A/N: My apologies…I felt that I had screwed up with this story, and so I decided to see if a rewrite would make any difference to it…this is the first time I'm rewriting a story from scratch, so do accept my apologies, and read and review would you kindly? Your reviews will tell me if this story is worth continuing.

The sound of the slave market was a hustle and bustle of activity and—and it was especially so due to the fact that new slaves were captured…apparently from one of the nearby tribes were taken prisoner after the Kisaragi Empire had conquered them and took as slaves. This particular tribe however caught people's attention—they were known for the fact that they were a hunter-society…nobody could pass up such a deal when they heard that the Ma-Gan Tribe surrendered to General Tahoumaru after he personally came and defeated their chieftain in a duel. That tribe produced the most fearsome hunters and sharpshooters the land has ever seen…it seemed as if the citizens of the empire sought to add insult to the injury to the tribesmen by enslaving them shortly after the year-long war which everyone took full advantage of.

The people were being sold left and right at the auction that it was not even funny for Hojo—he had been making easy coin off of selling these people from the tribes. Yes, business was booming for the greedy man. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a special treat for you!" he announced to the audience, motioning toward a cage being rolled on up to the stage with a tarp over it, "You've all been treated to the exotic beauty that is the people of the Ma-Gan tribe! With their wills broken, they could serve as very good members of any harem or even good slaves, but we have a special offer! You've all seen how their children look, and I know many of you have purchased them, but this child is so special that I'm not even sure it's possible! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the prince of the Ma-Gan tribe!"

With that, Hojo pulled the tarp off the cage to reveal a young boy of extraordinary beauty on his knees…even the men had less than honorable thoughts about the child as it was easy to mistake him for a little girl. They then noted that he had the typical characteristic of his fellow tribesmen that distinguished him from all other people—he had eyes of the clearest red…like you were looking into beautifully mesmerizing pools of blood underneath that curtain of black silk he had for hair. What made it evident that he was son of the chieftain was that he had a tattoo on his back in the form of a pair of runic wings on both of his scapulae, and one on his chest resembling a rib cage in the same runic form as the wings.

"This young man is a sight to behold—and quite a treasure too! Almost six years old; pure and innocent like virgin snow…a perfect time to be molding him into whatever slave-work you see fit! For this bidding, the auction will begin at 1,000 gil!"

It wouldn't be long until everyone started putting up bids for the boy—so far, his bid had gone up to 10,000 gil in a matter of 2 minutes of bidding.

"15,000!"

"15,500!"

"17,000!"

So many bids—Hojo could not believe his ears. He knew the boy was worth a lot, especially as a virgin…but 20,000 in five minutes is unheard of for him! And it looked like everyone was fighting to claim him. In ten minutes, the bid turned to 50,000 gil!

"80,000 gil!" shouted someone from the back of the crowd. Everyone turned to see who it was that made such a high bid—and it belonged to a foreigner with chestnut eyes wearing a black cape. Everyone knew who it was that made that bet, as very few people would live here unless you were a member of the Valentine family—and judging by the man's appearance, this was none other than Duke Grimoire Valentine, the merchant from Nibelheim. Nobody dared to contend with that amount—whatever Valentine wanted, Valentine got, and he had enough money to get said object.

"80,000 gil…going once…going twice! Sold to Duke Grimoire Valentine!"

The young prince however, looked at the man walking towards him…treatment at the hands of the Kisaragi ninja have taught him to be suspicious of all strangers. What just happened? He saw everyone else in his tribe get taken away—who knew where he was going to go, and what would happen to him? Before he could think anymore on the matter, he felt a prick in his neck, and everything blacked out as his eyes felt heavy—sending him into the world of sleep.

Half an hour later…

As Mr. Highwind drove the carriage towards the estate, Duke Grimoire had ideas for the boy he purchased…this prince of the tribe that Tahoumaru had conquered supposedly under orders of Emperor Kisaragi…perhaps it would be best if he brought him home. Besides, Lucrecia especially could use the help at home—after what she heard had happened, and coupled with the death of Sephiroth, it was no wonder she broke down. Perhaps this boy sleeping in his arms will be the one to pull her out of her sadness…and maybe with enough time, he can bring his people back from the dead. But for now, she needs someone to hold…and perhaps heal this poor boy's soul. From what he understood, that last attack on his tribe was very devastating to everyone…especially since it was the chief who died in that duel that earned Tahoumaru his ill-gotten victory.

"I never thought you had it in you to buy a slave mate," said the driver, "and a bloody brat at that. I figured that if you had to get one, you may as well get someone who can actually do work."

"It's not like that Cid; I had to get him out of there…he is no ordinary 'brat' as you would put it…he's the prince of the Ma-Gan tribe."

Cid's reaction caused him to swerve in his driving a bit. "Crikey! You gave me a heart attack…You mean to tell me that that sodding little brat you have in your arms is related to HIM?"

"Correct. I can tell—from what I've learned about the Ma-Gan tribe, tattoos are venerated as a symbol of your identity…they tell people who you are and which nature spirit you have been bonded to from birth, and so no two tattoos are alike…so far, only those related to the chieftain have wings tattooed onto their backs when they are three years old in addition to their identifying tattoos on whatever part of their bodies to show which spirit they have bonded with."

