the reactor was free of all living things. The surrounding air was dark and made me want to hurry out of there, but something kept me there. What was it? Or rather, who was it?
"I knew you would come here...." I spun around to see who had spoken to me in the raspy voice. "I have waited for you."
"Hojo?! But that's impossible! AVALANCHE destroyed you!" I exclaimed.
"Did they? Cloud thought that he killed Sephiroth as well," he chuckled. "And look what happened! Even now he lives on, in the basement of Shinra Mansion. You will bring him to me, until then I have plans for you!" Black wires began shooting from the broken machinery and wrapped around my arms, pinning them down to my sides, it didn't take me very long to realize that he was using psychic energy to move them. I struggled, trying to free my arms but they were too tight. "I have wanted you from the moment I found out that you were an Ancient." I stopped moving to gawk at him.
"How did you know?!" I was so confused now.
"I once overheard you speaking to my son about it," he chuckled. "I was in the habit of following him around. I wanted to see how well my little project worked!"
"You're sick Hojo," I spat.
"No I am a genius!" he threw his head back and laughed. "And I will not let all of my work be in vain, I shall restore all of the Jenova cells in Sephiroth's body and then we shall create an ancient that is more powerful than any other who will rule the world!"
"You don't think that I would let you use me for your demented little experiments do you?" I hissed.
"I am not giving you a choice in the matter," he laughed as he watched me struggle with my bindings. The binding tightened and I cried out in pain.
"Even if Sephiroth doesn't want you back he will definitely want his sword," my eyes widened as he grinned at me, he was so evil.

Sephiroth forced open his eyes and looked around, he couldn't see much in the dark room. Sephiroth found a door in the darkness and sliced the handle off. When he pushed it open the dim light lit up the room enough so he could see where he was. it was the basement of the Shinra Mansion. Groaning, wishing that he wasn't here out of all places he could be, he turned to the left and ran for the stairs. "Where did the door go?" It appeared that something had caved in above him. He got up and pushed the boards aside. The path that lead down there was broken up pretty badly. He grabbed a piece of wood that was still attached to the wall and began to climb. It didn't go up as far as it used to. About halfway. "What happened to this place?" Sephiroth asked himself, puzzled.
When he reached the top he began to push through the broken boards until he spotted a spec of light peeking through. He pushed towards it, he had to get free and this was the only way out. He pulled at his leg but it was stuck in between two boards, too exhausted to work it free he laid back against a board and closed his eyes, as soon as they shut the first thing he saw was my face.
Visions flashed through his mind and he could see the things that happened over the many years that had past. He didn't know why he was seeing these things but he was seeing them as clearly as if he had experienced them himself, he groaned as he fell asleep, his body was still regaining the energy that it had lost.

Chapter 13
~Dark Reunion~

Shadow was still weak from his fight with AVALANCHE but as Emerald dropped him off near Nibelheim he tried to fight the tiredness. As he approached the town he began asking people if they had seen a girl carrying a strange sword but no one had. As he traveled through the town he was beginning to wonder if Raven had even come here, he had to keep trying though. As he approached the wreckage of a large house he stopped to rest, he sat down beside an old man.
"What happened to the house?" Shadow asked.
"It collapsed shortly after meteor fell, good riddance to a bad thing I say. You know they used to do strange experiments in there you know, or that's what they say."
"What kind of experiments?" Shadow was curious to know what the man did.
"No one knows exactly, but those fools from SOLDIER were always poking around here, couple of years back the whole town came down in flames," Shadow cast his mind back to that day in Nibelheim, Sephiroth's rage had taken the entire town down in flames, Shadow would never forget it, the madness of Jenova shone in Sephiroth's eyes.
"Aye but just as meteor fell so did the house, strange glow came from it first, no one's been able to get close since" said the man. "that girl sure did try though."
"What girl? Did she have green eyes?" asked Shadow hurriedly.
"Never noticed sonny, but she had a huge sword with her, looked kinda like Sephiroth's.
"Which way did she go?" asked Shadow.
"Last time I saw her she was going to the mansion, she was looking for some one I'll wager."
"Thanks for the information old man, I am debited to you" said Shadow as he rose and started walking towards the wreckage.

He couldn't see Raven anywhere but he wondered why no one could get close to it, he was doing just fine. He thought he seen something move and moved towards it, he picked up a large board and saw Sephiroth pulling himself out of a small hole.
"Sephiroth!" Shadow exclaimed, Sephiroth's green eyes rose and confusion swept across him.
"Shadow?" he asked.
"So far you are the only one who has recognized me," Shadow replied helping him out of the wreckage.
"I never forget a face," he replied as he stepped out in the open. "Where is Raven?" he looked around searching for her.
"I don't know where Raven is," Shadow told him, then he began to tell him what had happened in Mideel and how Raven had ended up here somewhere.
A flash… Sephiroth grabbed his head and closed his eyes, he saw Raven walking up the path to Mt. Nibel with his sword strapped firmly on his back. "She has my sword?" Sephiroth opened his eyes.
"Yes she does," Shadow answered. "But I have your stuff you may want these," Sephiroth took the bag from Shadow and pulled out his cloak and gloves. He put them on and he told Shadow to follow him to Mt. Nibel, they walked and Shadow spoke to him about all that he had missed since he had been gone.
Another flash… Sephiroth saw Raven's face, stricken with pain. In the moment he could see the room behind her, Sephiroth opened his eyes and looked up the mountain. "She is in the reactor! We have to hurry!"

