A/N: I'm surprised I actually managed to finish this... well anyway, here it is - chapter nine. I guess I should warn you guys, this chapter gets... dark. Really dark... Well, Estu's perspective gets dark, anyway. Vincent's stays pretty light hearted, comparatively speaking. So, be ready for some mood whiplash. But like I said, Estu's perspective gets pretty bad. More violence than usual, too. So, if at the end of this, you absolutely despise me, remember to leave a review, keeping it as spoiler-free as you can, that way other people can get angry if they want. And if you find this forgivable/ interesting/ good, well, you know the drill...


The sun was beginning to set when Reno, Tifa, Yuffie and Vincent arrived at the spot labeled on Vere's map. Vincent surveyed the area, a small island that was dotted with a few palms. Nothing about the island was remarkable. It looked as though it could be featured on any postcard from Costa del Sol. Could this really be where the Proto-Materia is?

Reno landed the helicopter and stepped out. After looking around the island he noticed a large rock at the center. "What's this?" he asked. The rock was round and smooth, and had several symbols carved into it. Yuffie hopped out of the helicopter and ran over to Reno.

"Look! It's the symbols from before!" Yuffie pointed to the three characters. "Beginning, magic, sphere. This must be it!"

"Yeah, so where the hell is it?" Reno asked.

"There's supposed to be a labyrinth of some sort," Tifa said, stepping out of the helicopter. "But I don't see it…"

Vincent walked over and stood behind them. Maybe… Vincent stepped forward and with all the strength he could muster, he pushed the rock back just an inch or two. The rock uncovered the smallest bit of a hole. Peering down into it, Vincent said, "I think this is how you enter. The labyrinth must be underground."

"An underground labyrinth? Cool!" Yuffie said excitedly. Reno rolled his eyes.

"Alright, let's get this over with," he said, pushing his sleeves up. He, along with Tifa and Yuffie, helped Vincent push the rock further out of the way. It took a minute, but with the four of them pushing at the same time, they managed to move the rock away, revealing a hole in the ground. The four stood back to examine it. The completely uncovered hole was pretty large, and so deep that none of them could see the bottom. Tifa got a glow stick out of their supply packs and cracked it. She tossed it in the hole, and the group watched as it fell further and futher, until they heard a quiet splash. Reno looked around at the others.

"So, which of you wants to go first?" he asked.

"We didn't bring nearly enough rope to climb down," Yuffie said.

"So… we've gotta frickin jump?"

"Is a fall like that survivable?" Tifa wondered. Reno shrugged.

"There's water down there, right? I'd say it'd break your fall."

"Maybe you should test that theory, Reno," Tifa said.

"No way, ladies first. That's a rule."

"In that case, do you want to go, Yuffie?" Tifa asked.

"Yuffie's not a lady," Reno laughed. Yuffie glared at him. This conversation isn't going anywhere…

"I could just go first, then tell you all if it's all right to jump," Vincent pointed out.

"Is that what you want to do?" Tifa asked.

Vincent sighed, "Not really, but I at least know that I'll be fine." Tifa nodded and stepped out of Vincent's way. Vincent peered down the hole nervously. He took a deep breath, and stepped forward into the dark pit.


As Estu ran through the city, his thoughts were haunted by Argento's words. "That bastard would never've been able to conquer Edge like I did! I did what he never could have done." All Argento ever wanted to do was surpass his brother, Nero, who he hated with a passion. How could he hold so much animosity towards his own brother? His apparently mostly-dead brother at that. Estu didn't know much about 'normal' families, but he knew he'd never be able to hate his father or sister like that. At least, he hoped he wouldn't be able to. A clock tower near him began to strike six chimes. Orange started to tint the western edge of the sky. Estu ran as fast as he could, trying not to think about how quickly his time was running out. The files… just grab the files and get out, he kept telling himself. Focusing his mind helped him ignore the looks he was getting from other people on the street.

He finally reached Mark's tavern. He panted as he opened the doors, and looked wildly around the bar. A few customers and Tony were inside, but there was no sign of Mark. Still out of breath, he walked to the bar where Tony stood, wearing the same smug, and mildly amused expression as earlier. "Where is he?" Estu asked.

