Flowers Blooming In The Church
Sector 5 & 6 Slums
Items/Skills/Materia
| Ether | Cover Materia |
Cloud awakens in a church and finds Aeris, the flower girl from outside Reactor #1 standing over him. After a bit of chitchat, she'll appoint you as her bodyguard. Right away, you'll have a chance to protect her, as Reno of the Turks and his MP's are after her. When you reach the back of the church, you'll have two options. 1- Let Aeris fight the MP's and guardhounds for added experience. They're easy kills if you give her the Titan Bangle and a couple of spells. 2- Have Cloud push the barrels on the soldiers from above. If you want to do this, think of the rafters as a clock and push the 9:00 barrel, then the 12:00 barrel, then the 3:00 barrel. I only recommend doing this if you really want Aeris to like Cloud and don't need the XP.
After escaping, head through the garbage heaps and the slums towards Aeris' house. Buy armor and materia in the slums if you want. You can buy more Titan Bangles here, along with any standard materia. I recommend waiting on the armor. The path to the next part of town is pretty short and you can get better armor (Mythril Armlets) there. I do recommend buying an extra tent or two because they are among the best items in the game, especially after leaving town. There are a few things worth seeing in the slums. First visit the sick man in the pipe. You can't do anything here, but he provides a bit of foreshadowing for events to come. Also go to the house on the east side of town and go to the second floor. Read the poster on the wall for the "Turtle's Paradise" bar in Wutai. There are six scattered around the world and reading them all gets you some nice prizes for little effort. Talk to the sleeping kid and listen to what he says. You can take his money from the dresser, but you shouldn't do this. Not only will you feel like a complete scumbag later on, but you will miss out on a cool reward that you'll get for leaving it alone. When you get to Aeris's house, save and go in the backyard. For some reason, someone left a Cover materia and an ether lying around. Go inside and meet Elmyra. Spend the night and leave without telling Aeris. To keep her from hearing you, walk V E R Y S L O W L Y. Head toward the Sector 6 slums, where you'll find someone familiar waiting for you.
You need to cross the Sector 6 slums to get to 7th Heaven, so that's where you're going. The enemies here can be tough, especially the Hell Houses, so heal after almost every fight and let the spells flow continuously. Don't worry, it's a short route to where you're going, so you can afford to do this. When you stop at the playground, a mysterious Chocobo carriage passes by with a familiar face inside. Follow it to your next destination: the trade bazaar known as the Wall Market.