As they both rushed out of Nibelheim and up towards the reactor Sephiroth's visions kept coming.
"She's… she's trapped, someone has her" shouted Sephiroth as he ran.
"Who could possibly want to harm Raven, AVALANCHE will still be licking their wounds in Mideel," Shadow yelled back. They both rounded the corner and the reactor stood, looming before them, they both felt a shiver run down their spines, it had been so long and they never wanted to return here.
"The reactor…" Shadow said slowly. Sephiroth looked at it as if he was reliving everything that had occurred there so long ago.
"We need to go in Sephiroth, Raven needs us," Shadow said quietly.
"I… I can't, its too hard..." Sephiroth turned to leave. Shadow grabbed Sephiroth by the shoulder and spun him round, as they faced each other Shadow pulled his arm back and struck his friend, Sephiroth fell to the ground.
"Don't you understand that she needs you!" Shadow shouted at him. "Its all about you, it always has been. She loves you, not what Jenova made you, but you… Sephiroth… the man. I am here to make sure that Jenova does not live on, you just worry about Raven." Shadow put his hand out to help his friend up, Sephiroth grabbed it and he hauled himself up.
"You might need this, its not quite the same as yours but until you get your sword back use this," said Shadow as he handed one of his swords to Sephiroth.
"Thank you Shadow," Sephiroth replied as he took the sword, he then ran into the reactor.
"I thought I'd never see this place again," thought Shadow as he followed his friend in.

Sephiroth didn't take the time to climb down the chains, instead he leaped off the platform, as he made his way through the reactor his thoughts wondered. He couldn't believe that he almost considered not coming in, he knew that he had to face his fears now or never. Ha! who would have thought that Sephiroth was afraid of something? After all Jenova was dead, he no longer had to worry about being controlled by her. He heard Shadow close behind him as he charged through the door, he held up his sword and Shadow was right, it wasn't the same.
"Raven!" Shadow exclaimed, Sephiroth followed his gaze and saw Raven wrapped in dozens of wires. Her head was slumped forward and her body hung slack, being held up by the wires, she groaned and struggled to look up and her eyes fixed on Sephiroth.
"Sephiroth.......?" her green eyes grew round with surprise, the shock seemed to be too much for her. Shadow watched her struggle against the bindings and began to stride towards her.
"No! Its a trap!!" she cried.
It was too late, Hojo jumped from out of the darkness and struck Shadow with a steel bar, Shadow's body crumpled to the floor.
"I had only hoped to restore Sephiroth using Jenova cells, but what is this that I have found?" Hojo asked himself, he had not yet noticed Sephiroth.
"Step away from him Hojo," Sephiroth growled, Hojo spun round.
"I hadn't expected you to get here so quickly Sephiroth, but it doesn't matter now, I will restore you…" Hojo pulled Sephiroth's sword from it's holster, now strapped to his back, he struggled to lift the sword and its point danced around shakily.
"That's mine Hojo, so it appears that you have two things that I want, I'm coming to get them," Sephiroth began to walk towards the scientist.
"Now Sephiroth… don't do anything silly, don't you want to be restored to your full power? Face it Sephiroth, Jenova made you the greatest warrior on the planet, don't you want that back?" Hojo's voice dripped like honey.
"Jenova did not make me strong!" Sephiroth spat. "Only mad, I don't ever want that back. And I AM the greatest warrior on the planet, now I'll prove it…" Sephiroth swung Shadow's sword as Hojo tried to raise his in defense, Sephiroth batted it aside with ease.
"For everything that you did Hojo know this, Jenova is dead, she has died in me, and I vow that she will die in cloud as well, your legacy is dead Hojo.. just like you," Sephiroth thrust the katana through Hojo's body all the way to its hilt, Hojo collapsed to his knees. As he dropped Sephiroth's sword to the floor the One Winged Angel recovered his weapon, as he held it in his hands he felt his power return, as he swung it at his enemy Hojo screamed, and then he was eternally silent.

The bindings unraveled and Raven immediately ran to Sephiroth. His arms wrapped around her waist and he lifted her off her feet as she threw her arms around his neck and begun to laugh with more joy then she had ever imagined. "I have waited so long..." she whispered as she put her hands to the side of his face and looked into his eyes.
He set her back on her feet and slipped his hands through her hair that she had pulled free from it's braid after awakening by the beach. Sephiroth leaned forward and kissed Raven as he enveloped her in his arms. It was this moment he had dreamt about during his long sleep. It was then he realized how much she truly meant to him.
"I love you...." he breathed against her lips.

