The gentle black-haired woman spoke softly to him, assuring him that everything would be fine. But not everything was fine. The Planet was screaming for help, its cries more piercing than the sword that had once slid effortlessly into the back of a young flower girl. He had done that, yes, but he had been insane. It had been by general consensus among her people that he was the logical one to help them in their task. He was strong beyond measure, true, but his mind was fragile, breakable...

It had taken great effort to help the young leader of Avalanche piece back that brilliant mind. There were so many pieces, some parts of it lost, even... lost beyond help. But to fill that gap, they had to make do and give him something he never had before... something which they weren't sure he needed, yet was important all the same.

It had been easy to think that latching onto his mind would be a simple thing, but it was different from everything she had ever done... different from loving another, different from caring for another, different from helping another... she was a part of him now, like a piece within a jigsaw... it gave her a perception of him which she never thought she could have...

Things turn out so unexpectedly, she mused.... yet she couldn't say she was displeased...

She didn't even know how she felt.

Storm sighed. "'The unknown is to be understood, not feared'," he quoted. "Will you quit complaining and just concentrate on the damned job?"

"Why are we here, at any rate?"

Storm carefully stepped over a crack on the floor. "Not for any good reason, really," he admitted. "I had an odd dream, and it occurred to me that we could find some help here."

Magdalena looked at him strangely.

"I can't explain it."

"Seriously, Storm, you're getting just as wacko as your pop."

Storm cringed. "This is different. My father was under the control of Sephiroth and Jenova at that time. This is something else."

"Yeah? Like what?"

Blue eyes took on a distant cast as Storm looked at the sky above. "You know the powers of the Cetra?"

"The ability to hear the Planet? Yeah, why?"

"It's like that."

"Oh, damn."

Storm looked hurt.

"Look, I've nothing against special powers... but honestly, Storm, I never thought you could get like this at all."

"Well... it just is, okay?"

Magdalena sighed. "I'll accept it, Storm. You always were stranger than the rest of us, anyhow." She clapped him on the shoulder in a comradely way. "In fact, that's one of the reasons why you're our leader."

Storm muttered something under his breath. Then he glanced over his shoulder at the rest of his team. Blazer, Erratic, Simon, Runner and Sephiroth had positioned themselves around the girls, Storm leading right in front. Lucrecia placidly walked beside Sephiroth, speaking to him softly, while Politesse seemed to be staying near Runner. Storm knew there was something up. Usually, Politesse stayed close to Erratic's side, unless she had a boyfriend at that time... inevitably chased off by Erratic's aggressive attitude and protectiveness.

"Up there," Lucrecia said, pointing up at a platform that was high in the sky. There was a delicate spiral of stairs leading up to it. Lucrecia had become more withdrawn these past few days, and Storm hoped it wouldn't be a reenactment of Aeris' death. She walked over to his side, wonder in her amber eyes. "It's beautiful."

Storm nodded, looking up. It looked like a glass platform. Faintly, he recalled looking up at the glass table from underneath when he was a little boy. Like exquisite quartz, it seemed to glow white in the sunlight.

"Well?" Erratic asked, his cigarette almost falling from his mouth. "Do we really have to go up there?" he sounded pained.

"Yes," Storm replied. "Let's go."

Everyone was quiet as they followed the young man up. Sephiroth thought he heard the voice in his mind sigh with melancholy. "What is it?"

There was no reply.

Briefly, Sephiroth closed his eyes. This place seemed peaceful, yet oddly enough, the peace itself seemed unsettled, like it knew something bad was going to happen. There was a sense of restlessness in the air, and he was sure the others could feel it as well. Reaching the top of the platform, he looked around, impressed by what he saw. The City of the Ancients was huge and beautiful, a city of crystal... how foolish of him, to think so little of it when he first came here... A pang of regret shot through him as he spotted the platform where he had killed the young Cetra. He shouldn't have done that.

Ultima.... Ultima.... Ultima....

Magdalena swore. "Why the hell won't they shut up??"

