"No, I don't- oh," Ellie stopped in her tracks when a breeze of cool air greeted her. She grimaced at herself, realizing that they had been approaching the top and she hadn't even noticed to spite her yacking. She'd have to keep her mouth shut if she wanted to be attentive. How stupid! She thought to herself, looking around, her feet feeling woozy now that she stood on solid ground. This takes us right out to where the old pillar did! The Shinra Headquarters loomed up in front of her, twice as gargantuan as the former building. She could fall backwards if she kept looking up.

She jerked around when Amos turned around began heading away from the building.

"Well thank goodness," she said after him. "I really didn't want to go back there again."

Amos glanced at her from the corner of his eye but said nothing and kept walking.

Wait a second... was that... emotion? In his eye? Ellie did a double-take, staring at him intently. But he'd returned to his straight-ahead stare and she scurried along beside him. What a pair they must look like.

They had already bypassed the Shinra Express station and Amos walked directly to a locked latch door on the far wall. Without a pause, he broke the latch apart with a solid punch and then tore the door away.

Ellie stared at him, speechless. Did he seriously just do that? She followed him mutely into the vent, and thankfully it wasn't too long before they arrived in a similar-looking maze of catwalks, pipes, and ventilation ducts.

Amos stopped to survey the view. She looked on, too, until she noticed in her peripheral vision that he was looking at her from the corner of her eyes.

She quickly turned to him. "What're you lookin' at!"

He looked away and began sprinting. She yipped as he pulled her arm and did her best to keep up with him.

It was nonstop sliding down railings, scaling nearly ninety degree inclines, hurdling across catwalks and dodging monsters, and they finally skidded to a halt at a ledge.

Ellie could see where they were heading: a few vents on an approaching wall revealed the familiar greenish-white lights from the outside. He had finally reached one and had kicked the grate open, and they both stood on the ledge.

She sucked the air and held it quickly, desperately. They stood hundreds and hundreds of feet above the sector, the buildings and skyscrapers below them. The people on the streets looked like ants, the cars like miniature toys.

"Is this... Sector IV?" She said breathlessly, crouching down for fear the wind up here would blow them over.

Amos nodded. Ellie noticed that even he was somewhat winded.

"Oh, what's this," she huffed. "A little workout for you?"

Amos slowly rolled his eyes towards her.

"Oh come on," she said. "I never hated you. And I ain't mad at you (right now) either. We've both said some pretty dumb things to each other, I know. I'm just trying to do the right thing here. Shelby's waiting for you, Amos. I don't know what they did to you," she peered into his frightfully blue eyes, "but you've done a really good job so far. Thanks."

"...Yeah."

Ellie half smirked to herself and looked away. So he was talking now, was he? She spied a shiny object on the metal frame beside her and picked it up. It was just some shard from she-didn't-know-what. She felt Amos tugging at her and she held it up to him.

He took it and quickly sliced the cord in half, finally severing their ties together. With the sudden freedom, he crouched down and looked down.

Ellie looked over at him. "You can't be serious. ...Well go ahead then. I'll find my own way down there. Go find Shelby, I'll catch up." Ellie sighed and stood up. Maybe it was the lack of food, lack of hope, lack of whatever, or the heights, but she felt dizzy and wanted to just huddle in some corner for a while. And sleep. That's all she wanted.

Then Amos stood up and looked at her. "Me... on... kuh... me... with..." He shuffled his feet and scratched his head. "Kuh... come... wuh... me..."

Ellie looked at him. Did that mako shit make him forget how to talk? Or is that what Chrezzo was doing to him? Damn. "What?"

"You... come... me."

"You want me to go with you?"

"Yeah."

Well at least his comprehension seems okay. "Alright. But you have to slow down this time. I'm freaking exhausted."

He held out his hand to her.

She stared at it incredulously and looked up at him.

"Tr- us me?"

"Uh... okay," she replied.

"'Kay," he nodded his head, and took her hand.

She didn't know what to say as he looked back at the sector in front of them. He looked all the way down.

"Oh wait, wait a second," Ellie started excitedly, but before she could get her hand out of his hand, he jumped off. Ellie couldn't even scream.