Once again, Tony spoke very rapidly, firing off questions instead of answering, "Where is who? I mean, I'm guessing you mean my uncle. That's who you mean right? Why do you need to talk to him exactly? And why-"

"Shut up! Just shut up for a minute and answer me," Estu snapped. Tony quirked an eyebrow.

"Are you okay? You look more panicked now then you did this morning." Estu opened his mouth to speak, then shook his head.

"Something big is about to happen… Deepground is involved, and they might come after you, since your dad worked with the scientists in charge of the project." For once, Tony had trouble finding words.

"H- how did you know about my father?" he finally asked. Estu didn't answer, he just shook his head.

"You should get out of here. You're uncle has something I need, but… it won't be safe for you." Tony nodded. He began to walk to the door, before tuning back.

"Why did you warn me? I mean, you seem to hate me…" Tony asked. Estu shrugged, he didn't know why either.

"I guess," Estu began, but stopped. "Where's your uncle, exactly?" Estu asked. Tony stared blankly. He didn't know.

"You should get out here." Estu repeated. "You mentioned a friend in the police?"

"My friend's brother works for the police, but you think I should go to his house?"

"Anywhere would be better than here. I can't leave, but... Just hurry and go. And drop your cell phone; they can use it to track you." Tony took a phone out of his pocket and tossed it on the ground. Normally, he wouldn't have believed a complete stranger, but somehow, he felt Estu wasn't lying.

Before leaving, Tony looked at the customers. "All right, people. Closing time." Then Tony left with the others.

As Tony walked out of the tavern, Estu sat at the bar, holding his head in his hands, and praying that Mark would show up in time.


Vincent's hair flew wildly about his face as he fell. He started counting the seconds as wind rushed past him. One… Two … Three… Four … How deep is this pit? He couldn't see the bottom, couldn't see anything, really. There was a pinprick of light at the top of the cavern where the hole was, but aside from that, nothing. Twelve… Thirteen… Fourteen… And I still can't see the bottom…This is going to hurt… Just as Vincent mentally braced himself, he noticed he was slowing down. Somehow, he slowed – almost to the point that he felt like he was parachuting – for nearly half a minute, before he finally hit the water. Weighed down by his cloak, claw, and boots, he sank for a moment, then kicked his legs and surfaced. Now that he was in the water, he saw that it was slightly illuminated by the glow stick. He could just make out the edge of a rock. He climbed on top of it and looked up at the ceiling.

"Vincent?" He could barely hear the voice, it was one of the girls, but he couldn't even tell if it was Tifa or Yuffie.

Drawing a deep breath, he shouted back, "It's all right! You can jump!" Vincent was a bit surprised by his own voice. He didn't do much yelling, and it sounded strange to him.

A high pitched scream split the cavern air. Vincent looked up, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. Yuffie flailed her arms as she fell. She's going so fast! Vincent tensed up, worried that she'd just keep falling, but then, same as him, she slowed before hitting the water. She surfaced quickly, gasping for air. "Vincent?" she called out, unable to see him.

"I'm right here," Vincent said. Yuffie swam towards his voice, and he helped her onto the rock. Yuffie opened the water-proof pack she carried, and dug around until she found an electric torch. She clicked it on, accidently shining it in Vincent's eyes. "Ow."

"Oh, sorry, Vinnie," Yuffie said. Vincent blinked a few times, trying to regain his night vision.

"You alright?" Tifa yelled from above.

"We're fine! Go ahead and jump!" she shouted excitedly, waving the light around. Someone other than her really needs to hold onto the torch…

"How come we slowed down, anyway?" Yuffie asked Vincent.

"Some sort of magic, maybe?" Ancient temples seemed to work differently from the rest of the world.

"Think there's antigravity materia? That would be so awesome!"

"Yeah, I suppose," Vincent replied. He and Yuffie waited another two minutes as Tifa and Reno each fell into the pond at the bottom of the cavern. They helped the two onto the rock, which, on closer inspection, turned out to be a small island, with a bridge connecting it to a stony shore. The four carefully crossed the bridge, then shining their lights around, found a stone archway, etched with small, slightly luminescent symbols. Together, they walked towards the archway, sure that it marked the way to the Proto-Materia.


