Unnatural Hometown

Unnatural Hometown is the nineteenth chapter in Final Fantasy VII and the tenth chapter in act 2, "Pursuit". In it, the party returns to Nibelheim, Cloud and Tifa's hometown, that was the setting for Cloud's retelling of the Nibelheim Incident earlier in "The Tragedy of Five Years Ago". They expect to find the town in ruin, but are shocked to find nothing has changed since their childhood, and in fact, the residents deny ever knowing them.
==Walkthrough==
===Before arrival===
"Battle 6" is available at the Condor War minigame at this time back at Fort Condor; if all previous battles were won, then the reward for Battle 6 is five Hi-Potions; the battle remains available until talking to Shera in the next chapter. The party can return to Fort Condor by driving the buggy into Costa del Sol and then taking the Cargo Ship back to the eastern continent; when the party emerges into the world map from Junon, they still have the buggy.
The player can encounter Bagrisk on the dirt in the northwestern part of Cosmo Area and steal Vagyrisk Claws, an item that inflicts Petrify on one opponent. from from them. Vagyrisk Claws are also obtainable in the Condor War, but both the Condor War and Bagrisks stop yielding Vagyrisk Claws later in the game.
Discounting these detours, after departing Cosmo Canyon, take the buggy west out of the Cosmo Area, then turn north to cross a river and enter Nibel Area. Nibelheim is further north, at the foot of the mountain.
Note: though the Nibel Area is a good place to unlock new Limit Breaks due to the Valron enemy, the better part of the Nibel Area is past Mt. Nibel.
===Nibelheim===
Cloud and Tifa (if in the party) will comment on Nibelheim's appearance before the player can enter. The player can enter Tifa's house to find a memo explaining its identical appearance, and Cloud play around with the piano in Tifa's room (but all that is available at this point is "Tifa's secret savings", 1 gil).
The point of interest in the town is the many figures in black capes, which talk about Sephiroth or a reunion, and each give items, including stat boosting items and the Platinum Fist for Tifa (a weapon with four slots with double AP growth) from one in her house. The one outside the mansion gives a Mind Source. Like in the quantum Potion bug, the same variable is used for obtaining this Mind Source as for the Luck Source obtained from the black cloak on the bottom floor of the inn; after picking up either one, the other registers as already being taken, so it is impossible to pick up both.
In total, the treasures available are:
Item 	Location
Luck Source 	Black cape in the Inn (unless the player already got the Mind Source from outside the manor)
Elixir 	Black cape in Nibelheim Item Store
Turbo Ether 	Black cape in Tifa's house's kitchen
Platinum Fist	Black cape in Tifa's house upstairs
Luck Source 	Black cape in Siblings' House upstairs
Mind Source 	Black cape outside the manor (unless the player already got the Luck Source from the inn)
One of the figures standing outside the mansion says the "Great Sephiroth" is inside the manor. The player must go in after him to proceed.
=== Mansion ===
The mansion is populated by monsters, such as Dorky Face, Ghirofelgo, Jersey in the house, and Black Bats and Ying and Yang in the underground cavern. There are a number of things to do in the mansion while here.
Dorky Face come in numbers, and can be defeated using Matra Magic to help with earning new Limit Levels. The enemy skill ???? can be learned from Jersey. Jersey is met in some of the rooms in the upstairs, and rarely uses ???? when it has never been hit yet; it is best to simply idle until it uses the attack on the character with the Enemy Skill Materia, and then defeat the enemies. Ying-Yang is a potentially dangerous enemy; since Yang will eventually perform a powerful suicide attack, you should slay it first, then defeat Ying. Yang is weak to physical attacks, where as Ying is susceptible to magic.
The door on the lower level leads to an area behind where, on the right, treasure chests contain Twin Viper, a weapon for Yuffie with four slots of double AP growth, and Silver M-phone, a weapon for Cait Sith with four slots of normal growth. The upper left also has a treasure chest where the Enemy Launcher for Barret is found. This weapon has five slots and 35 Attack Power, putting it on par with other weapons around this point. On the right on the upper floor is a chest containing a Magic Source.
A letter by the entrance gives clues on an optional party member recruitment sidequest. Following the clues finds the combination to the safe in the first room on the left left on the upper floor. 
