Chapter Twenty-Three

Cloud stood at the window of their room in the Golden Saucer, gazing at the nightly fireworks without really seeing them. Tifa sat on the edge of their bed, her shoulders slumped with exhaustion. Dio had convinced them he had information they wanted, but they would have to .. pay for it. As it happened, that payment had come in the form of dueling in the Arena. Tifa had thought herself in good physical condition, better form, perhaps, than when she had fought so hard against Shin-Ra in the past. But she hadn’t anticipated Dio’s new tricks.. and monsters. She should have. She should have realized that with the monsters all over the world increasing in power, it would make sense that Dio had found some more interesting – and powerful – monsters to add to his Arena.

If Cloud felt any of her exhaustion, he did not show it. He stood, very still, at the window. She knew he was furious. Dio’s information had not been anything they had hoped for. Yes, Dio had had some of the artifacts that had been looted from the Ancient’s City. No, he didn’t have them any more. Another had come for them several weeks prior – another that Dio had implied was an incredible fighter – perhaps equal to or better than Tifa and Cloud. At last Dio had supplied the names of others who had shown interest in the artifacts – but that information had also gone on to the other. Sephiroth’s lover; Jyleth.

“We are always too late,” Cloud said, his tone low, emotionless. “No matter how much we plan, no matter how fast we move, we are always too late.”

“Cloud,” Tifa said, really feeling too tired for this argument.

“This woman,” Cloud said, his voice now seething with anger. “This Jyleth. She must be stopped. She must be stopped before it is too late. Whatever they are planning, she is the weak point. We have to go after her first.”

Tifa sighed, not understanding why Cloud felt so much anger and hate toward a woman he had never met. Was it because this Jyleth was so clearly a good fighter? Was it because she had allied herself with Sephiroth? Or perhaps it is because she is the lover of Sephiroth. That is the fact that Cloud cannot tolerate. The fact that Sephiroth might… she gasped slightly, as the realization hit her. That Sephiroth might be able to make a child. Cloud is afraid – terribly afraid – of the offspring of Sephiroth. She considered that for a moment. As well we all should be. With the tampering done to Sephiroth himself, and this unknown woman could have been tampered with herself, the offspring of the two could be worse… oh far worse.

“I agree,” she said, looking up to find his eyes on her. There was slight concern there – perhaps her gasp had been more audible than she realized. “We should … eliminate her, and quickly.”

“In order to catch up, we need to cover more ground,” Cloud said, looking back to the window. “You and Barret go to Bone Village. See if you can find the graduates that Travena sent. If any are still alive… re-assign them the Ancient’s City, as a patrol unit. I will go to Junon and try to meet up the others.” He glanced with pure annoyance at the PHS unit that sat on the window sill. It had been utterly quiet, except for occasional static bursts. It seemed that the PHS system was now in complete failure. Without Shin-Ra and their technological knowledge, many of the communication systems, such as the PHS, that had been taken for granted were failing. And nothing yet had been able to take their place. It was hard to admit that Shin-Ra had ever done anything useful, but clearly, the communication technology they had developed would be sorely missed if it was not replaced soon.

“What about Dio’s leads?” Tifa asked, looking at the piece of paper with various locations scribbled on it. They were mostly to the south and west of their location.

“Weeks old,” Cloud said dismissively, “if we followed them, we would only discover that once again, we were too late. This is not going to end like last time. This time, we hold the upper hand. We will strengthen our presence in every city. The graduates can establish a good hold in every continent. No matter where, we will find them… and we’ll destroy them.”

She winced inwardly at his words. Strengthen our presence.. that sounds an awful lot like taking over. Well.. we won’t stay, she told herself, this is only until the threat is over. Then we will pull the graduates back to us, build a new Academy.. and I will wake up every morning to the sound of the waves on the beach…

Cid tried using the PHS unit again, and again he only received static. The four of them had left Fort Condor and made their way down the cliffs to camp on the plains below. For several days, they had stayed there, attempting to contact Cloud with their information. However, the PHS units had been totally useless. It was now apparent they would have to get the information to Cloud in person.

“It would be faster to travel to the Temple of the Ancients and then take the ferry over to Gongaga and walk from there.” Nanaki said, switching his tail and flicking his ears in annoyance at the static crackles. “Cid, please, it’s not going to work, shut it off. It is grating on my ear drums.” Cid stared at the useless device for a long moment, then apparently agreed with the cat and turned it off.