Seven strikes from the clock tower. Estu tapped his fingers along the bar. What if he doesn't make it? What if he set me up? What if- stop. He'll be here… but what if- Estu stood and started pacing. He only had thirty minutes – half an hour for Mark to show up, grab the files and escape. Zul apparently could shut the city's electricity down, and because the whole town was elevated, there was no way out without the elevator. At least no way on foot, there were ships… and airplanes, though Estu didn't want to consider that option. Estu sat again, nervously tapping his fingers for a few minutes. He glanced at a clock on the wall. 7:12. I should leave now… these Deepground people are insane. When they took Edge there were civilian casualties, but they didn't even care. And I'm in here, a sitting duck… I should leave, but I can't…

A ringing bell interrupted Estu's thoughts. He looked up to see a tired looking Mark walking through the door. Estu immediately jumped up and walked over to him.

"Files. Now," he said. Mark just looked at him. Estu stared down at his feet.

"The deal… is off."

"What? You can't do that! We had an arrangement! Give me the files!" Estu looked at the clock, 7:16.

"I can't…"

"Do you have them?" Estu asked.

"Yes… but…" Mark walked to the counter and took his coat off, carefully laying it across the bar. Estu followed him over.

"I need the files! Please, we both need to get out of here –"

"And why is that?"

"...Deepground is planning to attack the city," Estu said. Marked turned around to face him.

"What?" he shouted.

"That's why I need them now! We only have – ack, 7:20! We only have ten minutes now!"

"You! You told them didn't you? About the information I have? You're a spy?" Mark had a crazed look in his eyes. He grabbed Estu and held him up by his collar.

"I- I'm not a spy! Let go." Estu kicked at Mark, who dropped him. Estu shakily stood back up, fixing his hat. 7:22. No, no no…

Mark glared at Estu, shouting again, "You told them! Told them who I was, told them where I am! That's why they're here!"

"No, this isn't even about you," Estu said.

"Ha! Then it's about you then? As if. I'm the only person in the world who knows exactly who those freaks are!" Estu shook his head. He's lost it. He's completely insane.

"This isn't about either of us… probably. But if they come here-" Mark cut Estu off.

"Probably? So you don't even know?"

"I know they're main objective," Estu said. Their main objective is to kill that Reeve guy… "They might be eliminating other targets as well. We can't risk-"

"How do you know all this? Because they sent you to kill me?"

"I'm trying to save you, you ass!" Estu shouted. 7:26… no time to escape now. I need to hide.

"Save me? Save me? You're going to kill me! You've already killed me, telling them where I am!" Mark yelled. Estu ignored him. There was no reasoning with the man. He grabbed the coat on the bar, and dug around in the pockets.

"What are you doing?" Mark asked. Estu rolled his eyes.

"I'm getting the files and leaving," he said, digging around in the pocket. He felt a large stack of paper in the inner right pocket. Estu pulled it out and examined it. An inch thick folder, bound up in string. This has to be it. Estu looked at the clock again. 7:28. Mark snatched to folder away.

"I said the deal was off!" Then his eyes widened as Estu drew his sword, the sound of steel cutting through the air.

"I didn't want to do this, but… the files, or your life." Mark laughed. What's so funny?

"Ha, ha. See… you are here to kill me! For the files!" Not this again! I don't have time!

"Don't you get it? You'll die tonight if you don't get out of here. Now, give me the files!" As Estu said this, the lights in the bar flickered out, plunging the two into darkness. No! I'm too late!


After walking through the archway, Vincent examined a stone wall, etched in the strange glowing symbols. "Can anyone read these?"

"It's probably not that important," Tifa said. Vincent shook his head.

"I think these are instructions… of course, I'm not entirely sure, but-" Vincent looked over at Reno, who was tracing his right index finger along one of the symbols. Suddenly they glowed brighter. They all stared as the symbols somehow rearranged themselves, shifting and changing into the modern language. Reno looked taken aback.

"Did I do that?" he wondered. Tifa walked up, reading the stone wall out loud.

"Three trials you must face, to prove your worth. The first – a trial of knowledge. The second- a trial of trust or speed. The third – a trial of good intentions… to obtain the sacred orb…" Tifa scrunched her eyes.

