Sigh... I think I'm falling apart... My chapters are becoming.. sloppy and lame, at least there's one person out there who thinks the same as me, I'm losing my touch. I've noticed for awhile now, it's just that this fic is so LONG and I want to get it over with. But I've searched around and I think I got my muse back, never fear! Action is near! And we'll see if I truly am losing my touch or not.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT Listen up everyone. This will be the last chapter for this thing. Not the end of the story though. I'm posting the rest of the chapters under a new story. (Cry Of Eternity: Continued) The reason for this is because is making it a bitch to update this fic, I have to refresh the site like fifteen times before I can update, the story is too long I guess. So when you see a new story that says 'Cry Of Eternity: Continued' It's this and it's starting right where this chapter ends. This makes it less of a hassle for me to update. Thanks, now buh bye!

Disclaimer- (Sighs and draws pictures of a woman who's body is on fire.)

Malice- (Walks up to him and looks over Zack's shoulder to see what he's drawing.) What the hell is that suppose to be?

(Grins) That's my little gothic pyro friend... she's great.......

Malice- (Blinks a few minutes before taking a step back suddenly) Whoa.... okay... what happened to Die?"

(Tilts head to the side) Who died?

Malice- (Brows raise in surprise) Whoa.. you got it bad if you forgot about her (Thinks for a moment before he begins laughing wickedly) Oh I'm so going to go tell Die about this, she'll beat the living crap out of you! (Laughs and walks away.)

(Chuckles to himself as Malice walks away) I LOVE messing with people! I just keep finding new ways to cuz Malice pain! After all, who will be around to vent Die's fury out other than the messenger? Hee hee hee hee! (Cough) Eh hem... I don't own Final Fantasy 7, oh but maybe one day I'll make a sequel to the sequel for Final Fantasy 7... Make sense?

Bitter And Cold

The first time AVALANCHE went up the Great Glacier, they were not prepared for what it had in store for them. The biting cold, the howling wind, and chilling snow, all caused the group to pass out. This time however, the group knows what they are up against, dressing up in many layers of clothing, some go as far as wearing a face mask. But no matter how much clothing you wear, no matter how much supplies you have, you are never totally prepared for the harsh weather on the Great Glacier.

Of course, the first problem is getting to the Great Glacier, which the group, sadly enough, can't do with the Highwind. The strong gusts of wind make it impossible for the airship to land without an accident. The group has to settle for landing in the plains of the northern continent, and trekking up to Icicle Town. From there they have to march down the steep and dangerous slops to the Great Glacier. No one is up for the long trek, once you climb up it, you have to get all the way back down and to the Highwind. The hike is exhausting to say the least.

"Jesus!" Daisuke curses as the biting winds blow across her face. Her breath comes out in small white puffs as she breathes. She can already feel her feet going numb from the freezing cold snow. Bone Village isn't one of the warmest places on the planet, but further North of the town just seems beyond human standards. "It's figgin' cold!"

Sephiroth walks away from the airship and crosses his arms, "Suck it up."

"Yea well.. it wouldn't be this cold if blondie would jus wait till tomorrow mornin' to travel." Daisuke replies, her voice turning bitter.

Vincent walks pass the two a few feet and stops. He glances up to the cloudy sky above letting the falling snow fall onto his face. Unlike everyone else, Vincent hadn't taken anything other then his normal attire. He isn't prone to temperatures like normal humans, thanks to Hojo's experiments. Plus the thick crimson cloak he's sporting traps his body heat in, and the cold out. Even Sephiroth, someone who you'd think as cold hearted as him, is wearing more clothing then normal. Rima settled herself with putting a black turtleneck sweater on, underneath her black trench coat.

Vincent glances over his shoulder as the rest of the group appears, his gaze first goes to Reno, who's clothing makes him look four times the size he actually is. Reno notices the silent gunslinger's stare and gives a glare, "What? I rather wear all of this then be fucking cold!" He says getting defensive.

Tifa, for once in her life, is wearing a pair of pants rather then her short shirts. Also, instead of the traditional white tank top, she's wearing a long sleeved shirt that looks suspiciously looks like Cloud's purple mercenary shirt. Speaking of Cloud, he settled himself with just a blue winter coat, standing at his side, like a trusty dog of some sort, stands Red XIII who's thick fur gives enough protection against the weather.

