It's been two weeks since she dreamed of the Garden of Adelonia and she still didn't know what to do. The dream still plagued her; as each night passed, the Garden would get gloomier and monsters would appear. They'd attack her and as they went for the killing blow, she'd scream herself awake.

She knew she had only three options. Option number one, she could travel to Chocobo Sage's house pick up the guy, Seth, then search for the eight people involved in the "Meteor Incident" of two years ago. Option two is skip picking up Seth and just find those eight people. Keira sighed in frustration. The last option wasn't in consideration; skip the whole trip all together and watch the destruction of Terra.

Pulling a silver Gil out of her pocket, she bounced it around in her hand. Heads, she would travel south and begin the search for the eight. Tails, she would head north to Chocobo Sage's. With one last look at the coin, she flipped it off her thumb.

Riding her Gold Chocobo, Kin'iro, she approached an intersection on the mountaintop. After pulling out the electronic map pad, her mother's last creation, she slipped off Kin'iro and placed it on the snow-covered ground. A holographic flat map of the world appeared in front of her.

"Let see... We're here and the Sage is here," she murmured, touching her fingers to the map to mark her journey. "Ok! We head..."

"Wark! Wark!" Kin'iro cried out suddenly. "Wark! Wark!"

"What is it, Kin'iro? Danger?" Keira, closing the map quickly, grabbed Kin'iro's reigns. "Where?"

"Wark!" Kin'iro tilted her head right just as six creatures- three Bandersnatch and three Jumping- approached them. Both species of monsters had a greenish tint to their colorings.

"Kuso!" Keira muttered, unsheathing her nodatchi. "Just what I need right now."

"Is this all?" a faint, male voice snorted. "Damn, Kei-chan, we're both gonna get rusty if the lack of monsters around here keeps up."

"I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you, Kryslin," she replied, positioning the sentient sword in front of her. "These Banders look different than the usual ones we see. They're coloring's a bit odd."

"Whatever," the sword snorted again. A blue glow crawled from the tsuba and up the blade. "Let's get to work, shall we!"

Two of the Bandersnatches rushed forward. Keira, mumbling quickly a materia spell incantation, hurled a lightning bolt. Thanks to the All add-on she bought last week, it hit both. The first died instantly, all of the magic power aimed at him. The other fell, shaken slightly, but otherwise, unscathed.

It stood, then attacked. She ran forward; claw and sword clashed in mid-air. They leaped back, the Bandersnatch missing several claws on its right foot and Keira bleeding from several wounds on her arms. Both combatants stared at each other for a moment, then charged at each other again.

Meanwhile, Kin'iro wasn't doing that much better. The other four creatures, thinking Kin'iro as the weaker of the two, surrounded the poor Chocobo. Just as all were about to leap, five small streams of fire engulfed them. Their slightly charred bodies fell to the ground, unconscious.

Smiling, Keira hopped onto Kin'iro's back and they both headed north. After traveling for an hour, they reached their destination, Chocobo Sage's cabin.

So this is Chocobo Sage's place. Keira dismounted from Kin'iro. I hope we can leave quick. Something here feels off. Clutching the hilt of Kryslin, she knocked quickly on the front door. After getting no answer, she knocked again.

"Wark!" Kin'iro cried as a cloaked figure walked around the corner of the house. "Wark!"

"Can I help you?" the figure crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.

"Huh?" Keira twirled around quickly, eyes widening as recognition passed over them. "Sephiroth!" This was impossible. He's supposed to be dead.

"That's me," Narrowing his eyes, Sephiroth stepped forward. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"

"My name's Keira O'Connor. I'm here to meet with Seth."

"Hai, that's the name I go by now. What do you want?"

Keira, her jaw slightly open, stood shellshocked. This couldn't be "Seth". Oh, boy... She closed her eyes for a minute, trying to gain back what little sanity she had left. Opening them, she cleared her throat.

"Well, I'm here to pick you up. Then, we're supposed to travel south and meet a few more travelers."

"Pick me up?" he growled threatingly. "I'm not going anywhere. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some chores I have to finish for the old man." He pushed past her and walked up the steps. Grabbing his arm roughly, she pulled him back down. Tightening her grip, she glared up at the much taller man.

"Now, wait just a damn minute!" Keira spat. "I've been bothered by some stupid nightmares telling me to run off to Kami-sama knows where with you for the past two weeks. Now, you are coming with me voluntarily, or I will beat you unconscious and carry you on Kin'iro. Have I made myself clear?"

What was wrong with her? She just threatened Sephiroth! She needed a vacation. One that didn't include psycho clones and odd voices.

Sephiroth stared at her for a moment. Then, tilting his head back, he busted out laughing. Keira gaped, but quickly controlled herself. Setting her jaw, her sapphire eyes turned to ice as her temper took over.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" she snapped. "I see nothing funny right now! You're comin.."

Before she could finish her sentence, Sephiroth grabbed her roughly and both fell in the snow. Where her head was previously, Keira saw three bullet holes imbedded in the cabin wall. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she withdrew Kryslin from his scabbard.

"I can't tell where they're coming from, Kei-chan. They must have some sort of magic anti-detection device."

"Probably the ones stolen from my mother's lab," she growled as she slipped a Fire materia in an empty slot. Removing All, she replaced it with newly named Cosmos materia. Looking up, she noticed something. "Where's Sephiroth?"

At the back of the cabin, Sephiroth cracked open the door and quickly leapt inside. Leaning against the wall, he decided to take the next few moments and go over what just happened.

First, the girl from his dreams shows up. And now, someone was trying to kill her, if not him as well. He had a feeling that whatever was going on dealt with his past, the missing twenty-four years of his life.

All he knew was that he had done something wrong. Something so evil that the villagers in the next town hid when he arrived. It didn't really matter to him, only made him more curious. When he asked one of them, the woman shrieked and ran away. After the next few failures, he just gave up.

Shrugging out of his reverie, he slowly stood and trotted to his room. The room was small, moderately furnished with a bed, a table, one chair, a dresser, and a small closet. No personal knick-knacks decorated the table; he wasn't much of a materialist anyway.

Opening his closet, he pulled out the only thing he owned, a Masamune. It was lying beside him when the Sage found him half-naked near the Northern Crater. He kept it, hoping it might be a clue to his mysterious past.

Hearing several more gunshots, he clutched the sword tightly and stalked straight out of the cabin. He stopped at its corner, eyeing the girl's golded Chocobo. Dropping to the ground, he crawled to the Chocobo and snatching its reigns. Noting that it escaped injury, Sephiroth lead the Chocobo to the stables behind the cabin.

Now all he had to do was find its owner.