"What the heck does any of that mean?" Yuffie asked. Vincent had been wondering the same thing.

"Knowledge… trust or speed?...And good intentions… Do you think it translated right?" Tifa asked.

"Let's just get on with this… So Knowledge is first." Reno said. They walked through another archway into a room. In the room, there was a sealed door on the opposite side, and several large stone tablets on the floor. Each was inscribed with a word: Chaos, Omega, Lifestream, Gaia. Around the room, there were four indentations in the walls, each with a few words above - hints.

"I guess we put the tablets in the right place," Tifa said. Yuffie read one of the wall indentations.

"'The mother, the home, the creator of the sacred orb'… So, the planet? Gaia?" Yuffie picked up the tablet with some difficulty, but placed it into the indentation. The tablet and stone fused together. Across the room, the door leading to the next rose up about an inch.

"Nice… this one says 'the energy of the planet, the river of souls…' So, the Lifestream." Tifa picked up the tablet and placed it in its place. The door rose a bit more.

Vincent stepped over to the one labeled 'Chaos.' He looked at the two remaining indentations. "The harbinger of destruction… The end of days," he read. Sounds about right… He picked the tablet up, left hand shaking slightly, and placed Chaos's tablet into the wall. The door rose a bit more.

Reno examined the last stone tablet – Omega. "Has to go in the last one…" he muttered, picking it up and putting it in the wall. The words above it 'The gatherer of life, the transporter, the savior…' glowed. The door rose up the rest of the way, allowing them to enter the next room. Trust or Speed… what does that even mean?


"The lights? Where'd they go?" Mark asked. Too late, too late. Estu was, as much as he hated to admit it, scared. Time was up, and he was still in the bar, trying to get what he had come for. He tried again to grab the files, the cover of darkness on his side. But Mark had a strong grip, and the sudden motion only provoked further panic. "NO! You can't have them."

"Let go!" Estu held his sword so it just barely nicked Mark's arm. The older man gasped in pain, but didn't release the files. A siren rang out from across the street. Estu ignored it, trying to pull the files away. Mark held them with both hands, refusing to give them up.

"Why? Why won't you give them to me?" Estu pulled the files. He heard a small tearing sound, and let go, afraid they would rip. Mark stumbled backwards several paces, smiling victoriously. But his success was cut short by the sound of breaking glass. Mark turned, finding himself face to face with some of the Deepground foot soldiers, who were climbing through a window. Mark dropped the files, picked up one of the bar's chairs and threw it at the soldiers. Estu took the opportunity to grab the files. He ran out of the tavern as a fight broke out between the soldiers and Mark.

The sound of gunshots from the bar split the night air. As Estu ran past the tavern, in his peripheral vision he saw Mark fall limply to the ground. They killed him… They actually killed him…


The room in front of them split into several hallways, which split into more paths, which split into more paths... They ended up doubling back and changing direction more times than Vincent cared to count.

"This is ridiculous," Yuffie complained.

"At least there aren't as many monsters as we thought there'd be," Tifa cheerily pointed out.

"I'd almost prefer monsters… this is just annoying."

"At least it's safe, though."

Traveling through the maze of halls was tiring and tedious, so despite Vincent's uncertainty of the meaning behind 'Trust or Speed' he was glad when they finally reached the second challenge. The room in front of them was long, stretching out as far as Vincent could see in the dim light of the symbols. A small pedestal stood near the entrance, a materia rested on it. Yuffie looked at it, excitedly.

"Is this it? The Proto-Materia?" she asked.

"…" Vincent walked over to part of the wall that had their language on it. He read quietly to himself. "'The trust that you will follow instruction, the test lies here. Touch not the orb or the test will become one of speed…' Don't touch the orb?" He looked at Yuffie who was about to pick up the materia. "Yuffie! Don't touch that." She turned, her arm brushing against it.

The room began to shake violently. "He said not to freaking touch it!" Reno shouted over the rumbling.

"I didn't! I- ah!" Sections of the wall began to move, closing in on them. A test of speed… oh shit.