“A ferry,” Yuffie said, sighing dramatically. “I hate boats.”

“Still makes you queasy, eh?” Cid said, his humor immediately returning. Yuffie glared at him. She glanced surreptitiously at Vincent to see if he was taking note of the conversation. He was perched on a rock on the edge of their campsite, his eyes turned outward to the plains. She supposed he was on watch. They had been attacked a few times while waiting to see if the PHS was going to work, but it was nothing the four of them together couldn’t handle. She had noticed a slight increase in the strength of the attacks, and she was sure the others had noticed as well, but it hadn’t been enough to worry them. It was well known the strength and frequency of monster attacks was increasing all over the planet. Vincent did not appear to be paying attention to the conversation, however, as if he had felt her gaze on him, he turned to meet her eyes. Scorn showed through clearly, and she turned away quickly.

What does he know, anyway, she thought resentfully to herself. He doesn’t even honor the way of the black now.

Cid stood up, kicking dirt over their smoldering camp fire. It didn’t take much to smother it. They had intentionally kept it small to attract as little attention as possible. “Let’s be off then,” he said, picking up his staff and striking a path heading west. They followed him quickly, each wanting to cover as much distance as possible before nightfall.

“Dio’s most reliable information leads to a dealer in Gongaga,” Jyleth said, consulting her list she had received for her battles in the Arena. Sephiroth considered the information, mentally comparing to the information he had received from Kedric. Gongaga was on the southern side of the continent they were on now. Not exactly the closest of locations that they could choose to go to, but it would probably be the best.

“Kedric mentioned there were some private interests there as well,” he said after a moment.

“Then I guess that’s our next place,” she answered. “Yuck, another climb through the mountains. I hate backtracking. We’ll need to make a wide circle around Nibelheim.”

’ “Of course,” Sephiroth answered. He finished tying his pack closed. “If we move quickly, we should be able to make it to Gongaga in a week or so.”

“How quickly is quickly?” She grinned at him, feeling her competitive spirit rising to meet his unspoken challenge. He smiled slightly back, amused at reaction.

“That depends,” he said, pulling the pack on and securing it, “on how well you can keep up.” He turned and left their campsite at a job without another word. Jyleth quickly stowed the list and shrugged her own pack on as she jogged after him.

“We’ll see who’s doing the keeping up,” she said under her breath, laughing even as she did.

They made excellent time, reaching the foot of the pass that evening and making a quick, secure camp. Both of them were somewhat tired from the quick pace, but their spirits were high as they ate their rations – cold, because neither wanted to risk a fire this close to the Academy.

Finishing her meal, Jyleth moved closer to Sephiroth, sitting down beside and snuggling in close to him for warmth. He didn’t object, silently moving his arm around her to accommodate her. The rock he sat against was still warm from the sun beating down on it during the day, and he enjoyed the combined heat of the rock behind and the woman beside him. Gradually, he noticed her breathing wasn’t really slowing into the slow steady rhythm that indicated sleep had taken her.

“Jyelth,” he said softly, knowing she was very much awake.

“Yes?” She looked up, moving her hand to rest on his shoulder to shift her position.

“Do you believe what she said?” He raised his hand to hers, his fingers lightly brushing hers, then moving down her arm slowly, stopping as he reached her shoulder. She leaned into his fingers, encouraging him to continue the path up her shoulder to her neck. She signed slightly as his fingertips brushed her neck, leaning her head back to give him more access to her skin.

“About me being pregnant, you mean,” she finally said. She moved forward, pulling herself up with her hand that was still on his shoulder. She met his eyes for a moment, then leaned in and kissed him, slowly, on the mouth. He responded to her, opening his mouth and deepening the kiss. His hand slid from her neck to her back, pulling her against him.

“Yes, about that,” he said, breaking off the kiss and trailing his lips down her neck, then moving his mouth to kiss her ear. He breathed deeply the scent of her hair, enjoying the mingling of the shampoos she used with the sweat of the day’s march. He exhaled, then laughed softly as she squirmed, his breath tickling the back of her neck.

“Yes,” she answered, kissing his neck as she moved her body, straddling him. She slid her hands down his chest, then glided her fingertips back up his arms. His hands moved is slow circles on her back, kneading the muscles there as his fingers found and released knots of tension they found in each circuit. Arching back into his hands, she found herself lost for a moment in the pleasure. “After all,” she said, working hard to put the words together, “I do not get seasick.” Sephiroth chuckled, pulling her forward to him again, claiming her lips with his own.

