11. Out of the shadows and into the night


AN; This chapter is dedicated to these wonderful people, and to the ones still patient enough to wait for my updates... Thank you so much Tishanna, ShadowXenVII, Nicholas Bledsoe, Asga, Emerald drake, Selunchen123, Cozmicomicollector, Lady Nephenee Ranulf, Great Beaver, Kotoro, James Firecat, Chaos Dynasty, Riku54-Vincent's Demon, Kit Thespian, Madcap Minstrel, Lady Lessien, and Shinzey!

Oh, and special thanks to Nicholas Bledsoe for a wonderful fan art! I got fan art! Will put up link in my bio! Go oh and ah! Now on with the chapter!


It was like waking from a dream really. Just the slow decent into consciousness and the automatic opening of the eyes.

Sephiroth saw Aeris sitting beside him and he wasn't even aware of reaching out his hand. It seemed like the right thing to do. It felt perfectly natural that her hand gently wrapped around his. But something was terribly wrong!

Something was lurking at the back of his mind, something he really didn't want to remember, but he could feel from the simple touch alone how tense Aeris was.

Then it all came crashing back!

Dread, guilt and self-loathing hit Sephiroth hard and he fought to breathe. "I didn't..."

Aeris gazed down at the floor. "Raito is going to be fine. Cid shielded him from the cold. And from you."

"Cid...?" Sephiroth whispered, clutching her hand harder even when he knew he deserved no comfort.

The flower girl hesitated, gathered her strength, then finally met his eyes again. "Not good." She found no comfort at the agony in Sephiroth's eyes. If possible, it pained her even more. "The wounds got treated with Restore materia, but the heavy blood loss damaged his organs. They're shutting down, and the strain is too much on his heart. Apparently, Odin did some unrepairable damage two years ago when Cid forced Panlong out for the first time."

Sephiroth turned his face away and pulled his hand free from hers. He'd murdered one of his friends. He'd murdered Cid Highwind! The raw pain of that knowledge made him regret bitterly waking up. He didn't deserve to wake up. He deserved to be the one dying!

"No."

Starting slightly at the anger in Aeris' voice, Sephiroth glanced back at her. She was nothing less than glaring at him.

"Don't you dare," Aeris declared fiercly as she gave a little shake of her head. "Don't you dare lie there, feeling sorry for yourself!"

Shock made Sephiroth numb and he couldn't speak.

The flower girl got up and clutched her hands into tight fists by her sides. "You want to hear that this is all your fault? Fine. It is!" Her eyes filled with frustrated and angry tears. "Happy? It was your sword that cut Cid so bad that he's in a hospital bed and wont leave it alive. It was you who got him to follow you to the Northern Crater. It was you who didn't trust me enough to tell me that 'she' was talking to you! It was you, and you alone, who didn't want to live with your wife and child, because I know Cid wants to! But he'll never get the chance!"

Trembling, Sephiroth closed his eyes hard and tried to forget the memory of the Masamune going through Cid. "Aeris..." He'd known pain all his life, but this was the first time that it felt like the feeling alone would kill him. A light touch by his jawline made the silver haired man open his eyes again.

Aeris tried a weak smile as a tear trailed down her cheek. "If you had died... my heart would have died with you." She kneeled down beside the bed and lifted his hand to her lips. "And Zefiris would have lost her daddy. You family needs you, Sephiroth!"

"But, Aeris... I can't... How do I...?" Sephiroth asked helplessly. "I don't know what to do!"

"I know what you're going to do," Aeris stated softly, stroking his hand. "You're going to talk to Shera."

"What?" Sephiroth actually managed to sit up in pure terror. "No!" He could never face her again! Never!

Aeris got up as well, yet didn't release his hand. "Sephiroth, you've done something terrible and you must face the consequences. If Cid had been the one to come back alive and you'd be dead by his hands, I'd demand the chance to at least be given the opportunity to hurt him. You owe her at least the chance to slap you."

Sephiroth swallowed hard and agony entered his gaze once more. "I can never make it up to her..."

"No, you can't," Aeris admitted silently. "But you can do this. Allow her to hate you. She has every right. And I'll be there with you."

