Author's Note: Holy shit! It's been 3 years since I've updated. Crazy. I've written so much unfinished stuff I never get around to them anymore because either I lose all my drafts, or I've just been stressed about finding a job and graudating college. Ahhh, college, I'll miss thee soon. But anyway! I'm really sorry about not updating. Turns out I had more chapters I've never updated. But then again, I was supposed to update but no one ever really reviews these things anymore, so I've been holding out on you guys. ^---~*. Shame on me, I know but shame on YOOOOOOOOOOOOOU GUYS for at least not telling me what you think? I know I've prolly lost a great deal of fans, but meh, I'm only human and I have so many ubpublished stories that I just never get aroudn to finishing. Anyway, enjoy. Review and I'll be good, I PROOOOOOOOOOOOOOMISE!!!

Love, your favorite author who you all thought was probably lying in a ditch somewhere. For those of who who are familiar with my stuff and have stuck around with me since I was in 7th grade (wishful thinking), don't worry, I am planning to update a number of my stories, and even put up another one since it's been festering in my lappy for like 4 years now. Ha, I'll finish on e of these stories one day, when I'm like 40. ^----^;;;

Chapter 10

The Gentleman

"Hey, what is this…thing?"

Yuffie prodded her finger at the strange object sitting on top of the vendor. It was a strangely shaped lantern containing a soft glowing light. Yet it didn't seem like the lantern was lit with flames. No, something else was causing the strange glow to appear.

"It's a soul lamp," the gentleman replied, standing beside Yuffie. "It traps the bad souls and harnesses its power to give off that glow. Very popular nowadays. The color of the glow indicates the fault of the soul."

Yuffie didn't quite know if he was joking or not. Just who in the world would put souls in a lamp for decoration?

"Please watch your step," the gentleman spoke up as he led Yuffie and Cloud to what appeared to be an inn.

As the two followed him inside, the door shut itself behind them, leaving them inside a nicely furnished living room. Yuffie jumped and accidentally knocked over a vase, causing it to shatter onto the floor.

"GYAH! Omigod! I'm so sorry!" the young ninja blurted out automatically, getting down on her knees.

But the gentleman seemed unperturbed by this and simply flicked his wrist. In an instant the broken shards began to gather together and then swirl into the air, before they were hurled into a burning fireplace nearby.

Awestruck, Yuffie's jaw dropped down considerably.

"Please make yourselves at home."

In an instant, Cloud and Yuffie suddenly found themselves sitting next to each other on a cushy sofa.

"It appears that you and your companions were separated," the gentleman remarked, taking a seat as well. "No matter. They should find their way here shortly."

Yuffie immediately shot Cloud a questioning look and tugged at his arm. "Companions? What's he talking about?" she whispered fiercely.

Cloud shook his head and shrugged. "Who knows. We don't have much of a choice. We're just going to have to trust him for now."

It was not the answer Yuffie wanted to hear. "You're way too trusting." And with that, she crossed her arms over her chest and fell silent.

She leaned against the wall, gasping for breath. She was so tired. Even breathing became a chore. If only someone would come to her aid…

Somebody…anybody…please…help me…

And with that, she fainted. She had lost too much blood.

I want to forgive myself. I want to forget…

Cid shot Vincent a curious glance, wondering what his pale companion was thinking. "What's the matter with you all of a sudden?"

Vincent looked up and turned to glance at the pilot. "You're awfully nosey," he commented quietly.

Cid shrugged. "So I am. What about it? With you brooding like that, a damn cow would get nosey," he remarked gruffly.

Vincent didn't reply. Instead, he closed his eyes and thought for a long moment. What was he brooding about? Wasn't Hojo's death enough? Wasn't the pleasure of killing him worth it?

"WATCH OUT!"

Before Barret, Vincent, and Cid could react, a gigantic blur of white streamed past them and careened head first against the wall, causing the ground to shake from the impact. Afterwards, something red ran past them and towards where the white 'thing' had crashed.

"Owwwwww, owwwwww!!!"

"What the fuck was that?!" Cid growled.