Cloud glances around the group, noticing someone missing. He turns his gaze to the extremely puffy man that can only be the red headed Turk, Reno, "Where's Elena?" He asks curiously.

"Not coming, said she can't deal with the cold again, she'll be waiting on the airship. Too weak to handle it I guess." Reno says smirking a bit.

Cloud shakes his head while shrugging his shoulders, "Alright.... We'll head up to Icicle Town and stop there to rest, we'll need to be fully rested in order to hike up to Great Glacier. So don't stay up all night." Cloud scratches the back of his head as he thinks, "When we get to town, I'll ask around for a way to get down to the Great Glacier, last time we had to snow board down but we don't have any so we'll have to find another way." The group nods in agreement before they head off.

------

Dregon steps out of the copter, the form of an unconscious ninja thrown over his shoulder. Hojo steps out from behind him as soldiers begin running towards them. The two rode in the jeep till they reached just outside of Kalm where their copter was waiting for him. "Take the girl." Dregon commands. One of the soldiers step forward and throws Yuffie over his shoulder. Dregon turns to Hojo, "I leave the base in your command. I will be going to the Great Glacier to get the last piece."

Hojo pushes his glasses up closer to his eyes then places a hand on his chin, "Hmm.... the cold environment will make it difficult to find it." Hojo's shoulders shakes violently as a thought crosses his mind, "Perhaps you should take a new experiment of mine. He's perfect for the area."

Dregon crosses his arms and closes his eyes as he thinks. Time ticks by while Hojo waits for Dregon's reply. Finally Dregon opens his eyes and nods, "Very well. Send him to the helicopter."

Hojo laughs, "He's already in it waiting."

"Very well..." Dregon replies before turning, he looks over his shoulder at Hojo once more, "Be sure to have it by the time I come back."

A wicked smirk appears across Hojo's face, "There's no need to worry, with a prick of a needle I will have the information you desire. I'll do my job just don't fail your own."

Dregon's eyes narrow slightly in suspicion at Hojo before he turns around and steps back into the helicopter. Dregon takes one of the seats and glances to a man sitting in front of him, who's starring at him. Dregon raises an eyebrow at the man, "Are you the one Hojo was talking about?"

The man gives an amused smile, "Do you see any others beside the pilot on this chopper?" The man asks.

"And what use are you to me?" Dregon asks bored with the man already.

The smile on the man's face only widens, "Well, for one... I'm chillingly sweet." He replies. Dregon shivers a bit, suddenly feeling a bit cold. Shaking his head he glances out the frosted window as the helicopter lifts off the ground. Dregon raises a curious eyebrow when he notices the frost on the window, he turns his gaze back to the man in front of him. The man scrapes a finger along the window, scratching off some of the snowy substance off the window. "Frost.." The man suddenly says.

------

"Warm room, warm food, warm drink, warm shower." Tifa says as they enter the town, immediately making their way towards Icicle Inn. The fist fighter can hardly contain herself from just running ahead of the group and into the inn. Each of her limbs felt as if they aren't there, going numb in the cold of the night.

"Warm bed..." Daisuke says happily, also wanting to get out of the cold. However, unlike Tifa, she decides to run ahead to the inn, having enough of the cold climate. Tifa gives up containing herself and runs after Daisuke.

The rest of the group soon enters the inn. Cloud heads to the counter to buy some rooms for the night. "I need four rooms." Cloud states. After getting some rooms he turns back to the group, "Alright, I got some rooms. I'm going to ask around for a way to the Great Glacier. Get some rest."

"Well then..." Reno takes off his extra clothing, only remaining in his Turk uniform. He takes out a cigarette and lights it up. "It's off to the bar for me." Shoving his hands in his pockets, Reno heads down the stairs of the inn going to the bar in the bottom floor.

"How surprising." Cloud shakes his head, "I'll let you guys decide the rooming." He says before walking back out.

"Well, a warm bed is sounding good to meh." Daisuke says, "I dun care who rooms with meh, as long as they're quiet." Yawning Daisuke heads up the stairs to one of the rooms.

"Good night everyone." Tifa says before heading into the same room.