Shaking his head, Sephiroth glanced wearily up at her. "How can you still love me after everything I've done?"

The flower girl gave another faint smile. "Because you're a good person, Sephiroth. Inside. I know that." She squeezed his hand gently. "I know how Jenova toys with your mind. You can trust me, Sephiroth. Don't try to handle everything on your own. Let me help you."

"Forever?"

"Forever, and a day."


Rufus glanced over as the door opened and Tifa entered the room. "You seen him?" He knew she intended to visit Cid after the twentieth check on Raito and the twins, and by the tears in her eyes he already knew the answer before she nodded. "I'm sorry, baby..." The brat prince automatically opened his arms to her and held her close when she fled into his embrace. "If there was anything I could do..."

Fighting to speak, Tifa dug her fingers into Rufus' shirt. "Whatever happened to happy endings?"

"The story isn't over yet," Rufus whispered, stroking her hair.

Tifa shook her head before hiding her tear-soaked face to his chest. "There can be no happy ending after this! First Nanaki. Then Jessie and Cloud. And now Cid! The fighting just goes on and on! And my friends keep dying!" Her last words approaching screams of pain.

Gathering her up in his arms, Rufus carried the trembling Tifa over to let her sit on a chair, before he kneeled in front of her. "But we can't give up, Tifa..."

"Why not? Everyone just keeps dying!" The brunette allowed him to take her hands in his, but wouldn't meet his eyes. "I lost my mother... Then Sephiroth took my father from me... Nibelheim... And my friends keep fighting, only to die... Everyone dies..."

"But we can't give up," Rufus repeated firmly, making her finally meet his stern gaze. "Why? Felix and Robin. Raito. Dawn." His grip on her hands tightened slightly. "As well for the ones we've lost." The brat prince softened his voice. "If we give up, then everything has been in vain."

Tifa merely shook her head again. "What's the point? It never ends!"

Rufus sighed. "Isn't that why we're fighting in the first place? To make sure it doesn't end? We want this world to go on. To make sure sacrifices hasn't been for nothing. Even if there will always be someone out to shed blood, there will always be people like us fighting to stop them."

A silence followed, where Tifa tried to find the strength inside her again. Why did there always have to be fighting? Why did people have to die? But Rufus was right... She couldn't just give up now. She'd come too far. She'd lost so much, but she'd gained even more to protect. "You're right..."

Frowning, Rufus reached out and drew light fingertips along her jawline. "How's Shera taking it...?"

"Like Shera," Tifa whispered faintly as she closed her eyes to allow the final tears to escape. "She's in so much pain, Rufus..."

Rufus closed his eyes as well, leaning forward to rest his forhead against Tifa's. "I know how she's feeling..."

Tifa let her arms slide around Rufus, needing to feel him close. They'd both nearly lost the other once. Tifa knew too well how Shera was feeling herself. "Yeah..."

"Sephiroth?" Rufus asked quietly.

Hesitating, Tifa drew a slow breath. "I... don't know. I couldn't face him." How was she supposed to look at Sephiroth again? She'd hated him so violently for many years, for murdering her father and her home town, then for murdering Aeris, and when she was slowly accepting him as one of her friends... Sephiroth kidnaps Raito and murders Cid. The man was constantly stained with the blood of the innocent.

Rufus didn't reply, knowing how strained Tifa's opinion about Sephiroth was by now, and merely stroke a caressing hand over her arm. He flinched slightly when the fragile moment was broken by his cell-phone ringing. He sent the brunette an apologetic look as she leaned back to meet his eyes, but she merely gave a faint nod. Pressing the reply button, Rufus turned slightly away. "This had better be important..."

Tifa smiled weakly at the threat in his voice, wondering if the person calling flinched like she used to do before she knew Rufus.

Getting up, Rufus' frown turned slightly angry. "What do you mean you can't find her? Are you a complete idiot!"

Blinking, Tifa glanced curiously over at the brat prince, and curiosity quickly turned to worry when he started to pace. Rufus only paced when he felt he didn't have control over a dangerous situation.

"I don't care!" Rufus snapped furiously. "Find them! They can't have gone far!" He quickly shut his phone and aimed to storm out of the room, but halted abruptly when stopped by a grip around his wrist. He couldn't meet Tifa's eyes. "Yuffie and Hawk."