"Run," Vincent said. They sprinted towards the other side of the room as wall moved around. The room twisted, and sections rose out of the floor, forcing them to jump as section after section of walls closed in on them. Yuffie sprinted and jumped over one platform, only to trip over another, which rose up suddenly. Vincent turned back, and helped her to her feet.

He was about to keep running with her when the wall behind them closed up around his cape. He hastily started to unclasp buckles, but with only one free, shaking hand. Yuffie grabbed the part of the cloak that wasn't caught, and pulled it, ripping it in half. They ran, even further behind Reno and Tifa now.

They both stumbled as more sections rose and lowered. One of the wall sections dropped suddenly, crushing Vincent's leg. Yuffie turned back, looking at him in horror. "Keep going! You don't have time!" Vincent said through his pain. Yuffie shook her head, shrugging off her arm guard. She slipped it under the wall, wedging it up, giving Vincent enough room to shake his crushed leg free. Yuffie slipped his arm over her body, trying to run for both of them. Pain shot up Vincent's leg with each step. Reno and Tifa, who stood at the end of the room, were propping the walls open with fallen rocks, their own supplies and armor, anything they could use. It wasn't very effective, but gave Vincent and Yuffie just enough time to make it through the doorway.

They dove through, sliding across the floor, still clinging together. Tifa and Reno stepped back, both looking relieved. "You guys are all right…" Tifa sighed.

Vincent sat up and winced as more pain shot through his leg. He stayed still, giving the injury a moment to heal. Yuffie was breathing quickly and still shaking from the adrenalin rush. Vincent smiled slightly at her.

"Thank you for helping me back there," he said quietly to Yuffie. "I would be in trouble if you hadn't-"Yuffie suddenly leaned towards Vincent. Vincent's eyes widened as she pressed her lips into his. He drew back, shocked by the sudden kiss. "Yuffie!"

"Ah! Oh, I'm such an idiot! I'm sorry!" Vincent stared at her. "I'm… such an idiot… I…" They both sat awkwardly until Reno cleared his throat.

"Could we please, just, freaking, move on?" he asked. Vincent and Yuffie stood, each taking a small step away from the other.

"Can we pretend that didn't happen?" Yuffie whispered.

"..."

"It was just... impulsive... I didn't... I know you don't like me... I just..."

"It's fine," Vincent said.

"So, we can forget about it?" she asked. Vincent nodded. It will be much easier that way. Vincent tried to wrap his cloak around himself, only to realize most of it was gone. He sighed and took what was left of his cape off, throwing it unceremoniously to the ground.


Estu tucked the files into his jacket as he ran through the city. They killed him, they killed him… and they saw me! He looked for somewhere to go, some place to hide. In the darkness, he saw another group of soldiers heading towards him. Estu slipped behind an alleyway trash can. He held his breath as they marched by. "Phew…" he sighed softly.

"Wait! There was a kid that ran by here," one of the foot soldiers said. Crap! Estu curled up, trying to hide. "He had something, some paper, looked important, probably stolen."

"Fine, spread out and look for him." Estu quietly crawled around the building. He spied a ladder leading up to a roof. Should I climb? No, if I ran into trouble up there, I'd have nowhere to go. I'd have to…ugh, jump. He shuddered at the thought. Climbing was out of the question, so he had nowhere to go. I need to fight my way out of this. Estu took a deep breath and drew his wakizashi.

He heard footsteps from around the building. Estu gripped the wakizashi tighter. Three soldiers turned the corner of the building. Estu ran towards them. Striking quickly, he slashed at them with the wakizashi, injuring them before they even had the chance retaliate. He ran away as reinforcements approached the injured soldiers. Estu didn't even notice his surroundings; he was operating purely on adrenalin. After running towards the center of town, he came to a stop, finally looking around.

He was at the Central Junon Skyscraper. Unsurprisingly, there were more soldiers. A bald man with sunglasses was fighting several of them using nothing but his fists. Surprisingly, he was actually doing okay. A few of the soldiers surrounded a dark-haired man in a blue suit. A man with harsh eyes and orange hair spoke to him. "Well Reeve, it looks like this is the end of the line." I recognize that voice… Argento! A sudden wave of rage passed through Estu, and with uncharacteristic anger, he ran towards Argento, sword gripped firmly in his hand. He thrust the wakizashi at Argento, who deftly jumped back.