Chapter 14
~Reunited~

Shadow groaned and I knelt down beside him to check his head where Hojo had hit him, he opened his eyes and I smiled at him. "Hojo is dead, everything is alright," she laughed lightly, then she cast a cure spell on him. "So are we going after Cloud or what?"
"He is the last son of Jenova," said Shadow. "It won’t be easy." Me and Shadow both looked at Sephiroth, but his face said nothing.
"I can take care of Cloud, it’s the fact that we’re so badly outnumbered that worries me" said Sephiroth.
"We’ll win, nothing can stop us!" I laughed I tried to help Shadow up. Shadow tried to get to his feet, but he collapsed soon after he tried pulling me with him.
"Ruby was right, I'm far too young for this," he moaned, Sephiroth helped him up and supported him. They looked around the reactor in disgust, Shadow whispered something to Sephiroth who nodded. They both started towards where Jenova had been kept, I followed silently behind them.
"So this is where my sister was kept," said Shadow. "She deserved it for what she did." Shadow turned to me. "I never knew that one of my kind had been responsible for the death of yours, I swear never to stop until Jenova’s damage has been repaired. I think I’ll start with this reactor, we have to leave." They all walked out of the building and started to walk back down the mountain, after they had walked for a few minutes Shadow stopped.
"We’ll be safe here, I think we all need to watch this," said Shadow. We all stood as Shadow touched the materia on his cloak and spoke for a few moments, as he stopped a wave of pure power passed quickly over their heads, as it struck the reactor the building disappeared in a flash of pure light.
"No longer will Jenova be infecting your people, with this laboratory and Hojo the method dies" Shadow wearily turned and started back down the hill.
"How did you do that?" asked Sephiroth.
"I didn’t," Shadow answered. "My brother did, he hates Jenova’s actions just as much as I do, he’s waiting to take us were we want. As we walked down the hill they looked at each other and marveled that after so long they were together again. It didn't take long for us to walk through the mountains, we soon decided that we needed to rest before we moved any further. "Rocket Town isn't far from here," I replied. "We will need to get supplies but Sephiroth can't go inside the town because of the risk of recognition."
"I will go first thing in the morning," Shadow announced. "You guys could use some time alone." I smiled, turning red a little and laid down on the pile of leaves I had gathered. Sephiroth made a fire and he too laid down. Shadow was already asleep. I put my arm across Sephiroth's chest and drifted off. He laid there staring at the stars for a long time before finally falling asleep too.

I lifted his long sword and tried to hold it straight. "How can you handle this thing?" I asked. He stood behind me and lifted my right arm, that held the sword, and bent my elbow. Then he brought my left hand up to brace my wrist. He let my arms go and I held it steady. "You see that tall plant there?" he asked. I nodded. "Fix your gaze on it and without looking away from it lunge forward, bring the sword up and attack smoothly, all in one movement." I narrowed my eyes and focused on the plant as Sephiroth had instructed. In one graceful swoop the plant was split in half. I spun around and laughed.
"I can't believe I did it!" I said, amazed at myself.
"I knew that you could," he smiled softly at me. He leaned back against a tree and put his head in his hand.
"Are you alright?" I asked him worriedly.
"Yeah, I am still a little weak," he admitted. I cast sense on him and opened my eyes wide.
"Sephiroth, you're max levels are still the same but all of your energy has been wiped out. It will take a long time to regain and no normal cure will fix it," I explained.
"We don't have time," he groaned.
"You will be in danger if you fight again," I told him.
"Damn it!" he slammed his fist against the tree.
"There is a way around it," I told him. "I'm not sure of the effects that it will have on me but if you don't fight then we will lose."
"You can't keep using Chaos," Sephiroth told me.
"You know very well that I only use it when I have no choice," I replied. "That has been happening a lot lately."
"Raven...." I put my hand up to stop him.
"Just let me do this for you," I pleaded quietly. I pulled my strongest cure materia out of my hip pouch and closed my eyes as I grasped the materia firmly in my left hand. I cast the mighty cure spell and felt the angel wings take over. They spread wide and Sephiroth closed his eyes and the energy showered over him. He opened them again in time to see the wings vanish. I slumped forward and he caught me before I could fall. My eyes drooped slightly and he laid me back onto the grass.
"You will be too weak to fight," he said.
"That's okay," I smiled. "I will have you to protect me."
"Yes you will," he leaned forward and kissed me. "You are my angel...." he whispered into my hair as I laid against him. I shivered slightly at his words. I looked up at him and ran my hand down the side of his face. "Thank you..." I mumbled sleepily.
"For what?" he asked. I looked into his eyes, "For being my destiny." His arm circled my waist and he pulled me close as I drifted off to sleep.

I awoke a few hours later and looked up at Sephiroth. His eyes were closed and he was breathing steadily but I knew that he was awake. "Did I ever tell you that you don't look your age?" I asked with a small smile.
"Is that so?" he laughed, opening his eyes and looking at me.
"Yes! Especially right now, when you smile. You look so much younger," I informed him.
"You look younger than you are too," he chuckled. "Listen to us talking as if we were REALLY old," I giggled.
"One day we WILL be really old," he smiled.
"You think so?" I asked seriously.
"Yes," he answered. "And I don't care how old I get as long as I am growing old alongside you. Then I will die a very happy man."
"Oh Sephiroth," I sighed. A tear escaped and slid down my cheek. He wiped it away with his thumb and I closed my eyes at the touch of his hand. "You made such a horrible life worth living," I told him quietly.
"It makes me feel special to hear you say that," he told me.
"You are special," I said opening my eyes.
"So are you," he said. I gave a happy smile and laid my head against his chest.
"Don't ever leave me again Sephiroth," I pleaded.
"I won't ever leave you again, Raven," he breathed.
"Maybe I shouldn't go accompany you to the crater," I suggested.
"Why not?" he asked looking at me.
"I feel like I will be holding you back," I admitted.
"Don't think like that," he told me. "Listen... before I met you, I did not fear. I have learned that the worst fear is the fear of losing someone you love, but... nothing can compare to the way you make me feel. You have given me a reason to value life. So, Raven... never think that you are holding me back when you are only pushing me forward." I threw my arms around his neck and held him close. He pushed me back and reached into his leather pouch.
"I have something for you," he told me.
"For me?" I looked puzzled.
"I've had it for all these years," he sighed. "I bought it on my way to Nibelheim." I watched as he removed a small silver object and hold up his hand. On the tip of his finger was an intricately carved silver ring. He was giving me a sly smile as he balled up his fist. I pulled his face to mine and kissed him. He slipped it onto the finger next to my pinky on my left hand.
"I love you Sephiroth," I said with a tearful smile.