"They've gone after them..." Tifa whispered. "They've gone to get Vincent..."

Rufus nodded.


Kadaj glanced over and smirked. "Don't you think it's time?"

Crossing his arms defiantly, Hojo's eyes narrowed. "Not really." He stood by the water-bank, refusing to back away from Kadaj's presence, and made himself ignore the two brothers by the edge of the forrest as well as the demon hovering in the darkness of a cave near by.

"You cannot avoid it forever," Kadaj declared smoothly and stepped closer to the water. "You will have to tell me eventually..."

Hojo eyed the young man warily. "No, I don't."

A soft chuckle and Kadaj glanced over at the dark haired man as well. "Mother said you would be stubborn..." He took one step into the water. "But she also said you are no fool."

Forcing himself to remain calm as poison seemed to ripple out from that one step, Hojo stuck his chin out. "I told you before... I'm on my side. Not yours. Not theirs. And not... hers." He couldn't help his gaze from flickering away. "My business with Jenova was a life-time ago. I don't see why you went to so much trouble just to get me here."

Kadaj took another step into the water, watching with fascination as it was slowly turning black. "Mother wanted you here. She said you'd know."

"Jenova has become quite chatty in her old age," Hojo commented drily as he made himself gaze at Kadaj again.

The young man smiled, like a child handed his favorite toy, and continued to walk into the water until his palms rested on the surface. "She knows you took it."

Starting, Hojo tensed defensively and wondered where his skill of impassiveness had now gone. "She told you that?"

Nodding and continuing to smile, Kadaj gently tapped the water surface. "And I need it, Hojo. So that's why you're going to tell me where you hid it." Reptile eyes narrowed and suddenly focused sharply on the scientist. "Where is Mother?"

Hojo clenched his jaw hard, refusing to acknowledge the flicker of fear rushing through him. What did he have to fear? Still, those eyes... "If she claims to know that much, why doesn't she know the location?"

"She remembers you at the reactor..." Kadaj spoke softly, unlike the hard gaze tearing into Hojo. "She remembers your touch when you pried her out of Sephiroth's hands. She remembers you bringing her body to Midgar, capturing her in that tank, and that you left her son behind in a shell of materia crystal."

The thought of Jenova's consciousness watching all those years ago made another chill go through Hojo, and he wondered briefly if Sephiroth had been aware of his presence too. "After AVALANCHE so inconsiderately yanked me from my mortal life back then, things have changed in Midgar! ShinRa had my entire research facility re-done! Everything was destroyed!"

"You destroyed it," Kadaj countered smoothly. "But not her. You kept her. You couldn't get yourself to destroy her because you knew this day would come. You knew she would need you and now is the time!"

Hojo trembled softly. The boy knew. The dark haired scientist himself couldn't explain why he hadn't destroyed the head of Jenova any more than why he'd kept the pictures of Sephiroth's childhood, but it had been a mistake. A mistake done in a moment of weakness. Jenova's hold on him was obviously not broken that easily. "Well, you're wrong. I never found Jenova's head! I brought her body back to Midgar, where she eventually left me."

Tutting at the dark haired man, Kadaj made a faint gesture. "What did you expect? You locked her up for yourself, and you left her son behind."

Barely able to keep back an angry retort about Sephiroth being his son, not hers, Hojo turned his face away. "It doesn't matter. Either way, Jenova's head is lost to us all."

Kadaj watched him for a few moments, about to make another comment, when suddenly he gazed towards the forrest. "It appears that we have company..."

Starting violently, Hojo glanced quickly over at Yazoo, seeing the young man pale as well, before returning his glare to Kadaj. "What? You smell non-Jenova blood?"

Walking towards land again, Kadaj made a quick gesture that sent his two brothers into motion. "I sense materia, to be exact." He halted by Hojo's side. "A foolish rescue attempt by your friends?"

Hojo shook his head. "Dubious." He was not worried that Aeris had returned. He wasn't! "Probably some monster hunter."

Glancing over at where Chaos was hovering in darkness, it's red eyes glowing ominously as it awaited orders, Kadaj laughed silently. "Well then... Let us show him real monsters..."