"Wha- Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Argento glared at Estu, drawing twin swords.

"I'm…" Estu began, but shook his head. Why am I doing this? I'm going to get myself killed! "I'm not going to let you take over this city." Argento stared at him, then laughed.

"You're not going to let me? Please… why don't you just go home to your parents," he said. Why do people keep telling me that? Estu tried to glare back, but he had trouble holding the gaze.

"I'm not going anywhere. I won't let you kill this man." Argento raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know…? Well, never mind that. Kill them both," Argento told the soldiers, stepping back. The surrounding soldiers moved forward. Estu slashed at them, again before they had the chance to attack. After a few good swings, he managed to take them down. Argento watched in surprise.

"Well, you're a good fighter then… Heh, I guess it's my turn."

"This doesn't have to end badly. Just leave… we don't have to fight." Estu held his sword lower, completely exhausted from the last few battles. Argento seemed to notice his fatigue.

"You look pretty worn out. Are you sure you can defend yourself?" He struck with both swords, spinning about as he attacked Estu. Estu used his wakizashi to deflect the blows, but Argento drove him backwards. Argento hopped back, then swung one of his blades in a powerful attack. Estu raised his sword to block, but the force of the attack knocked it right out of his hand. Argento, intending to gloat, kicked Estu to the ground, sheathed one of his swords, and picked up the wakizashi.

"Hmmph! See, no one can match my fighting skills. Especially not some kid," he said, pointing at Estu with his own blade. While Argento was distracted, Reeve picked up one of the fallen soldiers' guns. He fired it at Argento, but missed. Argento turned back towards Reeve, using one of his swords to knock the gun away.

"Honestly, have you never shot before? Well, no matter… goodbye, Reeve." Argento raised Estu's wakizashi and stabbed Reeve through the heart. Reeve gasped, touching the sword that impaled him before falling to the ground.


Vincent, Tifa, Yuffie, and Reno approached the room that held the last challenge. A test of good intentions… I really hope this one isn't so life threatening. Especially after… He glanced at Yuffie, who despite her normal brashness was still avoiding his eyes out of shame.

The room was smaller than the last, and completely round. The glowing symbols on the walls seemed to dance around, shifting excitedly across the wall. A large glowing crystal stood at the center. Tifa read the room's instructions.

"'Intentions shall be judged… Present… souls? Present souls to the crystal to show and be judged'… this place needs a better translator."

"Kinda reminds me of when they try to translate a good video game into Wutaian. The real hard parts are getting past the language mistakes," Yuffie said.

Reno walked up the the mentioned crystal. "So this thing?" Tifa shrugged.

"I guess so."

"Well how the hell do you 'present souls?' " he asked, poking at the crystal. It shone brightly, tuning first bright white, then red. "Er…"Symbols around the wall glowed crimson as well. They formed a single word: Apathy. "Okay… that didn't work…"

Yuffie walked over, placing a hand on the crystal. It again turned red. The symbols formed a new word: Greed. She looked at it, confused, then sighed.

Tifa and Vincent both placed their hands on the crystal at once. It glowed red, the word on the wall proclaiming 'Revenge.' Tifa sighed, "I think I get what's going on here. It can see our reasons for wanting the Proto-materia."

"So what was with mine?" Reno asked. "Apathy's not a reason."

"But you don't really want it, you're just following Reeves orders," Tifa pointed out. "So you don't want it, so you don't pass. Yuffie wants it because it's powerful, so she doesn't pass. Me and Vincent want it because it will help avenge Barret's and Elena's deaths."

"And I'm curious about it, what it has to do with Chaos…" Vincent said quietly. Tifa looked up, surprised.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm curious… why?" Tifa thought for a moment.

"Could you, just you, touch the crystal again?" Vincent nodded, poking it. The crystal glowed red, but this time showed 'Curiosity' as his motivation. It was different that time. Strange.

"That's … weird," Yuffie said.

"Don't you get it? It picks whatever reason is strongest, but goes to whatever's second strongest if two people touch it and have that reason in common," Tifa said, excitedly.

"So?"