“Do you think it would hurt…” he said, as they separated just enough to breathe. He lost track of the thought as her mouth moved down his jaw, down his neck, nipping ever so lightly.

“Do I think what would hurt?” she said, teasingly, moving back just enough so that she could meet his eyes.

“Do you think that we could… and it wouldn’t hurt…” He fumbled for the words.

She laughed, a husky sound, one that sent tingles though the lower parts of his body, tightening a very certain part of his anatomy. “Oh, I think we could,” she said, “and I think it wouldn’t hurt the baby at all.”

“Good.” His voice was suddenly thick, but he didn’t think she noticed. He pulled her to him again, kissing her harder.

A little over a week later, Sephiroth and Jyleth entered Gongaga. The ruins of the shattered Mako reactor loomed over the city, though the jungle was slowly reclaiming the land the reactor stood in. Vines had grown over and entwined over the twisted metal, promising soon to hide the ruins in greenery forever.

Gongaga was a town that was rife with odd collectors of … things. It made perfect sense that one or more collectors of artifacts of the Ancient’s would be here. Getting them to part with the artifacts would be harder.

“Maybe you can just scare them into giving them up,” Jyleth suggested lightly as they strode through the town. They were given a wide berth, but people weren’t running away from them, screaming. Neither were they brandishing weapons and preparing to attack. Jyleth took both of those things as a good sign.

“I somehow doubt that that would go far to impressing these people to believe I have… changed my ways,” Sephiroth answered, his eye scanning the store fronts, the goods they displayed, and the cowering, nervous, or staring people all at once. No emotion showed on his face at the mixed, but generally fearful, reactions of the Gongaga populace.

“Here,” he said, stopping in front of a store. The sign for the store was “Ancient’s Tradeshoppe” – underneath the sign, was the slogan “Everything you ever wanted that is old, ever Ancient.”

“Hmm,” Jyleth looked at the cluttered window. “Yes, this one was on the top of Dio’s list.”

They entered the store silently, still ignoring the staring people. A small bell on the door rang as they entered the shoppe, signaling their entrance to the proprietor.

“Just a minute!” came a muffled shout from a back room behind the counter. “Have a look around, I’ll be with you in a minute.” The voice was that of a man, probably middle aged. And one that apparently hadn’t heard the gossip on the street yet. Jyleth and Sephiroth did as he asked, glancing around the objects in the shoppe. To Jyleth, most of looked like rocks. Closer inspection revealed that most of the objects were rocks, but they all had peculiar designs on them. Some of the designs, she realized, were actually fossils. She was admiring on of a seven-petaled flower when she heard the scrape of the shopkeeper’s feet entering the room.

“Hello, welcome to my…oh my…” The man stuttered to a stop as Sephiroth turned and met his eyes. The proprietor – who was, Jyleth noted with some satisfaction, a rather portly middle aged male – swallowed several times, paling visibly.

“Hi,” said Jyleth, hoping the man wouldn’t feint or scream or something of that nature. “Dio sent us. He said you might have some objects we are collecting for our employer.”

“Dio…” the man repeated. He considered for a moment, his eyes still warily watching Sephiroth. “Your employer.. Shin-Ra?”

“No,” Sephiroth answered, his voice cold. The man jumped, not expecting such a quick and vehement answer.

“Oh…” the man said, almost sounding like he’d be struck.

“Bone Village hired us,” Jyleth answered. “As I am sure you know, Shin-Ra is no more. We have no ties with them – at all. I promise.”

“Oh…” the man said again, still sounding like he was in pain.

Jyleth sighed, then decided to continue on her original track. “As I said, Dio gave us some information that you might have some of the artifacts that were retrieved recently from the Ancient’s City. Bone Village has been under attack by numerous monsters – very powerful monsters. It has gotten to the point were their trade has been pretty much cut off. They believe – the villages of Bone Village – that the removal of the artifacts have led to this. So they hired us to retrieve them.”

“Artifacts…” the man said, sounding less hurt now and more contemplative.

“Yes, odd things, probably small things, taken from the Ancient’s City. Do you have any?”

The man glanced at Sephiroth again, then turned his attention back to her. “I might know where some are,” he said carefully. The fear was gone from his voice. Jyleth blinked a few times in confusion. That was interesting. He was clearly contemplating something now, looking back and forth between them. Perhaps he was just that good of a dealer that he knew a good sale when he saw one.