Loz glanced around, seeing no sign of anyone in the forrest of glowing trees. Had Kadaj been wrong? Nah. Kadaj was never wrong. So, there had to be an intruder here somewhere, there was only the minor matter of actually finding him...

Sighing, he continued his scouting and for a moment wondered why Kadaj hadn't just sent the demon out to find them, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Chaos scared him. The demon was too ready to kill anyone and any thing for Loz' taste. It was also probably the reason why Kadaj had ordered the creature to keep still and keep quiet. Unleashing Chaos would be to unleash a massacre. It would be a wise thing to direct the demon in the right direction before doing so.

A sound caught his attention and Loz approached it warily. It had sounded like a twig being stepped on. A glance around a tree awarded him with a hard punch to his face. Stumbling back, he lifted an arm defensively and shook his head to focus again.

A young man with dark hair and a scar covering his one eye was glaring at him.

Lighting up with a smile, Loz held out his arms. "You want to play with me?"

The reply was a second punch to his face, a move too fast for even Loz to see, but the silver haired man quickly regained his wits and blocked a kick.

"I haven't played with anyone for so long!" Loz threw out a punch of his own but hit a tree as the stranger ducked underneath it. He cheerfully ignored the tree collapsing after the impact and stalked after his prey. "Kadaj has been no fun lately! Yazoo... Yazoo is never any fun really." The stranger leaped up and over him as Loz' fist connected with the ground he'd been standing on a second earlier, and reptile eyes danced with mirth as his gaze followed the ninja. "Let's have lots of fun!"

It became a deadly dance of punches, kicks and the heavy charge of electricity in the air from the contraption on Loz' arm. A dance that continued for several minutes. A waltz of pain, a tango of shattered bones and a dirge of death.

Hawk breathed hard as he leaned back against a tree, watching as the tall man stalked towards him. He was so strong! And so fast! Despite his size, the silver haired man moved so quickly he became a blur sometimes! The Wutai ninja was clutching his side, several broken ribs complaining loudly, and blinked the sweat out of his one eye. This was not going well! If he didn't get away soon, he would...

Gun shots rang through the air, startling them both, but Loz soon chuckled happily. "There's more than one of you? We can have a party!"

Fear ran cold through Hawk and he stared nervously in the direction of the shots. Yuffie...

"Don't worry!" Loz chirped, cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders. "My brother got your friend entertained! And Yazoo is an expert sharp-shooter!"

Hawk ran, some instinct telling him that he should never have listened to the crazy idea of rescuing Vincent on their own, but a blur shot by him and Loz was suddenly blocking his way. More gun-shots made Hawk lash out an attack that he hoped would force Loz into side-stepping and clearing his way.

Loz barely avoided the deadly knife thrown at him, grazing his neck, and grinned even wider as his hand locked around the other man's throat. "Leaving so soon?"

Abruptly halted by the choke-hold, Hawk automatically grasped at the iron grip and felt the air being slammed out of him when Loz rammed him against a tree. The Wutaian was barely able to breathe, constantly clawing at the hand, yet his glare revealed nothing but fury. He didn't have time for this! Yuffie was in trouble! He bumped his heel hard against the tree to bring out the hidden blade in his boot and kicked it with all his might into Loz' side.

Screaming with pain, Loz felt raw anger devour his mind.

The furious sound of hurt was the last thing Hawk ever heard.

The silver haired man healed his bleeding wound absently as he gazed down at the slumped form. Stupid, fragile humans...

Loz glanced over as someone approached and sent Yazoo a mournful look when the long haired brother stepped into sight. "I didn't mean to, Yazoo..."

Yazoo sighed, ignoring the agonized scream from the young woman he was dragging along. "You never do, Loz. You never do."

Yuffie tugged with all her might to free herself, not caring that her captors grip on her arm didn't budge at all or how pain shot through her from the gun shot wound in her leg. All she could see was Hawk lying on the ground. All she could feel was a black emptiness spreading through her soul. She didn't notice the tears flowing from her eyes. She didn't care that the enemy was watching her.

Hawk was dead, his neck broken, and it was her fault!


