The Stop For FF7 Freaks - Artemis Chap2 - Video Games - http://maxpages.com/theff7stop/Artemis

Artemis: Chapter Two

"Daddy, did Barret say what was wrong at the mines?" Artemis asked Cloud, who was leaning against the railing of the Highwind. Cid was at the helm, with the pilot, setting the fastest course to North Corel.
"He didn't say; just that there is something big in the mines that wounded several of his best miners," Cloud began, "He said he needed Cid's airship and my sword skill to help him out. He said it was a monster of some sort,"
"Cool!" the younger Strife exclaimed, jumping up into the air, spinning in mid-air, and landing on the railing.
"Don't do that, Artemis!" Cloud scolded, "You might fall off!"
Artemis jumped off of the railing and landed next to her father. While he wasn't looking, Artemis stuck her tounge out at him in a rather un-ladylike fashion.
"Hey, Cloud!" Cid's gruff voice rang out, "We're coming up on North Corel!"

The dark force was now fully awake, sensing the power in the Nibelhiem Mountains. In its rage that the other force was now fully awake, it wounded many small humans who had come into its section of the mines.
It was now in full control, however, and was ready to make its exodus from its black, rock prison. The mines will no longer be a barrier to its freedom.

"So, Barret, what's up?" Cloud asked, turning to face Barret. They were all gathered at the entrance to the mines: Cloud, Cid, Barret, and Artemis. Barret had ordered that no one else would enter the mines, not even a rescue team. He wouldn't let anyone else get hurt. Marlene was staying over at a friend's house, and was in good care.
"Something's in that mine, Cloud." Barret was dead serious, "I'm thinking its a monster, but its way too strong. My miners are the best at what they do, but they're also good fighters. Something's in there,"
Artemis, in her normal, excitable deamenor, said, "Well, let's stop talking and find the thing!" Artemis was the first inside the mine.
"Excitable, isn't she?" Cid grumbled.
"Yeah," Cloud agreed.

Artemis, with her five-foot height, had no problem getting through the mine tunnels, which had very low ceilings. Cloud and the rest had to duck down just to avoid hitting their heads.
"Hey!" Artemis cried, torch in hand, "There's something up ahead! I think its Materia!" The teenager was running full speed, her older companions following her. Artemis stopped dead in her tracks, though, when she saw what loomed before her.
An immense cavern, made totally out of pure, raw Materia, was what she and her companions stood in.
The entire cavern was made of Materia, a bluish-white Materia. It was the purest form of Mako. The final stage of Mako's transformation into Materia. While Materia in this state has very weak magical properties, it is a highly effective conductor for electricity.
"Cool," the teenager whispered, her voice echoing off of the cavern walls.
"Look," Cid muttered, pointing to the very center of the cavern. In the center was a strange structure. It was a dais, carved from pure crystal. A rainbow of scintillating colors flew from the crystal, the flashed of red, blue, green, purple, and pink reflecting off of the Materia-walls and temporarily blinding the friends if they looked directly at the crystal.
On top of the crystal dais was a strange pod carved from a strangely colored crystal. The crystal was transparent, but had a deep blue color with a green outline. The strange pod was radiating a firey red glow.
"Hey, that pod-thing is breathing!" Artemis exclamied, pointing at the pod.
The pod was indeed breathing, its strange crystal shell expanding and then contracting. It was like looking at a giant crystal lung. The pod kept expanding and contracting, until, finally, it expanded and didn't contract. It just kept expanding.
"Guys, we better get back into the tunnel," Cloud whispered, already pushing his daughter back into the tunnel. The others followed Cloud's lead and went back into the tunnel.
Finally, the pod expanded to the point that it couldn't expand any farther and exploded. The ensuing rush of flames and heat overwhelmed the companions, who were running down the tunnel. Flames licked at their heels as they ran, full speed, eventually jumping out the exit of the mines, crashing on the hard rock ground. Artemis looked back at the mine entrance, and then quickly turned her head away as another explosion ripped the wooden supports of the entrance. When the dust settled, Cloud, Barret, Cid, and Artemis were sitting on the ground, gasping for breath, their throats parched from the dust they had breathed in.
A miner noticed their exhaustion, and handed the dust-covered companions a water bottle. Cloud took a sip then passed it to Artemis. The bottle went around to Barret and Cid, then back to the miner.
"What the hell was that?" Barret shouted, jumping to his feet. He was quite angry. His mine was ruined! Now they had to dig all over again!
"Uh, Barret," Cloud started, standing up and putting a comforting hand on his large friend's shoulder, "calm down,"
"Hey, check it out!" cried Artemis, who was standing up and was pointing at the ruined mine entrance. It was shaking. The entire mine was shaking! Another explosion rocked the town of North Corel, throwing everyone off of their feet. A flash of light zipped out from the mine, flashing for a brief instant, then disappearing. That same light flashed again, and a revealed a tall, lean creature standing before the stunned companions.
The creature was wearing a black suit made out of some unknown material, gloves and boots also crafted from the same unknown material, some kind of hard-plated armor, and a helmet that covered the being's face.
Cloud instinctively drew his sword from its scabbard, brandishing it before him. He brought his blade up to hack the creature to pieces. The creature raised a hand and mentally teleported the blade from Cloud's hands to his own. Cloud quickly swerved around, the creature slashing at him with the Buster Sword. Cloud managed to spin out of harm's way, but got a slight nick in his iron shoulder guard.
The sword disappeared from the creature's hands, teleporting back into Cloud's scabbard. The pokey-headed man just looked at the stranger in surprise.
Then, it spoke. It had a grating voice, like striking flint against steel. The sound of the stranger's voice rattled the very marrow of Artemis's bones when she heard it speak. The stranger said, "Die,"
By, the master, SenshiB@aol.com

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Page Updated Tue Apr 10, 2001 3:30pm EDT