"Until tomorrow." Red XIII heads up the stairs and enters one of the other rooms.

"........" Sephiroth begins climbing the stairs, a pair of amber eyes following him all the way up.

Rima watches as Sephiroth enters one of the rooms. Her eyes cast down to the floor once he's gone. Out of the corner of her eye she notices someone still in the lobby, glancing up, she sees Vincent leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he stares at Rima. Rima silently stares right back, not saying a single word. "You should tell him." Vincent says suddenly, breaking the silence.

Rima's eyes cast to the floor once more, knowing exactly what Vincent is talking about, "I can't, I won't." She replies, keeping her voice low for fear the others might be able to hear their conversation from their rooms. Rima's brows lower in frustration, "It doesn't matter now. It's in the past, the past doesn't matter."

"If the past does not matter, why do you pursue it?" Vincent points out. He pushes himself off the wall and begins heading up the stairs, "He still has the right to know." Vincent disappears into one of the unoccupied rooms.

Rima hangs her head causing a few strands of her hair to fall across her face, 'I need a drink.' She thinks to herself before deciding to head down to the bar that Reno went to not too long ago.

------

Sephiroth slowly opens his eyes as the door to the room creaks open. Light from the hallway filters into the room, then it disappears as the person closes the door. Sephiroth's left hand subconsciously goes to the hilt of the Masamune, that's resting at the side of the bed. He can hear the person's footsteps in the room as they pass his bed. A moment later he hears the cry of the bed springs in the other bed as the person settles in for the night.

"You're awake"

Sephiroth's removes his hand from the Masamune at the sound of the voice. "I'm a light sleeper." Sephiroth replies. Silence fills the room as neither makes conversation. Sephiroth sits up and rests his back against the headboard, "How are we going tomorrow?"

Cloud scratches the back of his head and sighs, "Unfortunately this town doesn't have any form of transportation. I was able to buy snowboards from one of the shops though." Cloud pauses a moment, "You do know how to snowboard, right?"

Sephiroth crosses his arms and closes his eyes, not answering the spiky blonde swordsman. "I guess I'll have to wait to find out tomorrow." Cloud says with a bit of humor. The humor quickly disappears from his voice as he lets out a breath, "I hope Yuffie is alright."

------

Vincent sits silently on one of the beds in his room, staring down at his deadly claw, flexing its sharp digits. Although the claw is another curse cast upon him by Hojo, it always fascinated Vincent for some reason. To this day he still doesn't understand how he's able to move each sharp digits on his claw as if it were his hand. Vincent shakes his hand before resting his golden claw down on the bed. He stares down at his boots for a moment before reaching down with his hand and taking the off. He pulls the socks off his feet and wiggles his toes on the cold wooden floor.

Vincent lifts his gaze up from the floor to the large mirror on the back of the dresser that's sitting across the room. Vincent stands up from the bed and begins unclasping the buckles on his crimson cloak. He lets the crimson cloak drop to the floor and takes off the black undershirt. Vincent walks across the room and stares at his reflection in the mirror. Strands of ebony hair fall to cover his face, but the crimson glow of his eyes shine through it.

'Why do you hide yourself?'

Rima's question rings throughout his mind. At the time, Vincent was debating whether or not to answer the question, but then Chaos decided to have his fun and took control of him. Chaos told Rima that Vincent hides himself because the parts of demons appear on his body when he gets tired of controlling them. The demon even went as far as begin transforming to makes fangs appear in Vincent's mouth, then stopped the transformation. But that was all a lie.

He hides himself because of how he looks. Hojo's experiments left his body covered with ugly scars all across his body from where he was cut open by Hojo's various tools. Hojo left his face alone for the most part, most likely finding it as a sickening joke to leave Vincent's face perfectly fine, some of which find extremely handsome, while the rest of his body is hideous. The scars are darker in color than his pale skin.

Vincent raises his human hand to his chest and trails his fingers down the large scar that's in the middle of his chest. Vincent recalls Hojo cutting his chest open and injecting various things into his heart and other major organs. The process was down to give Vincent's body the ability to transform into the demons he possessed. Vincent closes his eyes as the memory flashes through his mind, Hojo's face hovering above him as he rips his body open, all the while Hojo was keeping Vincent somewhat conscious as he spoke to him.