Chapter 15
~Return to the North Crater~

"Are you two ready to go?" Shadow asked as he approached the campsite.
"As ready as we will ever be," Raven replied as she got to her feet. "What did you get at Rocket town?" Shadow tossed her the black bag and she began to sift through its contents. There were plenty of rations and potions and even some new materia. "Hey that's a fire materia. I have never used one of those," she replied pulling it out and equipping it in her arm band.
"Lets go then," Sephiroth replied, the trio began walking towards the beach where Emerald Weapon was waiting for them.
"Before we go Emerald has something for you Raven," Shadow replied. He turned to Emerald and held open his hands. A bright light flashed and a pair of Ultima Daggers appeared in his hands. He turned and handed them to Raven. "These belonged to my lost brother, Ultima Weapon. Emerald says that these are yours for healing him. He said that he would have taken us across regardless and you knew that..."
Raven nodded her head and sighed. Then she looked up and smiled at Emerald. "Thank you." The climbed aboard the green weapon and he began to swim towards the north crater. Raven looked around at the water and then she handed Sephiroth the new daggers. "Hold these for a second," she replied. He watched as she removed the old daggers and looked at them. They were chipped along the blade and re-sharpened many times.
"These have gotten me through a lot," she sighed. "I will miss them but I cannot use them any longer. It is time they retire." She threw them up and they landed with a splash into the ocean. She closed her eyes and imagined them sinking to the bottom and imbedding themselves into the ocean floor. Sephiroth returned the daggers to her and she replaced them into the holsters attached to her leg. "This will make my limit break stronger!" she smiled childishly at Sephiroth who began to laugh.
"We're getting close," Shadow replied, pointing to the shore. "I can see Bone Village."
"It looks as if we will have to travel through the ancient city," Raven replied.
"Yeah," Shadow agreed. "I have never seen it before, it should be interesting."

Standing outside the Ancient City the three of them were awed at its magnificence, even in its abandoned state it was truly beautiful.
"I never thought I’d see something this beautiful again," whispered Sephiroth.
"I was about to say the same thing," agreed Shadow. Raven could not speak, she just stood there and looked at the city that had once held her kind.
"I… I think that I remember this place," said Shadow. "Em what I mean is, one of my brothers saw it when it was occupied, it was just as magnificent," Shadow sounded very unsure of himself.
"You can see what your brothers did?" asked Raven.
"I can remember it vaguely, Ruby said that the rest would come in time," answered Shadow, as they walked closer to the center of the village Raven went very quiet.
"This might sound a little strange, but I’m hearing voices," she said to her friends. They both turned to her with puzzled looks on their faces.
"What kind of voices? What are they saying?" asked Sephiroth.
"I could hardly make them out, there were so many… but they are coming from that direction," Raven pointed at a gap in the mountain.
"Well then, lets go and see what’s in there," said Shadow as he began to walk towards the cave entrance.
"Uhhh!" Raven grabbed her head and fell to her knees. Shadow turned around when he heard her cry out and grabbed Sephiroth's arm.
"I can hear them!" she cried. "So plainly as if they were standing right next to me." Sephiroth hurried to kneel beside her and take her hand. Her eyes were filled with pain when she looked up at him. "They let me see what Jenova had done to my people. They tell me that the planet will never be able to heal itself until she is completely destroyed forever."
"We will destroy her," Sephiroth promised her. "Be strong Raven we don't have much further to go." She nodded and let him pull her to her feet. They stepped inside and Raven marveled at the magnificence of the clear water ahead of them. She knelt beside it and dipped her hand in the water.
"This is someone's resting place," she told them. "She was an ancient like me. Her spirit is gone now. It went into the lifestream." Sephiroth closed his eyes and the vision of killing the ancient girl came to him. He turned away from the water and sighed. "Come with me Sephiroth," Raven whispered. "And you too Shadow."
They walked inside the building and descended the steps leading into the forgotten city. Raven stared at the alter and looked at Sephiroth. "Do you remember this place?" He nodded. "It wasn't your fault. It was Jenova."
"How did you know?" he asked me.
"The planet is speaking to me. It is telling me everything that has happened here," she explained. "I was born here...."
Both Shadow and Sephiroth turned to look at her in surprise. She looked at them, the two most important people in her life and sighed. "I was born secretly so no one would know that I was born to the ancient named Ifalna. She sent me to live with my father and younger brother and moved on to Icicle Village with her new husband, Professor Gast. All of this was to protect our kind. My mother was determined that the Cetra be continued through me. It was either this or our race would have surely disappeared forever," I turned and stared at the alter. "The girl who died here, by the hands of Jenova was my sister. We must destroy all that is left of Jenova. Even though my sister loved this man......"
"Cloud…" breathed Shadow. "He’s the last of Jenova, the essence of all that is left. But it won’t be easy to kill him, with Jenova’s cell’s in him he’s as powerful as I am, perhaps more, I was lucky to beat him the last time."
"It will be Cloud that will have to be lucky," said Sephiroth with revenge glowing in his eyes.
"Then this is it, this is the end," said Shadow, "we’ve come such a long way since we all met, what will happen after we win?" They looked at each other.
"I guess we should worry about AVALANCHE first?" said Raven.
"Why?" asked Sephiroth.
"Because they just flew overhead," answered Raven. "Looks like they were heading for North Cave, The Crater."
"Then lets go after them," Shadow replied. Raven and Sephiroth nodded and they hurried out of the city, heading towards the crater. It seemed to take ages as they traveled through Icicle Village and then through the icy mountains. Shadow reached the top first with Sephiroth and Raven close behind. She lost her footing and started to fall when Sephiroth grabbed her hand. "Climb up onto my back," he instructed, examining her pale face. She pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sephiroth continued to climb up and stopped at the ledge. Shadow reached over the side and pulled Raven up and then helped Sephiroth over. The pair stood up and looked at Raven who was staring down into the crater, her eyes wide. "I can't say that this place brings back good memories," she muttered. "I wonder why they came back here. It is filled with the lifestream up to the halfway point."
"I guess we will soon find out," Shadow said dropping down into the crater. Raven looked at Sephiroth and sighed. He took her hand and they dropped down together.