“Do you have any here?” Sephiroth ask, impatience clearly coming out in his voice. He had noticed the change in the man’s demeanor as well, and he was clearly not happy by what he saw.

“I would propose.. a trade,” the man said, eyeing them speculatively. “You see, my daughter.. She has an illness. The potion to treat it can only be made with the honey comb found the the Ancient Forest west of here. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get any recently. The monsters on the way to the forest are becoming… too dangerous.”

Sephiroth and Jyleth exchanged glances, but said nothing. Jyleth motioned for him to continue.

“Of course, I can hire Academy graduates to make the trip for me – as you see the honeycomb must be fresh, and the potion only keeps for a couple of months – but they are hard to come by, and…”

“Expensive?” Jyleth guessed.

“Yes… they are,” the man answered, looking slightly apprehensive. “If you will retrieve honeycomb for my daughter’s potion, I will not only supply with my artifacts, but I will collect those from the other collectors in town…. But it would be easier to do so if…” He considered carefully, wanting to choose his words correctly.

“What else do you want us to retrieve from this Forest?” Sephiroth said, feeling he was accurately reading the man.

“Well, there is a flower – a beautiful white flower – it is a very desirable plant. I think if they knew you would bring back one of those plants – whole – they would be more than willing to give up their artifacts.”

“So you want us to get some honeycomb and a white flower,” Jyleth concluded. The man winced a little at her flat tone. She smiled at him, not wanting to upset him too much.

“Yes,” he answered.

“Can you show me pictures of these items,” she asked. “It would be easier if you could.”

“Of course!” He walked behind the counter and pulled out a book, thumbing through the pages. “Here,” he said. Jyleth walked to the counter and looked at the picture he was pointing out. It was of a simple, five-petaled white flower. It did seem to have a unique attribute though. The center was a deep, brilliant purple.

“Ok,” she said, “and the honeycomb?”

“Oh, I don’t have a picture of that,” he answered, “but I can assure you it’s the only honeycomb in the Forest.”

“Is there a special way to transport these things?” Jyleth asked, indicating the flower. “And I don’t really want to run back all the way from the Forest with an angry hive of bees after me.” Sephiroth chuckled, clearly amused at the idea. “You think I’m kidding?” Jyleth directed her question at Sephiroth. “Bee stings HURT.”

“I think I am capable of handling a few angry bees,” he answered, still chuckling. “A swarm of angry bees, even.”

“Whatever.” Jyleth turned her attention back to the proprietor, who was clearly amused at the conversation he had just witnessed, but was really trying not to show it. He looked at her scowling at him and immediately became all business again.

“There is a shop the next street over,” he said, “that sells containers for the honeycomb. As for the flower, you only need to bring back the bulbs. Just dig them up and wrap them in a moist cloth. Each flower usually has two or three bulbs.”

“How many bulbs do we need? And how much honeycomb?” Jyleth pictured Sephiroth digging up flowers with his bare hands. She smiled at the thought. Somehow, she was willing to bet it would be her that would be getting the flowers. Or bubs. Whatever, she thought to herself, amused despite herself.

“Nine should be sufficient,” the proprietor answered. “As for the honeycomb, the shop I mentioned is also the potion maker’s shop. Rynn can tell you how much you will need.”

“Thanks,” Jyleth said. “One last thing, when I go to see Rynn, who do I say sent me?”

“Olet,” the proprietor answered. “I apologize for my lack of manners. My name is Olet Jamson.”

“Thank you,” Jyleth said. “My name is Jyleth, and my companion is…”

“Sephiroth, I know,” Olet said, interrupting her. “It’s been many years since that time, but I still remember the Great War General.”

Sephiroth made a sound of derision. “I was only what Shin-Ra made me, Olet,” he said. “And it was nothing that I am proud of.”

They exited the Tradeshoppe with even more of a staring, quiet audience than they had entered it. Jyleth expected that at least two or three of the spectators would rush into the shop as soon as they thought they could to determine of Olet was still among the living. Would they give Sephiroth more respect when they found Olet was indeed still breathing and hale? Or would they give him less, having had such grim expectations. Jyleth also wondered briefly about Olet’s mention of Academy graduates. So far, Jyleth’s only encounter with the Academy had been when she had purposefully visited them. However, it did seem to make sense that they were going to eventually run into some of them as they traveled. She expected the graduates would not be as open-minded as most of the townspeople they had come across. She wondered if they would have to harm the graduates.. or worse, kill them.

