Well, as long as it took me, I finally finished another chapter. Sorry, those who've been waiting for so long...lots of things got in the way, and none of them good, nor decent excuses, so I'll just let you get to the story


Vincent, fully dressed, had been up for a while now, and sat in the window of his room in the palace, staring out into the inner courtyard as he waited for his roommate to wake up.

With a couple grumbles and a hacking cough, Cid finally woke up from his sleep, only to stare at the raven-haired man. "How long you been up?"

"Only thirty minutes" the gunman said while shrugging.

With a few more incoherent grumbles, riddled with numerous curses, the Captain got up and headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Vincent let out a sigh. He was anxious, and waiting for the Captain wasn't helping him get over the fact that the Demons were looking for him.

A sudden knocking on his door startled him, and Mizuki opened it and poked her head into the room, a mischievous smile playing across her lips. "Great, you're up. Come here, let me show you something."

Getting up, Vincent walked out of the room, noting that the purple-haired woman had opened the door to Koro and Fallen's room and was standing by it, puffing out her chest with pride. "Go ahead, take a peek."

Going to the door, Vincent peeked into the room, and his jaw dropped a fraction of an inch as he stared at the two.

They were sharing a bed, with Fallen on his back and Koro cuddling into the mechanic's side. As far as Vincent could tell, they were shirtless, but couldn't tell anything else thanks to the blanket that covered them from the waist's down and didn't see any clothes on the floor. He did, however, see Koro open his eyes and fling a dart at him. Quickly ducking his head, the dart missed, and he heard the blue-haired male growl "Get out."

Quickly leaving and closing the door, Vincent stared at Mizuki, who calmly said "What? It was kinda obvious. Besides, I think they're cute."

The gunman closed his eyes and shook his head. Obvious? Maybe a little. Cute? He just couldn't see it.

Heading back to his room, he noticed the Captain on his bed, smoking a cigarette, looking ready to go. "Well, I figured Mizuki had stolen you. And from the feeling of evil from the next room, she showed you the two punks and one of them woke up."

Vincent nodded, and Cid got up. "It's odd. They're nothing alike, and yet..." Looking at the gunman, the captain said "You sure you don't like Yuffie?" his voice unsure and nervous sounding.

Cocking his head to the side, Vincent said "No. I told you that yesterday. Why would you ask again?"

Cid smirked, as the ash on the end of his cig fell to the floor. "It's nothing. Just trying to understand things."

"What's there to understand?"

Right before the captain could answer, Mizuki walked into the room, and three guards rushed by the room, all of them seeming to be in a panicked hurry.

"Apparently someone was killed in town. The entire palace is in an uproar." the purple-haired girl stated, as if this clarified everything. Vincent seemed to tense his entire body, but Cid seemed confused.

"We should leave. Now, preferably, before they think of it." Koro said as he walked into the room, heading straight for the window and watching out of it, as Fallen(both now fully dressed) closed the door and took a couple steps away from it, joining the rest of the group.

"I don't see why we should have to leave."

Vincent shook his head, his raven hair swaying with the motion. "You're an idiot, Highwind."

Turning red, the captain turned to Vincent, ready to spew out curses and insults at the insult of his intelligence, when the door opened a little, and a small black ball was thrown in.

Vincent and Koro immediately covered their nose and mouth with their hands and back away as soon as the ball started to release a purple smoke. "The fuck is...that..." was all Cid could let out before inhaling the gas and fainting, falling to the floor in a crumpled heap as Fallen and Mizuki quickly followed suit.

"Knockout gas? So, they really thought it..." Koro said, his face blank as he fell to the floor, a hand reaching for Fallen.

The gas made it's way to Vincent, and the gunman quietly muttered "Shit..." before falling to his knees. As he fell forward, he could swear he heard someone say "I'm so sorry..."

Lucretia? was his final thought before losing consciousness.


Vincent woke and lifted himself up into a sitting position, realizing that he, along with the others, were seperated into dungeon cells. Mizuki was drawing in the dust on the walls, Cid was swearing and pacing like a caged tiger, Fallen was watching Koro, and Koro...Vincent was shocked at Koro. He was pale, shaking visible throughout his entire body, his eyes closed as he was quietly muttering to himself.

"Ah, glad to see sleeping beauty is finally fucking awake. Now, you can tell me WHY THE FUCK WE'RE IN HERE!" Cid screamed, which Vincent didn't seem to visibly react to.

"First, you're screaming won't help. Second, we appear in the city, and someone gets killed, of course they'd suspect us. Finally, is he going to be alright?"

Fallen was quiet when he spoke, saying "Koro's past...it wasn't pretty. This place is bringing back bad memories..."

Cid rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. "Look, I'm sorry. I haven't had a cigarette today yet, and they took the ones I had on me..."

Mizuki, never looking up, just said "So, we wait for them to judge our fate, and hope we get lucky."

Vincent scooted against the wall, closing his eyes. Was it really Lucretia that I heard? But I thought...


Welp, I guess that's it for now...next chapter is already planned out, it's just a matter of typing it up. Hope you guys(and gals) don't mind waiting a little longer...