"Cait Sith! Are you alright?"

From the dented, giant mog, a black cat emerged, wobbling dizzily to where Red XIII stood. "M-meh…I'm okay…I'm…o…kay…" And with that, Cait Sith collapsed.

"What the hell is going on? How the hell did you guys get here?" Barret growled, looking just as shocked as Cid.

Red XIII nudged Cait Sith on the side to no avail. The cat was out cold. With a sigh, he shook his head and turned to look at the rest of his former companions. "We followed a path in the Cave of Gi. We heard voices, so we headed towards it. What about you guys?" he answered, moving to a sitting position.

Vincent shrugged. "We're not exactly sure. We all woke up and found ourselves here. Strange, isn't it?" he replied honestly.

"I see," Red XIII said slowly, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "So perhaps this does lead to the underworld…"

Barret widened his eyes. "Wait…WHAT?! What'd you say?"

But before Red XIII could explain, his ears perked up, and he began to growl.

Vincent moved towards where Red XIII was and peered on ahead. "What is it? What do you sense?" he whispered quietly.

"…somebody…"

Cid gave a yelp and jumped back.

"…anybody…please…"

Vincent stepped forward, lifting his head up and closing his eyes. After a moment or so, he moved on ahead, peering through the darkness.

"Blood…I smell blood," Red XIII said quietly. "We should go." And with that, he picked Cait Sith up with his mouth and began to run.

Vincent, Cid, and Barret quickly followed, moving through the darkness with only Red XIII's tail as a source of light. As they dwelled deeper into the tunnels, the floor grew slippery, and it was growing difficult for Red XIII to sniff out the blood.

Suddenly, Barret swore and crouched down, motioning the group to come towards him.

The other three companions moved towards Barret and soon found a young woman curled up on the ground, unconscious. She was stark white and extremely thin. Almost all of the blood had been drained from her, and her lips were a strange, blue color.

Vincent knelt down beside Barret and felt the young woman's neck, searching for a pulse. There was none. Vincent shook his head and moved away. "She's dead."

"Wait!" Red XIII replied, stopping Vincent from moving away. "Look! She's breathing."

"Bullshit!" Cid cursed aloud. "She doesn't have a goddamn pulse. How the fuck is she breathing?"

Barret shook his head. "She's breathing. Maybe her pulse was too faint for Vincent to feel. Anyway, we can't leave her here. We gotta get her some help."

Everyone nodded in silent agreement and began to head out once again. Because Vincent had been the closest, he carefully lifted the girl from the ground and inspected her wounds.

"Goddamn!" Cid cursed once again, noticing the young woman's dress soaked completely in blood. "How the hell did she survive that kind of a blow?" he demanded, eyeing the deep cut that ran from her left shoulder to the side of her stomach.

Vincent carefully set the woman down on the ground and tore a strip of his cape. He then wrapped the strip of cloth around the woman's wound. Afterwards, he proceeded to remove the rest of his cape and draped it around the girl's shivering frame.

Barret scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat. "Even if we do help her, where are we supposed to take her?"

Vincent shook his head. "No idea. But it's best if we take her with us. If she comes around, hopefully she'll know a way out.

Yuffie nervously fidgeted in her seat, shooting the gentleman hostile glances every so often. Finally, not taking the silence any longer, she burst out, "So who the heck are you anyway?! The least you could do is introduce yourself!"

The gentleman slowly looked at her for a moment before answering. "It's Crux," he said quietly, looking coolly at the young ninja.

"Crux…" Yuffie repeated quietly to herself, wondering to herself why the name sounded so familiar. She had known someone with that name once. But who?

"And you are?" Crux asked, leaning against the wall.

"Yuffie," she replied quickly, jumping to her feet.

Crux looked the ninja over for a long moment before speaking up once again. "Ah, Godo's little girl. You've grown."

"You knew my old man?" Yuffie asked, scowling. Why couldn't she remember where she had seen Crux before?

Crux shrugged. "We met…once. It was a long time ago," he replied simply, as if eager to put an end to the conversation.