"So… maybe all together, the answer would be different. What's the reason we all have in common?"

"We want to… stop Deepground?" Reno asked.

"Save the world!" Yuffie said.

"Exactly! That's a good reason, right?" Tifa smiled. "So, all together. One, two, three." They all touched the crystal at once. It lit up green. The ceiling above them opened, and the room lifted up, like a giant elevator.


Estu stared, horrified as the man in blue slid off of his sword, dead. Without knowing why, Estu stood, facing Argento. Argento cackled madly, poking at Reeve's corpse with Estu's wakizashi.

"Ha! Who's in control now, Reeve? Who's the greatest warrior in the world? I am! I beat you, the world leader! I won!" Estu ran at Argento, trying to grab his sword back. Argento grabbed him by his collar and threw him several yards. Estu rolled to a stop. I can't do this… he's got my only weapon… I can't die now. Not like this! Estu shakily stood again, raising his fists. Argento laughed.

"Now you're going to punch me? It's a shame I've got to kill you, kid. You're entertaining." Estu attempted to hit Argento, but was met with another kick, knocking the wind out of him. Argento swung Estu's sword towards him. Estu tried to jump back, but the blade still sliced across his cheek. Hot, thick blood poured from the wound. Estu fell back, holding a hand over the cut. No… not like this! He stood again, swaying. Not like this, please not like this…

"Do you ever give up? Hmmph, you know… you remind me a bit of my brother. I hate my brother," Argento held both Estu's sword and one of his own. He swung with both. Out of options, Estu closed his eyes, bracing himself.

Clang! Estu heard the sharp sound of metal against metal. He opened his eyes. A boy with brown hair was holding a steel staff, blocking Argento's attack. Argento stared at the boy furiously. He moved quickly, spinning and attacking, but the boy matched his movements perfectly, blocking attack after attack. Argento began to slow, and the boy, as if sensing his enemy's weakness, began to move offensively. In a well placed swing, he managed to knock Estu's wakizashi right out of Argento's grip. The sword fell to the ground, and Estu dove for it while the other boy fought Argento.

With his sword back, Estu helped the other boy fight. The moved around Argento, who was defending himself with both swords. "Help, you idiots!" Argento shouted to the surrounding soldiers, a few of them ran over, shooting at the two boys. The boy with the staff turned to Estu.

"Come on, we gotta get out of here!" Estu nodded, and both of them ran, Estu following after the boy. They passed a group of soldiers, still fighting the bare fisted bald man.

"Rude! Come on!" the boy shouted. Rude nodded, and followed. Estu tried to keep up, but he'd been running everywhere all day, and blood still dripped from his cheek. He stumbled, colors swimming in front of his eyes. Rude picked him up, tossing him over his shoulder. Let go! Let go, you- who are you? Estu's vision blurred. Let go… Estu passed out.

When Estu came to, he was inside a building. Inside a very small room, to be precise. There were steel sliding doors and a lot of buttons. It took him a moment, but he realized he was in an elevator, on the floor. The brown haired boy stood beside him.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Estu nodded even though he felt light headed and the cut on his cheek was burning. He searched around for his sword, which held a restore materia. The other boy noticed him looking, and handed him the blade.

"Thanks," Estu said, activating the restore spell, focusing the magic on the cut.

"I'm Denzel, by the way."

"Estu," Estu said awkwardly, examining his face in the steel doors. Even though the cut was healed, there was a small scar on his cheek.

"Estu… that's an, um, interesting name," Denzel said. 'Interesting'… people usually say that when they mean 'weird.'

"Where are we going?" Estu asked.

"Top floor… we just need to get up there and wait for Cid… oh, Cid Highwind, I mean. You know, the pilot? Rude… that was the bald guy, said he needed to go back and find Mr. Reeve." Estu felt his stomach drop.

"Reeve…"

"Yeah, he's the leader of WRO. Good friend of ours."

"You're… friends?" Estu asked. Denzel nodded.

"I've known him for a while… why are you looking like that?" Estu didn't say anything. He watched in the door's reflection as Denzel's expression changed, becoming worried.