"I hear voices," Raven whispered and pulled Sephiroth and Shadow to a halt. They listened and could hear the voices of AVALANCHE around the corner.
"I was sure that they would come back here," Cloud muttered. "I wonder where they could be."
"Maybe we should just forget about it," Vincent replied. "They haven't caused any trouble except for taking Sephiroth's cloak. What do we need it for anyways? He's dead!"
"It was my proof that Sephiroth is gone forever," Cloud said. "And the girl.... I keep having dreams that she will destroy me. If I don't get rid of her then who is to say what will happen."
"You want to kill someone because of a dream?" Vincent asked. "I think you have lost it Cloud."
"No! I am not crazy!" Cloud yelled. "That girl is some sort of witch! She has to die!"
Sephiroth made a growling sound and lunged towards Cloud before Raven could stop him. Raven would never forget Cloud's face when he seen Sephiroth moving towards him. He quickly recovered and brought up the Ultima Weapon to block Sephiroth's masamune. "If you think you are going to kill Raven then you will have to go through me!" Sephiroth roared. Raven stepped out into the open and Cloud's eyes widened. Then he glared at Sephiroth, "She will die Sephiroth, along with you!"

As Raven, Shadow and Sephiroth stood off against the members of AVALANCHE the life-force began to surge. "It senses the disturbance!" Raven shouted over the noise. Despite the danger neither of the parties moved, they just stood and waited for the first move.
"Three against seven, that’s pretty poor odds!" Shadow yelled to his companions. Shadow drew his weapons and rushed at AVALANCHE, the battle had begun! Raven cast her most powerful spells and launched them at AVALANCHE with all the ferocity that she could muster, Sephiroth charged at Cloud and they began to fight with each other, Shadow cast his most powerful magic - Shadow Weapon, and rushed into the middle of his enemies.
As Sephiroth and Cloud battled back and forth Cloud tried to cast his summon materia in desperation, Sephiroth had predicted this however and with a skillful twist of his sword he flicked the materia out of Clouds sword, the smooth materia rolled away into the darkness as it hit the ground.
"Raven, get the summon!" Sephiroth shouted.
"Tifa, stop her!" Cloud yelled at the same time. Raven stopped casting magic and ran after the materia, Tifa came at her from the other direction, the materia wedged in a crack and soon they stood opposite each other.
"Step away from that materia" snarled Tifa.
"Never! You’ll have to get through me to get it," spat Raven back. As they began to fight Raven’s twin daggers shone out in the darkness with all the power of Ultimate Weapon, with all the power that they possessed and Raven’s skill she soon overpowered Tifa. As the fallen member of AVALANCHE lay at Raven’s feet she picked up the summon and slotted it into her daggers. She turned to face the other members of AVALANCHE she used her Chaos Angel to add power to the summon, throwing everything that she had into the attack she cast the magic.
The massive forms of the thirteen knights appeared in the darkness and pounded into AVALANCHE, as they were hit by the massive attacks slowly they fell, one by one, until none of them stood - Raven had done it! Standing in the middle of the beaten bodies of AVALANCHE Shadow blinked and wondered what had happened, he looked for something to fight and as he stared across at Raven he saw he crumple to the ground.
"N-no!" shouted Sephiroth as he saw Raven fall and he broke away from Cloud to run to Raven’s side.
"Raven… can you hear me?" he asked
"I… I put to much into that one," said Raven softly.
"You’ll be okay," Sephiroth whispered as he cast cure on her. She slipped into unconsciousness as Sephiroth held her limp body.
"Now you both die," Cloud sneered, he stood a few feet from Sephiroth and Raven. "And this time Sephiroth I’ll make sure you can’t come back, you and your demon witch!" Cloud rose his sword and swung down with all his might.

As the sword fell Sephiroth pulled Raven tightly and kissed her gently on the lips, he shed a single tear for their eternal love. Cloud laughed insanely as his weapon fell. Just as the sword was about to hit Sephiroth a resounding clash of steel emanated through the cavern, Cloud turned to see Shadow standing beside him.
"Listen to me son of Jenova, I swore if you touched that girl again the I would kill you," he struck Cloud and he fell back a few feet, his sword skimmed across the ground and stopped a few meters away.
"So what now? Are you going to kill me?" Cloud mocked.
"No," said Sephiroth as he rose to his feet. "Go and retrieve your sword Cloud and lets end this once and for all." As Cloud scrambled over to get his weapon Sephiroth and Shadow prepared for the final fight.