The potion maker’s shop was easy to find, as the markings for a potion maker tended to be the same no matter where one traveled on the planet. Rynn greeted them at the door, clearly have heard the rumors about who was visiting their town.

“Greetings,” she said, standing in the door way, drying her hands on her apron. “What can I do for you?” Two small heads topped with curly blonde hair peered around Rynn, big blue eyes blinking curiously at the strangers. Jyleth smiled at the toddlers – clearly twins, and their innocent curiosity. Rynn frowned at Jyleth, clearly not happy with the situation. Quite a protective mother, Jyleth noted. Will I feel that way when strangers are around my child? It was quite odd to wonder about that. To her, the fact that she was carrying a child was still very much unreal.

“Olet sent us,” Jyleth answered, taking her gaze away from the two toddlers, meeting Rynn’s eyes with what she hoped with be reassuring look. “He has hired us to go the Ancient Forest and retrieve some honeycomb for his daughters potions. He said that you would have a container for us to store the honeycomb in, as well as you could tell us how much would be needed.”

“Olet, eh?” Rynn’s eyes took on a new look, plainly intrigued. “That poor girl, she has been without the potion for two weeks now. She’s miserable without it.” A look of pity crossed her features. “I guess you should come in, then.” Rynn turned around, shooing her two children back.

Jyleth followed, eager to be out of the street and the very increasing pairs of staring eyes. Inside, the potion maker’s shop was an orderly place which smelled of clean and fresh things. Jyleth smiled, remembering the small store of potions she stocked when she had lived in North Corel. Her collection had been nothing close to this woman’s assortment, but it still brought back pleasant memories of a very quiet, if hard, life.

“Here you are,” Rynn stood from behind the counter she had been kneeling. She handed a wide-mouthed leather sack to Jyleth. “As much as you can fit in this back and still pull the strings tight for a good seal, that should be enough.” Jyleth nodded, taking off her pack to stow the sack. As she rummaged for a good place to put it, it occurred to her she could use a restocking of her potions.

“While we are here, I’d like to buy some cures, ethers, and antidotes,” Jyleth said, pulling out some of her rather large store of gil.

Rynn smiled, clearly pleased to make a sell. Jyleth couldn’t think of a shopkeeper that wouldn’t be. They haggled some over the prices, then gil and potions exchanged hands. Jyleth put away the new potions, pleased with the transaction. Sephiroth had taken a seat on a bench near the door during the process, where he was watched very intently by the two blonde toddlers, who clutched at their mother’s skirts. He was trying very hard not to look at them, but Jyleth could tell a good deal of his attention was centered on the children.

“How old are your children,” he asked abruptly when Jyleth had put her pack back on.

“My children?” Rynn looked distinctly uncomfortable that Sephiroth’s attention had turned to her children. In fact, she seemed terrified that Sephiroth had spoken at all.

“Yes,” Sephiroth answered, “how old are they?” He seemed intent on the question, which clearly was disturbing the woman.

“Sephiroth,” Jyleth said, quite perplexed at the question. “Um, why do you want to know how old they are?”

He turned to look at her, clearly still thinking about the children. After a moment, the concentrated look faded as he shook himself from the reverie. “I was just curious how fast children.. grow. I’ve never really given it much thought.”

Jyleth smiled, realizing then what it was that had triggered his question. Rynn clearly didn’t understand, but seemed to relax when Sephiroth took his attention off the two toddlers. Her expression softened somewhat. “They are three years old,” she answered. “It seems like it was only yesterday they were born, and now they are running around, wreaking havoc.” She smiled at them. “I’m told,” she continued, “that they do grow out of the havoc stage in a year or two.” Rynn smiled down at her two children, who returned her smiled beatifically.

“Thank you,” Sephiroth said, though the words seemed .. rough, coming from him.

Upon leaving the shop, Jyleth and Sephiroth decided it would be a good idea to leave the town and get a good start on their journey to the Ancient Forest. Sephiroth recalled it was only perhaps a two day journey, but he wanted to be out of the town and the gawkers every bit as much as Jyleth did. In their hurry to leave the town, they did not notice the two men who watched them with trained eyes, nor did they see the men exchange knowing looks before heading to the mail center.