"Estu… did something happen?" he asked. Estu looked downward. Reeve... Reeve is dead... The elevator doors opened with a ding. He found himself in a room lined with computers. All of them turned off, as well as the main lights. This building must have an emergency generator, just not enough to power everything. Without a word, he followed Denzel up another flight of stairs and through a door, out to the roof. Estu looked around nervously. Don't look down. Don't look down. He glanced over the side of the building, barely able to see the ground. Crap… why are we so high up?

A sudden gust of wind blew Estu back. A large airship descended until it was only twenty feet above them. A ladder rolled down.

"Okay, let's climb up," Denzel said. Estu shook his head.

"I – I can't."

"Why not? It's easy. I mean, I understand if you're tired, with all the fighting and stuff, but-"

"No, you don't understand… I-" Estu was interrupted by the door behind them busting open. Rude ran though.

"They're right behind me. We need to go," Rude said.

Denzel started climbing the ladder. Rude stared at Estu… or at least, Estu thought he was staring. He couldn't see though the shades.

"Go," he said. Estu looked at the ladder. I can't! But just as he thought that, Rude shoved him up the ladder. Estu gripped the rungs, terrified of falling off while Rude was rushing him.

Rude shouted up the ladder, "Denzel, Tell Cid to go ahead!" What? NO! Please tell me we aren't taking off now. But the airship started moving. Estu scrambled up the ladder as it swayed, only taking time to breathe when he was at the top. Airship… I'm on an airship…

"I think I'm going to be sick…" he said quietly. Denzel laughed.

"What, are you afraid of heights or something?" Denzel walked over to Rude, helping him into the ship before pulling the ladder up. After a moment, Denzel looked at Rude, confused.

"Where's Reeve?" he asked. The bald man stared down at his feet.

"… Denzel… Reeve… is dead."


In the new room, a set of stairs led up to another pedestal. Bright light from the surrounding symbols obscured Vincent's view, but he just knew, that this was where the materia was. He turned to Tifa, Reno, and Yuffie. They each gave a nod, and together, they climbed the stairs. Vincent couldn't help but smile. After all the work of getting through the labyrinth, here was their reward.

Yuffie ran ahead, eager to see the materia. When she got to the top, she gasped.

"No!"

Vincent's heart sank. What's wrong? He ran up the stairs, trying to see what Yuffie was freaked out about. Then he saw it – the Proto- Materia… or rather, what was left of it.

A single shard… perhaps a third of a sphere sat on the pedestal.

"It's broken," Vincent said quietly. All that work had been for nothing.


On board the ship, Estu had done his best to explain what had happened with Reeve. A little girl with a pink bow in her hair started to cry, and Denzel went to comfort her. Both the pilot, Cid, and the Turk, Rude, wore forlorn expressions of disbelief. Neither of them entirely ready to accept their friend's death. Rude had placed a suitcase open on the floor. It contained what looked like a broken cat toy. He stood over it, sadly. Almost as if the cat was Reeve. Estu didn't understand why.

Even though he hadn't known Reeve, Estu felt guilty. Two people died in front of me today… I couldn't save either. Reeve... Mark... Still… at least I got something from all this... he reached into his coat, running a finger along the folder.

Estu spent a few minutes convincing himself that he was safe on the ground, then found a quiet corner of the airship to examine the folder. An address in Nibelheim was on the front, and the string was still tied around the folder. A bit of his blood had gotten on the front, but it didn't get inside the cover. Estu eagerly unraveled the string, opening the files he'd worked to get.

When he opened them, the only words were a long string of gibberish. Random letters strewn about, with neither rhyme nor reason. They're… in code? Estu flipped through the papers, all of them coded. He had never expected this.

The entire folder was ciphered. Estu couldn't read any of it. All that work had been for nothing.


A/N: I'm sorry Reeve fans... I'm really sorry. And Cait Sith fans, since this means he won't be making a proper appearance. Also, Mark fans... I don't think those exist, considering he was an oc I kept around for just a few chapters... but if you were a Mark fan, then I'm sorry. And to fans of any pairing other than ... what do they call it? Yuffentine? Well, if you were hoping for a different pairing, the kiss thing isn't going to take over the story, so there's that. So, if you aren't mad at me for killing your favorite character or prefered shipping, then tune in next Friday for another chapter.