Chapter 13: Getting a ship

The small ship bobbed up and down in the bay. Morrid was aboard, sipping his coffee as usual. Yuffie reluctantly walked aboard, holding onto the railings every step she could take. Old man Morrid glanced from his warm black liquid to see the stumbling ninja. "Well hello there little miss. How may I help you?" He took another long but slow sip.

"Uh…hi. I’m Yuffie Kisargi. You wouldn’t happen to know where the strange potion is?" yuffie gurgled. The boat rocked a little harder as the waves came in.

"Hmm….I think I’ve heard of it before….it certainly does ring a bell…" H mumbled.

"Like, could you hurry it up old man. I’m getting seasick…urg…" She grumbled. He took a sip from his coffee.

"Oh yes. The last I heard it was in Wutai." He smiled.

"But that’s where we are now." She grabbed her stomach.

"Really? That’s nice. Wutai is such a pretty place in the spring…what was I saying?"

"You knew where the strange potion was?" She gurgled.

He sipped his coffee. "Oh yes indeed. The strange potion is …uh…hmmm." He put his free hand to his chin and closed his eyes in thought. The seagulls’ caws echoed in the breezy sea air. "Can’t remember for the life of me…"

"Arg! Gawd old man! Can you drink that whole thing so I can have an answer!…Urp!" She ran to the side and put her face over the side. Morrid drank a gulp of his coffee.

"Ah! The strange potion is being held by a Lhasa statue at the top of the pagoda of the five gods." He smiled.

"That’s It! That’s not hard at all! See ya old man!" She staggered to the edge of the ship and ran towards the pagoda.

Morrid took a drink. "What an odd girl…what as her name again?"

** *

Vincent walked towards the Yuffies’ house. Inside he found AVALANCHE lounging around. "Hey Vince. Did you find a boat yet?" Tifa asked as she brought AVALANCHE their tea.

"Long story…I’ll explain later. Any of you seen Godo?" Vincent replied.

"He should be at the pagoda of the five mighty gods." Red XIII said as he pushed a chess piece on the board. Barret banged his fist against the table. "Damn mutt…"

Vincent walked out of Yuffies’ place and towards the pagoda of the five mighty gods. As he walked across town he bumped into Yuffie.

"Ow! Hey watch where you’re going count Dorkula!" she mumbled as she picked herslef off the ground.

Vincent dusted himself off. "Did you find the potion yet?"

"Yea, it’s on the top of the pagoda of the five mighty gods. I’m getting it now."

"Interesting. That’s where I was going."

"Well, go a different way. I don’t want to get knocked down again." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Besides, only people from Wutai can go in."

Vincent cocked his Death Penalty. "With a little persuasion I’ll get in." Yuffie darted off and Vincent slowly walked towards the mighty shrine.

** *

Yuffie has retrieved the potion with little trouble. After all, she was a ninja, and climbing is what they do best. Yuffie hopped down from the roof unto the floor below. She then crawled through a window and emerged in front of Lord Godo Kisargi.

"Hey Godo." She said.

"Don’t you mean father?" He crossed his enormous arms.

She sighed. "Father. I got to go now."

"Hold on. You know the unusual potion was taken from Chekhov, don’t you?"

"Really? I’m not surprised though. I’m kinda on a search for the potions."

"Well, what are you going to replace it with?"

"Uhh…I’ll get back to you on that! I’ll come back with something! She quickly ran down the pagoda and out the door, only to be tripped be Vincent.

"Ow! You again! Vinnie!" she then glanced at his clawed hand, which was holding the unusual potion. "You got it from Chekhov?"

Vincent glanced at her. "Wasn’t much of a challenge. But you got to give something to him when we come back."

"ME?! Why me?!" she pointed to Vincent.

"Because they’re you’re relatives." He smiled. "Meet back at the coffee shop." He then leaped out of sight. Yuffie growled and ran after him.

** *

"No cloud, No squall shall stop me!" A cloaked figure said upon a stage. Cloud realized that he was having that dream again. But this time he was in front of a stage in a large crowd. Some type of play was going on. Cloud looked behind him to see a large castle. Wait a second! Wasn’t the castle destroyed?! This must be sometime later. Cloud looked foreword to see the play. The black cloaked figure pulled off his cloak. And it was Zidane. "Now show me thy love, Dagger!" The entire crowd turned around to see that the queen had vanished. But she then reappeared, pushing through the crowds to get to Zidane. She leaped for him and he caught her. They embraced with tears. He tried to smile, but she still wept. The entire crowd cheered and a dozen white doves flew into the air.

Cloud then faded out and all he saw was blackness. {How did you survive?}

{Well, I could think about was you, so I sang your song.}

{You mean our song}

{Yea…Our song…}

{~ Alone for a while I've been searching through the dark, For traces of the love you left inside my lonely heart, To weave by picking up the pieces that remain, Melodies of life - love's lost refrain. Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why. We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye. And who'll hear the echoes of stories never told ? Let them ring out loud till they unfold. In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me. Though you're gone, I still believe that you can call out my name. A voice from the past, joining yours and mine. Adding up the layers of harmony. And so it goes, on and on. Melodies of life, To the sky beyond the flying birds - forever and beyond. So far and away, see the birds as it flies by. Gliding through the shadows of the clouds up in the sky. I've laid my memories and dreams upon those wings. Leave them now and see what tomorrow brings. In your dearest memories, do you remember loving me ? Was it fate that brought us close and now leave me behind ? A voice from the past, joining yours and mine. Adding up the layers of harmony. And so it goes, on and on. Melodies of life, To the sky beyond the flying bird - forever and on. If I should leave this lonely world behind, Your voice will still remember our melody. Now I know we'll carry on. Melodies of life, Come circle round and grow deep in our hearts, as long as we remember. ~}

** *

"Those pathetic insects. They haven’t even begun to understand you. Their inferior minds won’t allow that. Just look at them, they swarm this rock like a plague. Just the sight disgusts me. I worry about that one, Cloud Strife of Nebelhiem. It seems that he may prove to be more than an ant under my foot. But do not worry about him. He is no more of a threat than the rest of his inferior race. Your evolution is just the first phase." Judgement said. He was standing in front of an illusionary window, from which he glanced at the world. Behind this window was a towering mass of flesh, bone, iron, and steel. EON had grown out of its seed and into the large room. It had to be at least a hundred feet tall and 50 feet wide. Huge roots connected it to the ground. EON was growing. Judgement walked away from his illusion. "Such brief life spans. How can they possibly imagine what their world is like? No matter. At the slightest sign of danger, they will run. This planet should provide enough life force for you to evolve to your master form, and we shall gain enough power to smite the gods for imprisoning us within that infernal seed." Judgement clenched his black fists. He then walked back to EON. "It is just a matter of time, EON, just a matter of time." He looked at the window, which was circled around Cloud. "Yes…Only a matter of time. Until you have evolved to produce a defense, I shall have to play mind games with this Cloud Strife of Nibelheim." The fleshy tower started to produce a noise, almost like a song. A song that whales sing. Judgement looked up at it. "There is no need to kill him. Not just yet. After all." He placed his hand over his masked face. "He is just a puppet." He started laughing. He then raised his hands over his head and looked up through the blue haze. "Soon, we will get our revenge."