Cloud turned to face them once he had the sword in his hand. "The odds are against you," Shadow warned him as he drew near them.
"No.." Cloud said. "The odds are against you!" They watched as he began to grow to twice his normal size. The Jenova in him was clearly beginning to show forth. He threw back his head and let out a mighty roar and then glowered at him with his icy blue eyes.
"Now it is time to end this forever!" Jenova-Cloud growled. As he stepped towards them the ground shook under the mighty weight of his body. Sephiroth lifted his sword and sawn Shadow do the same in the corner of his eye. They broke apart when Ultima weapon swung at them. They begun to attack from both sides but soon realized that Jenova-Cloud's body was surrounded by some sort of hard protective shell. Their swords made loud metallic sounds as it struck his shell. Jenova-Cloud turned and swung the sword heavily at Sephiroth who leaped backwards to avoid the blow. He knew that there had to be a weak spot somewhere. Nothing could be that impenetrable.
Shadow took the opportunity to search for one while Jenova-Cloud was distracted with Sephiroth. His long tail swung towards Shadow, knocking him backwards, off his feet. He leaped back up and struck Jenova-Cloud's back. The metallic sound rang through the cave and the beast spun around to attack Shadow with strong lightning magic. Shadow blocked the blow with his protective materia and swung at a spot on his stomach that looked bare. Jenova-Cloud roared and swung the weapon again.
"Sephiroth! The weak spot is on his stomach!" Shadow yelled to Sephiroth who was on the other side of the monster.
"I got it!" Sephiroth yelled back. The two warriors took turns getting close enough to attack the beast on its weak point until it began to shrink. They stood back and watched as Cloud returned to his normal form. But when he opened his eyes they were inhuman. They were glowing a wicked shade of blue and he grinned a devilish grin. He glanced behind him and it was then that Sephiroth realized their folly. He rushed forward but he wasn't quick enough to prevent Cloud from lifting Raven into his arms.
"You have made a foolish mistake," Cloud growled at them in an inhuman voice. Sephiroth could see Raven's body stir as Cloud lifted her over his head and he began to step towards her. "Do not do anything you might regret," Cloud told him. "I can easily destroy the girl now right before your eyes!" Sephiroth cringed his teeth but he stopped. Shadow gripped the handles on his sword until his knuckles grew white. His eyes showed his rage that was as great as Sephiroth's.
"Watch now you fools as I use this witch to destroy you both!!" Cloud screamed as a black mist rose from the ground and spiraled around him and Raven until they could no longer be seen. When the mist vanished they were gone with it. The floor rumbled behind them and the two whirled around to face their new enemy.
"The girl has the unusual power to combine magic, and lucky for me she can combine spirits as well..." Chaos-Cloud roared with laughter at the look on their faces.
Shadow couldn't believe his eyes at the creature that now stood before them. It was Cloud's torso with the body of a dark horse and black feathered wings on his back. Both knew that Raven was inside of him. Their only chance was for Sephiroth to remember what had happened when Raven had helped him during his fight with AVALANCHE.

The massive form of Chaos-Cloud laughed insanely as he looked down at the two men before him.
"You think that rage can help you now? You think that because you fight for good you will win? I laugh at your arrogance fools," he hit the two of the with waves of Ultima power, the both buckled under the strain.
"We… we can stop this thing!" Sephiroth shouted at Shadow. "Raven is in there, if we can only give her a chance to fight him."
"Its impossible, she combined her Chaos Angel with Knights Of The Round, the power that she used was immense, she won’t have the strength to fight him," Shadow shouted back.
"We’ve got to try and help her then…" Sephiroth bore his giant sword forth and saluted his friend, he then ran straight at the creature with the fire of battle in his eyes. Shadow saw his friend charge and he started one of his own, it was futile, but two warriors like themselves would not go down easily. As they hacked and swung at Chaos-Cloud's god like form he roared in laughter before knocking them back against the wall with all his force, their bodies slid of the wall and to the ground, they slowly got to their feet and charged again.
Chaos-Cloud laughed as he held them off easily. Sephiroth pulled himself back up again and again. He rubbed the blood out of the corner of his mouth and swung the masamune harder at the same moment Shadow struck out with his twin swords. Chaos-Cloud's wings flared out and a powerful wind blast threw the oncoming warriors against the wall and held them there as he slowly approached them as a prowler would stalk it's prey.
"I am tired of playing games with you two," he said in a low voice. He lifted the Ultima Weapon high. "It is time to die!" The sword began it's decent and Shadow closed his eyes. When nothing happened he opened them again and was dropped to the ground. Sephiroth pulled himself up and assisted Shadow to his feet. The two looked on in amazement as Chaos-Cloud began to back up. He begun to howl during his retreat.
"It's Raven!" Shadow exclaimed. "She is fighting him."
"Now is our chance!" Sephiroth called to him.
"Lets do it!" Shadow lifted his weapons high.
Again they charged their enemy, but this time with renewed vigor, their swords did little damage to him, but he screamed in pain.
"He can’t concentrate, she's distracting him," shouted Shadow.
"Hit him with your best!" Sephiroth shouted as he began to charge his limit break, Shadow began to charge his too. As they both reached their limits they let loose with their hardest attacks. Shadow Weapon raised its giant hand and struck at Chaos Cloud, while Sephiroth's holy sword swung so quickly that it was impossible to see, again and again Cloud screamed in torment as he reeled under the attacks of Shadow, Sephiroth and Raven. As their limit breaks finished Chaos Cloud still stood although he swayed back and forth, he desperately tried to fight his attackers but it was if he was blind, he swung wildly in the dark.
Sephiroth and Shadow readied their final attacks. Sephiroth lifted the masamune simultaneously with Shadow's. Chaos-Cloud gave it one last attempt, he began to summon up the strongest attack that he had, one that would kill the pair instantly with its power. Sephiroth's eyes widened as he began the spell but then he was cut short and cried out in pain.
"What is happening?!" Shadow looked alarmed.
"I have no idea!" Sephiroth looked as confused as he was.
A bright light began to glow around Chaos Cloud's body and he began to scream in violent rage. "No! You will not win! I will take you to the grave with me witch!!!" He began to step backwards and dropped off the edge into an enormous pit that seemed to be endless.
"NOOO!!" Sephiroth howled running to the edge of the pit. Shadow followed him and looked over the edge. Chaos Cloud was nowhere in sight.
"He has beat us..." Sephiroth moaned dropping his head forward. "That bastard!!" Sephiroth sat down and buried his head in his hands. Shadow knelt down onto one knee and stuck his sword in the ground to lean on. He laid his head on the top of his hand that rested on the hilt. He closed his eyes and tried to hide the immense sorrow that he felt. He didn't want Sephiroth to see the tears that had managed to escape to draw trails down the sides of his face.
Sephiroth too was hiding tears that he was so unaccustomed to. They sat there in silence for a long while before they felt the soft breeze on their skin. They both looked up at the same time at Raven whose feet had just touched the ground. Her midnight feathered wings folded behind her and disappeared in a flash. She smiled softly at the two warriors before collapsing in between them.