The code to enter is:
:(Right 36), (Left 10), (Right 59), (Right 97)
Opening the safe starts a battle against Lost Number. Lost Number should be prepared for by equipping powerful magic and physical attacks from all party members, as halfway through the battle it should will change form to a physical or magic form where it resists the other type of attack. While red, it will be resistant to magic damage, and while purple, it is resistant to physical damage. The player can also manipulate this by hitting it with one type of attack early on in the battle, causing it to be resistant to it, and vulnerable to the other type. Big Guard should also be used, as its attacks are reasonably powerful.
Winning against Lost Number gives Red XIII's final Limit Break, Cosmo Memory, as well as the Odin Summon Materia and Key to the Basement. When the key is obtained, a door in the basement can be unlocked to talk to Vincent. After talking to him, the player must ask him about Sephiroth to proceed, and talk to him until he gives his name. Eventually, the only further dialogue he will give is "Let me sleep..." at which point he will join as a bonus party member after the party leaves.
Regardless of if the quest was completed or not, Sephiroth awaits in the basement, where the story is continued. After a scene, he then throws a Destruct Materia and flies off, saying he is heading north past Mt. Nibel. At this point, the player can talk to Vincent moreIf Vincent was spoken to, he will join at this point; if not, he will be available to be recruited at any point from this point onward.
Exit the mansion, rest up at the inn if needed, then leave Nibelheim to the north.
=== Crossing Mt. Nibel ===
After leaving Nibelheim, the buggy is not accessible for a while, but will soon be replaced with a better vehicle. Head north and enter Mt. Nibel. At Mt. Nibel, the way is winding, but going off the beaten path scores some decent items, like new weapons for Cloud (Rune Blade; found going off the main path the first area), Red XIII (Plus Barrette, which gives the same for Red XIII; near the bridge in the first area), Vincent (Sniper CR; in the caves), and Tifa (Powersoul; take Slide 2 in the last room), as well as an Elemental Materia and an All Materia. All of the weapons besides Vincent's Sniper CR give double AP growth to any Materia slotted into them. Tifa's Powersoul also has powers up when in Near Death and when under Death-sentence, making it an exceptional weapon for her.
Kyuvilduns appear in large groups here, and can be diffuclt to deal with. If their Lay Flat is devastating the party, a Cover Materia comes in handy on a hardy character who is in the back row, such as Barret or a character with Long Range, to take the blows. For further damage reduction, the covering character can use Defend. The player can use Fire3 (with Fire linked to All), Ifrit or Beta to kill groups of Kyuvilduns quickly. If the player has L4 Suicide, it can be used to easily cripple whole groups of them for a low MP cost. Dragons appear in the final area providing another opportunity to learn the Flame Thrower enemy skill. The good Gold Armlet armor can be stolen from the Dragons.
The final room on the far side of Mt. Nibel on the top level has several slides going down and three ladders going down. It is best to use the ladders first to knock the second ladder down so that the slides can be returned to and used after, as Slide 2 in particular has the Powersoul and slide 4 has an All Materia. Taking the first ladder down to a level below from the entrance leads to a door on the left going to Nibel Reactor, though there is little interest inside. The caves from "The Tragedy of Five Years Ago" flashback can also be visited by heading south from the exit to the final room; a chest found in a waving path past rocks contains an Elixir, the mako spring past it (where Sephiroth taught about Materia in the flashback) contains an Elemental Materia, and 
The exit at the end of this room is blocked by Materia Keeper. The Materia Keeper absorbs Fire, meaning Vincent cannot use his Level 1 Limit Break if he is in the battle formation. The party should have an Enemy Skill Materia equipped, as Materia Keeper uses the missable enemy skill Trine. Materia Keeper is susceptible to Stop and Poison, so Choco/Mog, Bio spells and the Time Materia are useful, for their spells or with Added Effect.
After defeating the Materia Keeper, pick up the Counter Attack Materia it drops, then head for the exit or backtrack to obtain any items that were missed (the Powersoul and Elemental Materia in particular are important). The party will emerge into the Rocket Launch Pad Area, and the next destination is to the northwest for the next chapter, "A Sleeping Village Dreaming of Outer Space".
==Notes==
===Annotations===
===Citations===
Category:Chapters in Final Fantasy VII