"Oh, that's just a myth!" Reno told his brothers Rufus and Cloud as they finished their breakfast at dawn.
"That forest is haunted!" Rufus repeated.
"It's not a myth when ten other men in the village have gone into that forest and never returned!" Cloud added his protests.
"They were silly drunken men who probably brought it on themselves or just ran off." Reno pointed out pompously. "I need to find some more rare species of fungus and flowers to finish my studies, I'll be fine." Reno finished putting everything into his satchel and left their modest cottage, all their parents could afford to leave them when they died, victims from an epidemic five years earlier.
"Should we follow him?" Cloud asked Rufus nervously.
"He's a damned fool." Rufus snapped. "He'll just have to learn from his own bloody mistakes and hopefully it won't kill him."
Tseng saw Reno heading towards the path leading out of town and into the woods and called him over. "What do you think you're doing, young man?" he asked Reno.
"Finishing my studies, sir." Reno replied, remembering to respectfully address the town magistrate, even though he was in a hurry to get his research done so he could be back in time for dinner.
Tseng frowned. "You know that forest is not safe. Starting tomorrow it will be forbidden to go into the woods. We lost two more men last night."
"I'll be careful, sir." Reno said with a slight edge of superiority in his voice. "I know what I'm doing."
Tseng sighed at the young man's stubborn foolishness. "Very well. Good luck and Godspeed to you."
"Thank you, sir." Reno hurried out to reach the woods before the dew evaporated off the foliage.
Tifa was watching her nymph 'sisters' splash each other in the pond near the cave they lived in when she felt her skin tingling. "I think we're going to have company soon." she told them.
Aerith, Yuffie, and Elena stopped their splash fight and looked at her. "Oh, we must tell the Master!" they chimed together, clambering out of the water and hurrying into the cave. "Master, Master! She knows someone is coming!" The three nymphs bounced up to him in their excitement, their breasts jiggling attractively as they did so.
"Well, did you find out who it is?" Sephiroth asked them. The satyr stood up from his rock throne and stared down at his nymphs.
"No, Master." they giggled over their lapse.
"Find out who it is and lead him nearby. If he's a fertile male, maybe he's the one I'm looking for." Sephiroth told Rude, a faun he had captured to do his bidding.
"Yes, Master." Rude left immediately, passing Tifa on the way, who was taking her time following the other nymphs in.
"If he's not the one I'm looking for, you may have your way with him, Tifa." Sephiroth smiled at the most unusual of his harem. She wasn't a true nymph, but a succubus who was looking for a suitable male as a permanent mate. She had entered his dominion in her journeys to find such a male, and had agreed to serve as one of his nymphs until she found one.
"Thank you, Master." Tifa smiled back. She was grateful to have him around, he was the only male so far who was not harmed by her insatiable lust. She wanted to be rid of it and marry the man who had the ability to turn her mortal.