"What happened?" Maya stumbled over a pipe, trying to get to Theo. The sleep spell seemed to linger on her.

"It's a Sleep Spell, didn't the Shinra teach you anything at all?" Theo replied bitterly, furiously tapping on his phone.

"Not about... that stuff," she said sheepishly. Am I right in thinking that I've somehow been cheated out of life? Maybe I'm having some sort of revelation...

" 'That stuff,'" Theo muttered. "Come on Maya, let's get out of here." He began walking and Maya walked alongside him.

"What do you think he's gonna do with your spy place?"

"Absolutely nothing," Theo huffed back. "Azule knows what to do, this wouldn't be the first time. Everything should be cleaned out."

Maya was silent and Theo began jogging towards the greenish hue of the horizon.

They reached Kalm after midnight. The tendrils of dirt and death had spread twice as far as when the former Midgar had existed, and the purple wolf monsters now traveled in larger packs, dominating the region and overtaking most of the other monsters and their hiding places. The petite and quaint village of Kalm had remained the same despite Meteor's destruction. The blue thatched roofs glowed tranquilly under the stars, and the fountain trickled quietly. Theo and Maya quietly entered the first building to their left: the inn. The innkeeper jolted up as soon as the two foreigners plodded in.

"We'll be here for a while," Theo exclaimed. He dropped some gil on the counter and they proceeded up the stairs. He turned to Maya as soon as they went in their room.

"As soon as I get in touch with Azule, I'll tell you what we'll do."

"What about Lawrsy?"

"...Well, what about Lawrsy?"

"Um," Maya shuffled her feet as she watched Theo settling in. "Well, I'm a little concerned about what Shinra's doing. Don't you want to know, too?"

"I need to know that everything's okay first, okay? We have our own priorities, too. Listen, I need some rest, everything's been a little more than stressful lately. I'm sure you feel the same."

"You're right," she resigned herself, and taking her own bed, they both collapsed into sleep within minutes.

Morning broke too quickly, and with it, Theo had breakfast awaiting them.

"Did you hear from your boss?" Maya inquired, munching on some toast.

"No... I really hope they're okay." He kept checking his device.

"I hope so too. I'm going to ask around about Lawrsy, will you help me?"

"..."

"You won't come with me... to look for Lawrsy?"

"...No, Maya. Not this moment, anyway."

She didn't reply, but after a few moments she perked her head up. "Well, I'll see you around then."

She got up and trotted down the stairs, waving a hello to the sleepy innkeeper before stepping out onto the blue weather-worn tile village square. she meandered through the shops asking information as best she could, but everyone politely let her down with no information. One shop on the upper level was abandoned and the weapon's owner refused to tell her why. Finally, Maya retired to rest by the tavern doors. Kalm was peaceful, and she liked this place.

It's so nice here, and I love the architecture. Maybe I could retire here one day... The soft tick tock of the meters and clocks above her lulled her gently into tranquil snoozing when suddenly from across the square, the door of the inn slammed open. She saw Theo rounding the centerpiece. He looked as if in great distress and he came stomping towards the tavern. Maya stood up quickly, worried.

"Is everything okay?" She asked frantically.

"No!" Theo took a few more steps but then stopped at the stone wall. He heaved a huge sigh and dropped his head onto the wall. Maya didn't have to ask what had happened. I guess he didn't reach them all in time...oh dear. Theo, I'm so sorry. She put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault... you know that."

"I should've lied!" He hit the wall with his fist in disgust.

"...Shinra won't get away with this," but she wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say. I'm so horrible at these things!

Theo exhaled slowly and took a sidelong glance at Maya. "Just let me be for now, alright?"

"I'm sorry..." She slowly turned away and decided to just head back to the inn. Times looked very bleak.

Her eyes fluttered open. She was in such a familiar place... Shelby's apartment! Ellie jumped up, hardly able to contain herself.

"Hello?!" She called out. No one seemed to be around. Maybe they'd went out...

"Hello."