"So which bloody spirit is he bonded to then?"

"Apparently, he was bonded to the angel of death himself."

"Charming…so he's supposedly bonded to the angel of death—you don't suppose he's going to bloody kill us for what happened to his tribe anytime soon then?"

"The tribe does not see death as something bad like we tend to—they see it simply as a process of life, and so they accept that it will come at any day for them…and so their belief is simple; as the great god Leviathan turns the wheel of life with every revolution he makes in the world, we are born, we live, we die, and depending on our actions in our life, we will be reincarnated into something else depending on our actions in life—if our lives were spent doing good, then karma will allow us to reincarnate as humans again, but if our lives were tainted with evil, then we would be reincarnated as beasts depending on the offense until we start to behave ourselves."

"How do you know so much anyway?"

"Lucrecia's been giving medical attention to the tribe…and so she knows the culture and the language. She was devastated when Tahoumaru started that war on the tribe—coupled with Sephiroth, and you have a formula that caused her to pretty much only exist. She hasn't been eating, she hasn't been sleeping, she's merely wasting away in her grief…I can't stand to see her in this condition anymore. So I got this boy in the auction so that she could probably have some sort of hope in life."

Cid understood how hard it was. Young Sephiroth's death was an unforeseen accident…one that the couple could not bear to talk about…he could not blame them, as he immediately knew what was to be expected once Shera became pregnant and he lost their child—they would have been as destroyed as Lucrecia was. Duke Valentine was telling the truth—she needs hope now more than ever.

His vision had begun to come right back into focus…and then it became clear now that he was awake. The prince scanned his surroundings, and found that he was no longer in the cage, but in some strange area that was closed up with walls all around him—he also noted that he was sleeping on something firm covered by a soft sort of cloth he was unfamiliar with. Where was he?

The prince took everything into consideration and remembered that he had been bought out! The rest of his people had been sold off—never to be seen again, especially his mother! And his father…

Before he could think anymore on his situation, he noted that the door opened, and in walked a foreign man with reddish eyes similar to his own, but different. His tone was rude, but conveyed his fear correctly. "Ni shi shei?" ("Who are you?")

The man looked at the boy confusedly, as if searching for the right thing to say. When he could not say anything, the man simply beckoned the boy to come and follow him. The prince was curious, and followed the man cautiously—his father had taught him the basics of the hunt when he was five years old, he was not on par with the other hunters yet, but he was shown to have good promise. One of the rules of the hunt was to keep an eye out for any danger that could surprise you and so move cautiously. The man stopped and revealed a sad sight to the young boy…oh he knew this woman!

"Yue Yisheng!" ("Doctor Yue")

The woman's eyes widened…she noted there was a boy standing in the doorway to her room. A young boy that she knew. "Hei Wangzi?" ("Prince Hei?")

Prince Hei had water in his eyes—after what had happened to his people he distrusted foreigners, especially due to what that monster did in that duel with his father. But Dr. Crescent, who was nicknamed "Yue Yisheng" by his fellow tribesmen due to her beauty that was rivaled only by the moon, was one of the foreigners he actually trusted. It was no surprise that he ran to her with tears in his eyes, and it was also no surprise that she hugged him back. He then turned and saw the man who looked on at the two of them in apparent happiness. "Na ge nanren shi shei?" ("Who is that man?")

"Ta shi wo de lao gong." ("That is my husband.")

Prince Hei looked towards the man and looked in wonder…this was the husband that his tribe's doctor looked up to and loved with all her heart? If that was the case, he was wrongfully rude to the man. He got off of Dr. Crescent, and bowed low in front of the husband. "Dui bu qi…wo hen…" ("I'm sorry…I am very…")

"Bu yong ke qi…wo zhidao." ("No worries…I understand.")

The young prince looked at the man with curiosity in his eyes. Lucrecia laughed lightly. "Wo jiao ta shuo yi dian Zhongwen." ("I taught him a little Chinese.") As she looked on at the boy in her arms, Lucrecia knew that this boy had nowhere else to go—given what happened, he probably needs a home…and apparently, the rumor was that the people were being sold off as slaves, and his appearance confirmed that rumor. "Did you have to buy him dear?"

"I watched as that dirt bag Hojo sold all his people off…I was too late to save anyone else. I felt bad that I didn't get there on time, because I know how much these people meant to you. Rumor had it that Tahoumaru was behind this whole mess with his tribe. I don't know how it happened, but knowing that bastard, he probably managed to convince Godo to go along with it."

"I suppose you're correct. But in the meantime, let's rest…you've had a long day, and most definitely, Prince Hei would most definitely need it."

A/N: The way I see the land of Wutai, it's most probably divided into multiple tribes with the Japanese-speaking Kisaragi Empire being the biggest tribe of all given its status as an empire. I tend to see Vincent as at least being able to either speak Japanese or Mandarin, hence why I'm making the different tribe speak Mandarin.

Songs Used

"Rubble" by Daisuke Ishiwatari: Prince Hei and his people being auctioned off.

Vocabulary:

Ma-Gan—Mandarin for "Demon Eye".