Hojo glared towards Chaos.

Chaos was glaring back.

Neither seemed ready to give up in the near future.

Kadaj rolled his eyes but then lit up as he saw his brothers returning. "You found our guest?"

"Guests," Yazoo muttered. "But then Loz here played a little too rough with him..."

"You monsters!" Yuffie screamed, still squirming and fighting to free herself from Yazoo's grip. The pain and the blood from her own wounds only fueled her fury "I'm going to kill you all, you bastards!"

Loz sniffled quietly. "I said I was sorry... I didn't mean to!"

As he was about to reply, Kadaj was distracted by a sound and glanced over to see Chaos clutching it's head, clearly reacting to the young ninja's voice. Or, more precisely, someone inside the demon was reacting to the voice. Frowning, the young silver haired man stuck his chin out. "Chaos... There may be more intruders. Go scout the forrest."

The creature lifted it's face and focused it's eerie eyes on Kadaj for a moment, before it gave a slight nod and leaped up into the air. It's leathery wings spreading like darkness and carrying Chaos away.

Yuffie fought violently to free herself, grief and rage too strong for reason, and she called out to the one person she knew could help her. "VINCENT!" She gulped down air, ignoring how the tears escaped from her eyes. "VIN..." Her scream was abruptly halted. Yuffie blinked wide-eyed a few times before she could gaze down to see the sword going through her chest. Kadaj's sword. Frowning, she gazed back up at the young man, still frozen in the same position as when he'd suddenly rammed his deadly blade through her. "Jerk..." A taste of blood in her mouth.

"No!" Hojo exclaimed, startling himself as much as the three silver haired men, but he quickly regained his wits and stalked over. "Kadaj! You IDIOT!" He was trembling with rage. Rage, right? "You moron! You buffoon! You complete NITWIT!" The scientist ignored the gaping look of Loz and the horrified features of Yazoo, focusing only on the curious Kadaj. "Sephiroth and his gang is gonna think I had something to do with this! They're gonna kill me along with you now!" Again...

Kadaj yanked his sword free, nodding for Yazoo to release Yuffie, and as she fell, his smirk widened. "You're going to tell us where to find Mother now?"

Hojo growled furiously, bumping into Yazoo as he moved over to glare at Kadaj. "Why do you think I didn't tell you before? I was STALLING! Hoping Sephiroth and ShinRa would find some way to get rid of you guys before you could make an even bigger mess, and NOW look at this! You just got me killed! They're never going to believe that I had no part of this!"

Yazoo blinked offended. "Hey! What do you think you're doing? You just..."

"Shut up!" Hojo interrupted, not taking his eyes of Kadaj. "You wanna know where Jenova's head is? Fine, I'll tell you! You're not giving me much choice! Either Sephiroth kills me, or I tell you and you kill him! I still like me more than anyone else."

Stepping closer, Yazoo tried to get his brother's attention. "Kadaj, he just..."

"Quiet!" Kadaj snapped, not breaking eye contact with Hojo's golden gaze either. "I'm listening, Hojo."

Hesitating, Hojo finally crossed his arms. "I hid her where no one would be foolish enough to look. Nibelheim. In the reactor. Satisfied?"

"Kadaj!" Yazoo tried again.

Kadaj tossed him an angry glare. "Shut up, you moron!" He didn't even notice the slow change of cold anger sliding over Yazoo's face as he turned back to face Hojo. "In Nibelheim, huh? It was underneath their noses all the time... Under every ones noses..." The young man made a gesture to his brothers and stalked towards their motorcycles. "We're leaving for Nibelheim. Now."

Hojo wasn't surprised when Yazoo didn't move at first, and the two entered a staring contest, which ended in a slight victory to a puzzled scientist when the other man gave a slow nod before following Loz and Kadaj. He didn't wait for the motorcycles to be out of sight before dropping to his knees beside the fallen Yuffie and pulled out the cell-phone he just stole from Yazoo. Hojo used to be such a great pickpocket, but now obviously a little rusty as Yazoo had caught him. Calling ShinRa, he cut a face at all the blood soaking Yuffie's clothes. The girl was barely breathing. A trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth.