As she fell to the ground between them they both put out their arms and caught her as she fell, cradled in their arms she lay there gently breathing. As the pair looked at each other and at Raven they said a silent prayer that she was safe, the tears ran down both their faces now, but for completely the opposite reason. Shadow withdrew his arm and Sephiroth lifted his love into his arms, the joy on his face was clear for the world to see.
"Its over… No more Jenova," whispered Shadow wearily. "The time for fighting is over, its time to live now."
"Do you think that will be it?" asked Sephiroth, he could not move his eyes from Raven face.
"I know it will be, you two will be happy now," Shadow turned from his friends and looked into the lifestream. "We should take her back to the City Of The Ancients, she will heal faster there," he began walking from the cave. As they left the crater Sephiroth held Raven closely to his body, afraid to let her go, Shadow led the way for his friends as they walked away from their past, and into their future.

Chapter 16
~Peace at Last~

Raven opened her eyes slowly and looked up from her laying position. Everything was blurry and she could barely make out Sephiroth's face as he gazed down at her with a worried expression on his face. She felt herself lift her hand and touch his cheek and smiled when her vision cleared up. She knew then that she was on the alter of the forgotten city, Sephiroth sat beside her and Shadow sat on the steps nearby waiting.
"Is it over?" Raven struggled to ask. Shadow turned quickly at the sound of her voice and smiled to see his friend awake.
"Its all over," Sephiroth announced. "All thanks to you!" Raven could not suppress a soft smile at his words.
"At last," she whispered closing her eyes. "Who would have thought that three of us would save the world? I think that we were the most unlikely hero's on this planet. Fate brought us together as the same fate tried to tear us apart but we beat it."
"Fate could never have kept me from you," Sephiroth told me.
"Nor I," Shadow put in.
"I do not think that I could have picked better friends," I told them. "I would not have made it if it weren't for you two. I would have died long ago."
"If it weren't for you I would have perished in the crater," Sephiroth reminded her.
"And I in the desert," Shadow added. "Raven you helped us as much if not more than we helped you. We are a team!"
Raven smiled. "It is almost a shame that this is over. We will not be able to fight together anymore," she replied. "But I would gladly give up fighting for a peaceful world."
"I sure won’t miss AVALANCHE," Shadow replied.
"Do you think Cloud is really dead?" asked Sephiroth.
"I know that Jenova is, I can’t feel her presence anymore," replied Shadow as he got up from the steps. Raven also got up, although she stayed very close to Sephiroth, their hands intertwined with each others.
"So what happens now?" asked Raven.
"I don’t know," said Sephiroth as he looked at his love. "But it sure is going to be fun finding out, I think I’m going to leave SOLDIER."
"I think you left a while ago dear, you're dead remember?" Raven giggled.
"I had forgotten about that," Sephiroth laughed.
"You’ll still have to keep a low profile Sephiroth, not a lot of people like you," added Shadow.
"A nice quiet life, maybe a little house in the middle of nowhere, just you and me," the emerald eyes stared at each other.
"Sounds nice, we’ve got so much catching up to do," said Sephiroth. Raven turned to Shadow as Sephiroth wrapped his arms around her.
"What are you going to do Shadow?" she asked.
"My future has already been decided, Ruby, Emerald and myself are leaving this planet, we are returning to the stars," Shadow replied.
"Wow! The stars, you must be excited," said Raven.
"Not really, I’m really going to miss this place, and you guys too," Shadow stared at the lost city while his mind wondered into the future, he was going to miss them more than he could say.
"I wish that there was a way that you could stay," Raven replied. "I will miss you a lot, you know."
Shadow turned at her smiling face and could not help but to smile in return. "When you look up at the sky at night just remember me," he said quietly.
"How could I forget?!" she laughed. "We had such wonderful times together, you and I. I will always think about you and what you did for us."
"Thank you Raven," Shadow said. Raven broke free from Sephiroth and gave her friend a hug. Then she stepped back and looked at him sadly.
"Do you wish for us to accompany you to the desert?" she asked him.
"Yes, actually, I would," he told her. "I want you to be there so I can tell you goodbye."
"At least one thing good came out of this battle," Raven giggled looking at her dagger.
"What's that?" Sephiroth and Shadow asked at the same time.
She held up the dagger and grinned. "I got this cool summon materia!!" she exclaimed.
Sephiroth and Shadow could not help but to laugh at her child-like excitement. Raven never failed to cheer them up. That was her gift. To make things seem better that they really were...