The doorknob rattles, making Vincent's thoughts end as he swiftly turns to the door. Cautiously, Vincent heads towards the door. The door begins to slowly open, before it opens all the way however, Vincent grabs the doorknob and open it the rest of the way quickly, surprising the person on the other side. Some much in fact that they fall forward only to be caught by Vincent.

Vincent blinks in confusion and glances down at the giggling woman in his arms, "Heh heh heh, oops.." Vincent raises an eyebrow at the woman, the stench of alcohol filling his nostrils, concluding Vincent's theory that Rima was drinking and more than likely drunk. Vincent pushes Rima away from him by the shoulders. Rima stands there dazed for a moment before commenting, "That Turk sure knows how to hold his own..." Rima blinks a few times as her eyes trail down from Vincent's crimson eyes to his bare upper body, "Whoa..." She says after a moment, "I think I'm in the wrong room heh heh..... I don't think I know you..."

Vincent crosses his arms over his chest and remains silent. Rima's eyes fall on his golden claw, recognition flashing through her eyes, she glances back up to the familiar crimson eyes as they stare questioningly at her. "Oh..." Rima says after a moment. "I guess I'm not." Rima chuckles some before placing her hands on Vincent's shoulders and pushing him inside the room, closing the door behind her with a swift kick.

------

Sephiroth lets out a frustrated breath for what seemed like the hundredth time since Cloud fell asleep. Cloud may not snore too loudly, but being a light sleeper, it makes it hard to fall back asleep. So for the past half hour he's been sitting at the edge of the bed, starring into the darkness. The sound of footsteps outside his door catches his attention. Standing up, Sephiroth walks over to his door, opens it up, and peeks outside to see who passed by. Starring down the hall he sees Rima standing in front of Vincent. His brows lower in confusion.

"I guess I'm not." Sephiroth hears Rima say before she begins chuckling. Sephiroth's brows raise in surprise as he watches Rima push Vincent into his room and shut the door behind her. Sephiroth's mako emerald eyes narrow as he clenches his fists at his side. He wants nothing more then to march over to the room and rip the door down to see what's going on. As a matter of fact, Sephiroth decides to do just that.

Opening up the door the rest of the way, Sephiroth walks out of the hallway and makes his way to Vincent's door. A moment later he's in front of the door. He reaches for the doorknob but stops, letting his hand hover around it as he hears something inside the room. Sephiroth leans closer, nearly pressing his ear against the door. Sephiroth grits his teeth as he hears the familiar sound of bedsprings creaking in rhyme, which can only mean one thing.

Sephiroth unsheathes the Masamune and holds it up, ready to slash the door down. But something keeps him from doing so, he stands in his spot, Masamune held up, as he stares at the wooden door, listening to the noises coming from inside the room. Sephiroth takes a couple of deep breathes, trying to calm his anger. He sheathes the Masamune and turns away from the door before walking away. He heads back into his room.

------

"What!? I dunno how to snowboard!" Daisuke shouts as they stand at the edge of the mountain, each holding a snowboard.

Cloud gives out a frustrated sigh, "It's the only way down. Just learn quickly."

Daisuke opens and closes her mouth a couple of times, ready to argue more. She clamps her mouth shut and crosses her arms as she stares down at the navy blue snow board on the ground. "Fine!"

Sephiroth stares at the silver snowboard in his hands before directing his gaze over to Vincent who's studying his black one. Vincent feels eyes watching him and glances over to Sephiroth. The dark swordsman's cold stare never lets up as he turns his gaze down to the mountain.

"For the record, this is a dumbass idea." Reno says flicking a cigarette off to the side. He didn't bother to wear as much clothing as before, knowing it would only make snowboarding harder.

Rima keeps her eyes downcast, the crimson snowboard she was handed in her hands. "Well, if everyone is ready. Let's go." Cloud says before starting down the mountain with his red, yellow, and blue snowboard. The others quickly follow after him.

Cloud chances a look over his shoulder to see how everyone is doing, Red XIII, who's crouched down on his yellow board, seems to be doing alright. Tifa is snowboarding close to Daisuke who's wobbling a bit on her snowboard as Tifa tries to give her pointers, all the while trying not to fall down in the process. Cloud glances over to Sephiroth and raises his brows in surprise. Sephiroth, for lack of better words, can indeed snowboard. As a matter of fact he seems to be catching up on Cloud and will soon pass him. That's when a flash of crimson catches Cloud eyes, he glances over to Vincent who is also about to pass him. The two pass on either side of Cloud.