It didn't hurt that much anymore, Yuffie realised and she sent Hojo a weary look. "You don't... have to look so worried..." She managed a weak smile. "Me and Vinnie... We've done this before... You tell him... I'll be waiting... for him to wake me up... And... And that I'll... be the one to kiss Hawk... Or I'll kick his ass...!"

Shrugging off his jacket, Hojo then held the phone to his ear with the aid of his shoulder and curled up the cloth to press it against the wound in an effort to slow the blood flow. "Don't be an idiot. You tell him yourself. You're gonna be fine, ok?"

A ghost of a laugh and Yuffie's eyes drifted shut. "Liar..." She swallowed hard. "Just... tell him..."

Hojo tensed even more, almost relieved when he heard Rufus ShinRa's wary reply. "ShinRa, it's me. Get an aircraft and set course for the Cetra Capital. You'd better hurry as much as humanly possible. You've got people down." He barely heard the confirmation before closing the phone and tossing it aside, placing both hands on his now crimson stained jacket. "Yuffie...?" His heart sank when he realised, and Hojo slowly lowered his head. "I'll tell him... I promise..."


Sephiroth gazed at the still form of Cid Highwind, his legs refusing to bring him into the room and left him frozen by the window. He couldn't do this. The sight and the knowledge that he was to blame simply got too much. It didn't help that Aeris promised to wait outside for him. The only weak sense of relief was the fact that Shera was nowhere to be seen. The fact that it relieved him made Sephiroth feel even more crappier.

Spinning around, the silver haired man decided to make a run for it. Only to have the door to the hallway open as he reached for the handle, and he found himself facing the very woman he wanted to avoid more than anyone else.

Shera gazed surprised at him before her eyes flickered away. "Sephiroth... I didn't expect you to..."

"I didn't!" Sephiroth exclaimed softly. Torn by guilt, he was unable to run and unable to face her. "I mean... I didn't want to disturb you..."

Nodding, Shera stepped aside to let him make his escape. "I understand."

Sephiroth moved forward, but halted as he had passed her. Unable to look back. "Shera, I..."

No reply.

"Shera, I don't expect you to believe me, but..." Sephiroth glanced back at the pale woman. "I am sorry."

Closing her eyes, Shera drew a deep breath. "Give me time, Sephiroth..."

Time? It was not the answer he'd expected. Anger. Hatred. A scream for him to get away from Cid and stay away. But that wasn't Shera's way, was it?

"Maybe one day I'll be able to look at you the way Cid wants me to," Shera whispered, slowly focusing her eyes on the sword fighter. "Maybe one day. Because right now all I can see when I look at you is the Captain's murderer and the man who deprived my child from meeting his father." The brunette swallowed down the tears, angry with herself for feeling bad at seeing the pain she caused the man who'd spilled Cid's blood, and she turned away again. "I think you should leave now. Aeris is waiting for you."

With that, she disappeared behind the door that lead to Cid's room and Sephiroth could see through the window her sitting down by the pilot's side. The cold sorrow and agonized despair in her eyes was a thousand times more painful than any physical wound Sephiroth had ever felt. And there was no cure for this. He could never undo what he had done.

Slender arms circled around his waist when he'd taken two steps into the hallway and Sephiroth drew a deep breath before he could find his voice again. "I've killed so many that I've lost count... Why does this hurt so much?"

"Because Cid is your friend," Aeris declared silently as she rested her cheek against his tense shoulder. "And because of Kadaj and his gang, you have to be strong. We need you, Sephiroth."

"When will you stop trusting me?"

The tone was angry, almost defiant, but Aeris didn't take the bait. She merely hugged him a little tighter and sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "Be strong, Sephiroth."

Nodding, Sephiroth exhaled in defeat. She was right. There was nothing he could do. No way to turn back time and stop this from happening.

Aeris bit her lower lip in a nervous manner. "I was thinking... The Cetra agreed to bring Hojo back to help us, right? Maybe I could talk to them and make some deal... About Cloud..."

Sephiroth spun around to face her, fear and anger battling in his face. "You will do no such thing! You hear me? Don't you dare defy me on this one, Aeris!" His own deal was still haunting him.

A life for a life.