Realizing she wasn't going to get any real answers from him, Yuffie sighed and shut her mouth. Slumping back in her seat, she began to stare out into space, wondering who this Crux really was.

Crux's gaze soon wandered elsewhere, and eventually met cold, MAKO blue eyes. "And you must be…Cloud."

Cloud blinked for a few seconds, shocked that this complete stranger had known who he was. "H-how…"

"She talks about quite frequently. She's quite proud of you, you know."

Before Cloud could ask him what he had meant by that, he soon caught sight of a blonde figure moving quickly past the corner of his eye. But as he turned to look at where the figure had been, there was no one there.

"Cloud?"

He knew that voice. It was a voice he thought he would never hear again. Turning around to face the speaker, he immediately froze in place. "Tifa…"

There was a look of disbelief on her pretty face as she, too, stood where she was, just a step away from the bottom of a wooden staircase. "…So it is you…" she whispered quietly, a hesitant look rising to her face.

"…y-you're alive."

Tifa held a puzzled look on her face. "Why wouldn't I be?" And with that, she paused, not knowing what else to say. Finally, she broke into a smile. "It's been awhile…"

As Cloud and Tifa exchanged small talk, Yuffie shot both of them frustrated looks. Finally, when Cloud and Tifa simply stared at one another, she made a disgusted looking face and jumped out of her seat. "Oh for crying out loud, somebody make a move here! You're killing me!"

"Yuffie!" Tifa exclaimed, finally noticing the ninja. Her face suddenly looked relieved as she found someone else to focus on. "You're here, too! What are you doing here?"

Yuffie made a face as she rubbed her temple. "Well, that's a good question. The truth is, I can't remember a thing except waking up to some weird cave. The weirdest part was that Cloud was there also."

Tifa shot Cloud and inquiring gaze.

Cloud nodded in agreement. "It's true. We both woke up in the same place at the same time. None of us seem to be able to recall what happened before that though," he explained with a shrug. "What about you?"

Before Tifa could reply, Crux spoke up. "I found her in the Labyrinth unconscious. I brought her here, just like I brought the two of you here."

Tifa glanced over to her side and recognized familiar violet eyes gazing at her. "So you're Crux," she remarked aloud, moving towards him. "I never had the chance to properly thank you for saving me." She held up a hand and gave him a smile. "My name is Tifa. Thank you for rescuing me."

Crux shook her hand briefly and nodded. "It was no trouble." He turned to face Yuffie and Cloud and waved a hand, causing the fireplace to suddenly catch fire. "Please do make yourselves comfortable. I can tell that all of you have many questions that have yet to be answered. However, I have other errands to run at the moment, so I must go." And with that, Crux walked over towards the door and left without saying another word.

Exchanging looks, Cloud and Tifa slowly sunk onto seats and remained silent for a long time. Finally, when the silence became almost unbearable, Cloud finally looked up at Tifa. "Are you hurt?"

Tifa shook her head, staring intently at the burning hearth. "No, I'm alright. Just a little bruised, that's all."

"So where are we, anyway?" Yuffie asked abruptly, nursing one of her injured arms.

"Asellus," Tifa answered automatically without thinking.

"Asellus?" Cloud asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tifa nodded, a small scowl rising to her face. "That's what the woman told me. But I've never heard of such a place before."

"I have…" Yuffie remarked softly, staring out into space. She seemed to be in a trance-like state, her expression suddenly becoming blank. "He was here once…"

"Yuffie?"

"Rigel…" Yuffie's eyes suddenly rolled to the back of her head, and she collapsed in a dead faint.

Immediately, Cloud and Tifa jumped out of their seats and ran over to their fallen companion.

"Yuffie! What's wrong?" Tifa asked, shaking her gently in order to wake her.

Cloud shook his head as he felt Yuffie's forehead. "She's running a fever. With all that's happened, I forgot she was wounded. She might have an infection." And with that, he lifted her up and stood. "Is there some place she can lie down?"

"Use my room. Up the stairs, seventh one to your right," Tifa replied, getting up as well. "I'll go get help."