Storm, however, had a strange look in his eyes. He approached what seemed to be the main altar. Flanked by two minor altars with strange carvings on them, it looked, and felt, very holy. "Yes," he finally said, laying a hand on the altar. "I'm here."

"Oh, no," Blazer mumbled. "What do we do now?"

Runner was staring at the carvings. "Ancient language," he was saying to himself. "Incredible! They look so new despite the years!" He picked up a tablet, clear as quartz with cloudy carved words on it. "It's beautiful!" He ran a finger over the indented words and immediately began reading them out. The language sounded arcane, but he didn't care.

"Runner, please," Simon begged."Can't you see we're already freaked out?"

"I don't believe it!" Runner exclaimed. "They've mixed magic with science! They really have!"

"Hey, Storm?" Erratic asked. Storm was still standing at the altar, his eyes closed and face upturned to the sky, hands on the altar where he'd laid his sword.

"Hush," Lucrecia said absently. "He's communicating with the Lifestream."

"Huh?" Magdalena, Blazer, Erratic, Simon and Politesse said together. "Is that possible?" Magdalena asked Sephiroth, who shrugged in reply. "Hot damn."

The wind starting howling around them, as if the Planet was screaming. They all could hear it now.... the strange voices in the air had begun a deathly music that sounded like moans and screams.... It was a terrible thing to hear, but they were too fascinated to run away.

Suddenly the platform shook and a loud explosion was heard. The entire group fell to the ground like rag dolls.

"What the hell was that?!?" Blazer demanded.

"First blood," Storm said grimly. "They've come."

Sephiroth felt himself gripped by an uncharacteristic fear.... they had come.... he could feel them. They were just beyond the skies above.... and they were calling to him. Like the pull of Jenova, this was powerful, seductive....

He heard a rush in his head and felt something around his mind, as if protecting him from the voices that tried to call to him. "Glorious angel..." he whispered. No. He would not fail his angel. He would not betray his friends. Storm was struggling to his feet with Lucrecia's help, apparently suffering from a sprained ankle. I can't fail them....

Magdalena peeked over Runner's shoulder where he was frantically looking through the inscriptions on the crystal tablets for something that might help stop this onslaught. "Gimme that!" she half-yelled, grabbing a tablet from him. "Lucrecia! Politesse! Look!"

The two women ran over. Politesse's cigarrette fell from her mouth. "Musical scores...."

Lucrecia's voice had already started soaring, joining the chorus of the voices in the air. It was a haunting melody, one which sent shivers down the spine of her friends. Magdalena joined in, then Politesse. The air about them seemed to shimmer, like the first time they had set foot in the City of the Ancients. The voices grew louder and louder, some chanting, others singing, low notes and soaring intervals.

"A shield..." Runner murmured. "The voices are casting a spell to shield the Planet! Incredible! Look!"

The Planet rocked a few more times due to the impact of a few well-aimed missiles. Each impact was softer, until the sky above flared green everytime the enemy sent a weapon towards the Planet.

"Done," Storm said in satisfaction.

The voice in Sephiroth's mind agreed.

"Do we get back to Midgar?" Erratic asked nervously.

"Oh no... Candi..." Blazer said, his eyes widening.

"Oh, hell," Erratic gasped, remembering his friend's younger sister. "Well??" he demanded Storm.

"Let's go."

"But what about these?" Runner held up the tablets.

"Bring them along," Lucrecia ordered him. "Let's get back to Midgar. Immediately!"

They ran all the way to the Highwind. "Dad!" Magdalena shouted into her PHS, trying to contact her father back at Headquarters. "Dad!!"

"Kids? That you? Get your #)$(*#$* asses back here!! Midgar was hit!!" Cid yelled.

"Dad, what happened? Anything gone wrong??"

"Your Uncle Vince's freaky ass got hit by one of them meteorites! And Midgar's almost half gone! WILL YOU STOP ASKING QUESTIONS AND GET BACK HERE NOW???"

Storm swung around. Lucrecia's face slowly drained of colour, her eyes wide in shock. "No...." she whispered. Quickly, he ran over to her. She clung onto him. "Storm...?"

"It'll be all right."

He hoped so.