For the last time the desert spread out in front of Shadow and his friends, the desert winds were raging and it was impossible to see far at all.
"You want to got into there?" asked Sephiroth.
"Don’t worry, its Ruby desert, he won’t let anything happen to us, he just doesn’t want anyone else seeing this." Shadow stepped into the storm and he disappeared from sight, after a few moments he returned.
"Wait a moment, Ruby is going to help us," he said as he shook the sand of his cloak. They waited for ten minutes and they Shadow beckoned for them to follow, as they stepped into the moving wall of sand a dome of pure power stopped the sands from getting near them, Raven and Sephiroth followed Shadow who led the way. They walked for about an hour before Shadow stopped and knelt in the sand, he began to speak in the language of the Weapons. Soon Ruby stood before the trio and Shadow bowed to his master.
"You have done well my son, my sister Jenova no longer exists in this world, I can not say that I will miss her. I am sorry for what my sister did, I feel I must apologize again to you daughter of the Ancients, I would undo everything that she did if I could." Raven looked at Ruby and bowed her head in acknowledgements, Ruby did the same.
"Arise my son for your childhood is at an end, it is time for you to receive your birthright," as Ruby finished speaking Emerald suddenly walked out of the storm, the two towering Weapons stood before Shadow and their bodies opened to reveal their colored life source. As they knelt in the sand Shadow stood and touched both their life sources and the five figures were bathed in a rainbow light, when the light subsided three gigantic Weapons stood where two had been, the new weapon was pure black in colour, but his eyes were emerald green, the creature appeared to smile.
Raven's eyes were wide with surprise as she looked at what her friend had become. Then her lips lifted into a fabulous smile. "Don't forget us Shadow!" she shouted. The weapon nodded and Sephiroth clutched Raven tighter to him. There was a flash of blinding white light and the three figures disappeared.

Raven opened her eyes and looked around them. Her and Sephiroth stood on the edge of the desert alone.
"He is gone," Raven said, a tear slipping from her eye. Sephiroth wiped it away and looked down at her.
"Look up," he told her. Raven did as he asked she smiled as the star shot across the night time sky. "Goodbye Shadow....." Sephiroth took her hand and they began their long walk together. "Maybe we should just be mercenaries," Sephiroth suggested. Raven appeared to think for a moment.
"I have no problem with that...." she said. "As long as we do it for free. We have enough gil to last us a lifetime!"
"Alright," he laughed. "We will be the world's only free of charge mercenaries."
"It is more than enough payment to just be with you for the rest of our lives," Raven smiled.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Sephiroth smiled. He watched as the wind picked up her long hair and blew it around her face that had a surreal quality to it in the full moonlight. He took her in his arms and kissed her as the three bright stars shot across the starlit sky.

Epilogue I
~Lady of Sephiroth~

I sat staring out at the gently rolling waves of the ocean. I let my bare feet dig into the cool sand as I hugged my knees to my chest. At long last the nightmare was over and me and Sephiroth were free to live our lives together in peace. My thoughts began to drift back to Shadow. I missed him terribly but I was happy that his destiny was fulfilled amongst the stars that now twinkled overhead. I could remember the many times that we got into trouble or the happy times that we spent together and they always made me smile a little. I wished that I could see him again but it was written in fate's book that it wasn't possible. Still, I would never forget his face for as long as I lived.

When I began to think of Cloud Strife it made me kinda sad. I didn't want him to die. I didn't want anyone to die, except Jenova. I guess that it couldn't be helped. In the end it was Cloud who destroyed himself. I liked to think that he was reunited with my half sister Aeris. It made his death a little easier to accept. Cloud, the person, wasn't evil it all. It was only the effects of Jenova that caught hold of him. My only regret was that I was unable to save him as I had Sephiroth.

"Raven," I heard Sephiroth call my name and turned my head to look at him. "Come on we need to get going!" He smiled at me as he stood there waiting for me. I smiled back and rose to my feet. I gave one more lingering look out at the ocean and let the wind blow my hair back away from my face. Sephiroth stepped up beside me and took my hand. I bent to pick up my boots and looked up at him. He smiled and then turned to lead me off the beach.

I had many more battles ahead of me and a long life to live. I only hoped that Shadow was as happy as I was. Everything that I had experienced I had learned something from. I knew that the most important thing in life was to live it to the fullest and to cherish the ones you love while you have the chance. You never knew when you had to say goodbye.

Epilogue II
~Shadow Weapon~

We danced through the stars, joyful to finally be free we soared through the heavens. Ruby and Emerald had seen it all before, but to finally be free from their long exile had injected them with childish excitement. For me the stars were new and even though I have the memories of my dead brothers I cannot no help but marvel at the wonders of creation as I fly past stars, planets and galaxies.
"Will we ever go back?" I asked my brothers.
"No, probably not brother. We have so much still to see, why do you want to go back to that planet?" asked Emerald.
"I miss my friends," I replied.
"The green eyed girl and the chosen one? Do you miss them a lot Shadow?" Ruby asked.
"I do brother, they were the only thing I had in my old life," I relied.
"Then perhaps you need something to remember them by," my brother replied as he looked across to Emerald who nodded in agreement. They then both began casting strange magic's and pulling power from the stars around them, I witnessed the full power of my kind, the ball of light they were creating spun slowly. As it became larger and larger it began to take from, a bright new star was born, it grew larger and larger as they put more energy into it, finally they stopped an the new star floated in open space.
"Its magnificent my brothers," I whispered.
"Its not finished yet, you know what to do," they both replied, and I did. Gathering up all the energy I could muster I felt the power of the cosmos running through me, I released all that energy at the new star, it began to glow the most incredible emerald color.
"Now you have something to remember your friends by Shadow, the only star in the galaxy that burns a different color," I looked at it for a moment and laughed, just as Raven would have, my brothers an I then turned, continuing on our journey.

~To Be Continued~