He knew he was probably dead the moment he agreed to that deal, but there was no way he was letting Aeris do the same thing. Not even for her beloved Cloud.

The flower girl gazed surprised at him. Clearly not understanding the anger in his voice, but Sephiroth didn't soften his harsh stance for one second. Finally she gave a small nod and wrapped her arms around herself. "Alright..."

Taking a gentle hold of her chin, he tilted her face up to meet his gaze. "I wont let you down again, Aeris..." Sephiroth stroke a light finger over her lips. "I promise..."

Aeris managed a faint smile as she was once again reminded why she loved this man so much.


Chaos roared furiously. Tossing another piece of debris aside, narrowly avoiding a startled Loz, the demon pointed at the burned out reactor core. "He lied! The cretin lied! There is nothing here!"

Kadaj frowned.

"NOTHING!"

A glance over at his brothers earned Kadaj two shrugs and he sighed before returning his focus to Chaos. "Why would Hojo send us on a mission to fail? Mother said..."

"The only thing you can trust about Hojo is that you can never trust him!" Chaos yelled in anger, leaping up to land beside Kadaj. "He betrayed you!"

Yazoo crossed his arms and glanced at the exit, refusing to feel bad about not telling Kadaj about Hojo snatching his cell phone. Little brother should have learned by now that you did NOT to call Yazoo an idiot. Hmpf.

Frowning confused, Kadaj gazed down at the reactor core as if he was hoping to see something Chaos had missed. "But if it's not here..."

Chaos loomed behind the young man. "We all know where it is." Fangs was bared in something reminding of a sinister smile when Kadaj turned to face him.

"Where?"

"Midgar." Chaos snorted with disgust. "Hojo always thought that Midgar was his little safe haven. Where no one would notice what he did in secret labs and behind closed doors."

Loz gave Yazoo a nervous look and the long haired brother stepped forward. "Midgar is pretty heavily guarded, in case you didn't notice." He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "What do you suggest? That we put it under siege, the four of us?"

"We tear it to pieces!" Chaos exclaimed with a blood thirst so clear it made the three others take an unwilling step away. "Let it rain blood and screams!"

Was it just their imaginations, or was there black flames surrounding Chaos now?

Kadaj sighed as he weighed his options. "Hojo lied... Big brother refuses to join us... ShinRa is constantly getting in our way... It would seem that taking care of Midgar would be the solution to all of our problems..."

Yazoo tensed. "What?"

Loz sniffled silently and started to fidget with his glove.

"With our powers and Chaos here, we should be able to make our way into Midgar without too much trouble," Kadaj mused. "Our target will the the ShinRa tower. That's where Hojo had his favorite labs." Reptile eyes flashed with malice. "That is where Mother will be."

Shaking his head, Yazoo stalked over to his brother. "We go in there, and we'll get killed! ShinRa has an entire army! Sephiroth will be there! Hell, we don't even know if we can trust this demon!"

"We are going to get Mother, Yazoo! Understood?"

Gazing at Kadaj for a few more seconds, as if he was hoping to see some flicker of sanity in his eyes, Yazoo finally gave a resigned nod. "For Mother..." At least he would die with his brothers...

Kadaj laughed softly, giving Yazoo a light shove. "You shouldn't underestimate the power Mother gave us, brother. ShinRa and his crew are the ones who will suffer and die! No one gets between us and Mother!"

Chaos rose eerily up through the air, crossing it's arms across it's chest. "It is time that Chaos was unleashed on this world again..."

The demon became a black beacon in front of them as the three silver haired men raced towards the city of Midgar on their motorcycles.

Death was coming, in the shape of three brothers and an unearthly creature, and Death was going to claim lives.

Yazoo felt his heart thundering in his chest, torn between fear and anger. This was going to end badly. Either way, someone he cared about was going to die...

Beside him, Loz tried to convince himself that Kadaj knew what he was doing. He'd always trusted their youngest brother, and so he would do whatever Kadaj said. Even if his heart told him it was wrong...

And Kadaj smiled.

Smiled as a tear slowly ran from the corner of his eye.


AN; An update! At last! Darker than darkest and next chapter will be all action. Yes, there will be fighting!