Sephiroth hits a jump and grabs the front of his board as he does a back flip in the air, landing it perfectly. Vincent seems to glide across the snow as he goes off to the side and hits a jump, he spins in the air, the board chopping the head off of a snowman that a past snowboarder most off created while taking a break. Sephiroth narrows his eyes as he leans lower to his board, building up speed.

The rest of the group behind the two, try to keep up with the two competitive snowboarders. "Hey guys! Slow down will ya!?" Cloud shouts to the two. He blinks in confusion as a he hears some sort of roaring coming from behind him. Him, along with the rest of the group, quickly look over their shoulders to see an avalanche quickly catching up with them.

"Holy shit!" Reno shouts.

"Everyone hurry up!" Cloud says panicking.

"No shit dumbass!" Daisuke says, nearly losing her balance on the snowboard.

The group tries to go faster in hopes of trying to outrun the avalanche. Sephiroth's eyes are narrowed in thin slits to shield his eyes from the harsh cold winds as he speeds down the mountain. In front of him, he sees the trail breaking off into three different paths. Deciding to get off the main path, since the avalanche will most likely go down it and not the other two, he takes the left path. The slope becomes steeper, making his snowboard go even quicker. The trail takes a sharp right ahead of him. Sephiroth goes all the way to the left and makes the sharp right, nearly hitting the sides of the trail. His eyes widen a bit in surprise at the site of the trail suddenly ending as a cliff up ahead. He quickly turns the snowboard to the side, effectively stopping it, a bit away from the cliff.

Sephiroth leans down and undoes the straps of the snowboard. He lets the snowboard slide down and off the cliff. He stands there starring at the end of the trail debating on what to do next. "WAH! Move Pretty Boy! Move!" Sephiroth hears someone shout. He quickly turns around to see Daisuke speeding right towards him, her arms waving frantically out in front of her, not knowing how to stop.

Sephiroth takes a step back, bracing himself for the impact. "Oof!" Comes from Daisuke as she crashes into Sephiroth, knocking him off his feet and her off her snowboard. The two slide uncontrollably towards the edge. "AH!!" Daisuke shouts at the top of her lungs as she claws at the patted down snow, trying to stop herself.

Sephiroth unsheathes the Masamune with his left hand, and with his right hand he grabs hold of one of Daisuke's flailing arms. He jams the Masasume in the ground in attempt to stop them from going over the edge. "It ain't workin'! I'm gunna die!" Daisuke shouts. Sephiroth's grip is lost on the Masamune as the two slide over the edge.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a hand reaches out just as they slide over the edge of the cliff and grabs hold of Sephiroth's left. The weight of both Sephiroth and Daisuke pulls the person over the edge with them but they stop as the golden claw imbeds itself into the ground. Vincent, along with Sephiroth and Daisuke, lay hanging in the air by Vincent's claw.

Vincent glances down at the two underneath him, then back up to the edge. Vincent's face scrunches as he begins lifting himself up by his claw. Once his head is over the edge, he begins pulling Sephiroth up with his other hand. Sephiroth clings his left hand on the side of the cliff and begins pulling Daisuke up. Daisuke clings to the edge for dear life, "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. "Daisuke says as she hangs on the edge. "We're safe!" Roaring of the avalanche suddenly fills their ears as it makes its way down their path. Both Sephiroth and Vincent shoot a look to Daisuke who pales, "Maybe not." She says before the avalanche knock all three of them off the cliff.

Okay everyone, that's it for now. Yesterday marked this fic's fifth month anniversary! 0) I tried getting it out yesterday but I couldn't finish. I tried to make this chapter much better then the last few. But sadly, I don't think it happened lol. I wanted to stop this chapter at a different point but by the looks of things, the point where I wanted to stop it isn't even close 0P Oh well, this place will do. Well review y'all. TTNC

P.S. REMEMBER, NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE UNDER THE STORY CRY OF ETERNITY: CONTINUED. TILL THEN Y'ALL!