Revitalized Dream (Book Three)

Year Five, Day Forty-Four

Sam POV

It feels strange to be back here at the Gold Saucer after all that happened last time we were here. It's almost discomforting to see all these people having fun and enjoying themselves without any concern for the rest of the world. Don't they know how much danger the planet is in from both ShinRa and Sephiroth? No, they probably don't. They're just as ignorant as I was five years ago, blindly putting faith in ShinRa and their Mako reactors to support and protect us.

"Sam are you feeling alright?" Aerith asks me, concern on her face.

"I'm fine, Aerith. It just feels a little weird coming back here, is all," I respond with a small smile. 

She links her arm in mine. "Well, let's go ride the gondola! Tifa! Come with us!"

Tifa hurries over and takes my other hand. "Alright, let's let the boys handle things! They're more than capable of interrogating one guy, after all."

"Right! Let's go!"

This time I'm going with them voluntarily, but I still feel like their dragging me into the crowded amusement park by force. As long as they don't try to make me ride that horror coaster again, I'll go along with them. Still, maybe I should've let Cloud know where we were going, so he doesn't worry. Oh well, too late now.

Tifa and Aerith pull me onto the gondola with them. They kind of remind me of Nikki and Michelle. I wonder how those two are doing and if I'll ever see them again. Do they even remember me after all this time? Aerith did, and we didn't know each other for very long, so they probably do. Did they look for me or report my disappearance to the police? Did they miss me at all? Do they think I'm dead?

"Sam, what's wrong? You look really sad," Aerith inquires as the gondola begins its ascent. She puts her arm around me. "You've been acting strange today, too."

"Having my memories back is quite the burden. I remember my friends, my aunt, my time with you and Zack and him at Costa del Sol. I remember how my parents died, and all those days working in that little coffee shop in Sector 7. It's probably all gone now since the plate fell. It almost feels like another life, like a dream, and this is reality, cold and hard and dangerous."

"I can kind of understand how you must feel. I lived in Nibelheim my entire childhood. I never left the village. Our only connection to the outside was the news channel. ShinRa and SOLDIER all seemed good and right to me and everyone else. Then, one day, boom! my entire reality was destroyed in one blow. Nibelheim was destroyed, my father killed, everyone I knew gone. The hero everyone looked up to and idolized was really a monster with a black heart. It took me a couple of years to recover and settle myself into the new reality forced upon me."

I look out the window at the darkening sky and the red sun setting over the horizon. "Sephiroth. He wasn't always like how he is now. He was kind and protective, but he didn't know how to express himself very well. Most of his social interactions revolved around the war and his missions, so anything else was foreign to him. A part of me wants to believe that Sephiroth is still in there somewhere, but his actions so far have proved otherwise. I want to know more than anything what really happened to him in Nibelheim that changed him so drastically."

The three of us are quiet for the rest of the ride. When the gondola stops at the top of the Gold Saucer, we step out and head back inside together. I wonder how the others are fairing with information-gathering. Have they found anything yet?

"We should meet up with the others at the entrance," Tifa suggests, leading the way through the crowd.

"Good idea, Tifa," Aerith agrees with a nod, her usual chipper attitude returning. "Now I've experienced everything here. I'm really glad you both came with me. Hanging out with friends is the best thing to do at any time."

"Maybe once this is all over, we can do more fun things together," I say. "I really like hanging out with you both."

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Tifa POV

Apparently, the tram is under repairs, so we can't leave the Gold Saucer until it's all fixed. This means we'll have to stay the night here again. I don't mind too much, but we are on a bit of a time crunch. We have to find this Temple of the Ancients and the Black Materia before Sephiroth or ShinRa does.

When we're all gathered together in the main lobby of the inn, Cait Sith says, "we don't usually get the chance to be together like this, huh? Cloud, how 'bout it? Can you tell me what's happened so far? I don't really know since I haven't been here since the beginning."

"Yeah, I'm for that!" Cid agrees loudly from his chair by the stairs.

Vincent is standing near him. "Good idea."

"I've been here since the beginnin' an' I still don't know what's goin' on," Barret adds in. "Cloud, the hell's going on? C'mon, tell us."

Cloud looks around at the expectant faces of our comrades. Reluctantly, he begins by saying, "we are going after Sephiroth. He must be in search of the Promised Land."

"The Promised Land?" Cid interrupts.

"A land full of Mako energy, or at least that's what ShinRa believes. I don't know if it actually exists."

Aerith steps forward, hands clasped. "The Cetra will return to the Promised Land, a land that promises boundless happiness."

"Cetra? What's that?" Yuffie chimes in.

"That's what the Ancients call themselves. Didn't you listen to the elders at Cosmo Canyon?"

The young Wutai girl looks down guiltily, giving away the answer to that question.

Aerith continues, "one doesn't 'know' where the Promised Land of the Ancients is. You search and travel until you feel it. Then, you just know that you've found it."

"Aerith...can you feel it, too?" I inquire, touching her shoulder lightly.

"I think so."

"So, Sephiroth is traveling the world in search of the Promised Land, is that it?"

"That, and one other thing," my friend in pink responds.

"The Black Materia," Cloud finishes for her, crossing his arms.

"I heard from Dios that a man in a black cloak was asking about the Black Materia the other day," Cait Sith informs us.

"I've never heard of the Black Materia," I state. "But just how many men with black cloaks and number tattoos are there?"

"We don't know for sure, but we should just focus on Sephiroth," Aerith says. We all agree with that. She heads for the stair. "Well, I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

Sam yawns and gets up from her seat next to Cloud. "I'm off to bed, too. See you all in the morning."

Yay! I finally got Book Three started. Unfortunately, updates will be a little slow since my family has been hit hard by Covid-19. We're all quarantining right now, and my health isn't the best at the moment. Thank you all so much for your patience and support, and I hope to be able to update new chapters as regularly as possible.