After leaving Wutai, Cid set a course generally towards the south and east bearing for the area of Rocket Town. While the captain stayed in the cockpit the rest of us gathered in the passenger compartment. "So, does anyone have the slightest idea where to start looking for this Keystone thing?" Cloud asked.
"It could be anywhere, couldn't it?" Tifa asked.
Red nodded. "Indeed. After all, the temple itself must have been sealed for at least hundreds, if not thousands, of years. And the Cetra were spread across the entire face of Gaia." He looked to Aerith. "Have you any ideas?"
"I'm thinking." She replied. "Give me a few minutes."
From the cockpit, Cid called back "I'm headin' south. If nothin' else we'll find the damned temple and search the area around it."
"That's good." Red agreed.
"How should we play this?" Aerith thought to me.
"I'm not sure... Someone's bound to come up with the answer on their own. Still, maybe I can give things a little bump."
"Bump? How?"
"Like this." I answered, then I said aloud "Hey Cait?"
"Yeah laddie?"
"I was wondering... Seeing as you are a machine after all, do you have any connections with computer databases?"
"I can access Shinranet remotely." The robot replied. "Why? Is there something you'd like me to research for you?"
"Search archeology sites for 'Temple keystone.'" I answered. "See if you can maybe find a visual image of what the thing looks like, or any data on where it's at if it's already been found, that kind of thing."
"Alright. Searching now, gimme maybe five minutes."
"Good thinking." Red said. "Although if it has been found it is most likely in a Shinra lab somewhere."
"Think positive." Aerith answered.
We waited then for Cait's results, which came a little quicker than he had anticipated. "Whoo! Got somethin' Laddie!" he exclaimed.
"Well what are you waiting for!?" Yuffie demanded. "Spill it!"
"Hold yer Choco's lass. I'm bein' dramatic here! Anyhow, the good news is the keystone's not just laying out in the wilds somewhere. It has been found, over a century ago. The bad news is that no one knows where it is today."
"How's that possible?" Barrett wondered.
Cait explained "According to the records, the man who found the keystone sold it for a princely sum of gil to a family of Aristocrats from Banora. They owned it for fifty-odd years until it was stolen by a gang of thieves. The thieves then tried to sell it on auction in Kalm, but were found out and ran. When they were finally caught months later, they didn't have it on them and refused to divulge it's location. Ever. They took the secret of where they hid it to their graves."
"That's not really bad news though." Cloud said. "At least Shinra doesn't have it either."
"This is true." Vincent agreed. "Perhaps if the keystone remains unfound the temple will be inaccessible forever."
"Maybe Lad." Cait said. "But, I do have one other piece of data for you all; What the thing looks like." The Moogles eyes lit up and projected a highly detailed sketch of the keystone onto the Bronco's interior walls. The object in the image was rectangular, with a trio of notches set in it's base and a pair of holes near the mid-point.
As we examined it, Cid came rushing back from the cockpit staring at the sketch. "Son of a... !" He exclaimed. "That's what we're looking for!?"
"Indeed it is lad." Cait answered.
YOU ARE READING
I Never Let Her Die! (Aerith x Male Gamer Reader)
FanfictionOn his way home from work. Y/N was transported back to the original game for one purpose: to prevent the death that shocked and saddened the greatest number of players on earth, giving him the opportunity to heal a wound that hadn't been healed in s...