Ellie turned around and saw Amos standing in Shelby's bedroom doorway. "Oh hey there, how are ya?" It actually felt weird talking to him... in a normal way. Weird.

"Okay," came the short reply. He trudged up to the sofa and sat down.

"Where's Shelby?"

"Store."

"Oh." How in the world did I get here? What the hell happened? She licked her lips, her mouth dry as hell. She ventured into the kitchen and found a cup and went on to try and figure out how Shinra could design the most inconvenient sink possible. She heard the door open - that sounded like Shelby.

"Shelby!" She jumped out of the kitchen and almost collided with him.

"Hey, hi... watch it." He didn't appear to be too excited to see her, but she hugged him anyway. He didn't hug back, but then again, he didn't push her away either. "Yeah," he muffled until she let him go. "Thanks for, uh, getting Amos. I didn't think... it must be an interesting story." He finally looked at her. "I appreciate it."

"Of course," she smiled. "I felt like I owed you one." She glanced up and away from him. So it this where he throws me out? If he does, I swear I have never met such a large asshole as-

"You can stay here till you figure out something to do with yourself. Maybe you can find yourself a job or something and get your own place now."

"..." She didn't know what to say to that.

"All that matters is that Shinra doesn't get their way."

"So are you gonna ask me how I saved your friend?" Ellie was about to put her hands on her hips, but changed her mind. Any hostility probably wouldn't be tolerated at this point, even if she wasn't serious.

"Not right now," he replied, and went over into the kitchen with his bags.

Ellie sighed in exasperation and moseyed back to the couch. "I just want to go home," she moaned to herself.

"Another... planet?"

She turned quickly to Amos. "What did you say?"

He made a motion with his eyes, though she couldn't even take a guess at what that meant. "Planet... different planet?"

She narrowed her eyes. What's with the mind reading around this place? And how ironic, really. First this guy is a total douche to me, and now a week later he wants to be my friend. Ugh! "Yeah. Somewhere else is my home. Not this place."

"Tell more," his eyes got bigger and smaller.

She looked hard at him for a moment. He looked pretty darn curious, and wait, maybe... concerned? No. "I'm... not from around here. That's all."

"How?"

She frowned. "An experiment gone bad, does that make sense?" Oh, maybe that would be the wrong thing to say to this guy...

"You... scientist?"

Sounds like he's been picking up his speaking skills again. Shelby must've been giving him lessons. And probably telling him a thing or two - sayyy, how come he knows so much? And what the fuck was the interest? "Yeah? And what else do you know about me?"

"Ellie... Kanniff."

There's absolutely no question about it. "Mm-hm, and what else?" She took an evil sidelong look at the kitchen doorway, then squinted back at him.

"You... don't... like Shinra."

"Well that was easy."

"If you... scientist... why... don't you... figure out... way home?"

"Uh," she shrugged. "Because I don't have the right formula."

He shook his head. "Not... very good scientist."

"Ah-ha! No shit Sherlock!" She clenched her fists. She didn't like to be reminded of her shortcomings. "A bad memory never hurt anyone. I'll figure a way out, just you watch and wait!" Damn! I guess the mako frikkin' wore off now because he won't shut up! Now I remember why I didn't like him. I guess he didn't really change... But she couldn't forget when Shelby had dragged him out of Nibelheim all dazed and drugged out, how crazy and pathetic he was. That technically was about a week ago now.

"I don't think... you-" He froze.

She looked up at him. "?"

He kept darting his eyes out the Shinra window.

Shelby came clacking out of the kitchen carrying a tray of dinner that looked like noodles but smelled more like freshly mown grass.

"Sh!" Amos shushed, now staring intensely out the window. Shelby stopped in his tracks.

Ellie looked too but didn't see a damn thing.

"What's the problem Amos?" Shelby resumed his step and slid the tray of three bowls onto the coffee table.

Oh, well he made me some food too, how thoughtful, Ellie noted.

"I feel something... but, gone now," Amos said thoughtfully.

Shelby and Ellie both gave him an extra long look, but thinking that perhaps the second mako shower and whatever the Shinra, specifically Chrezzo, had been doing to him, was making him a little whacky. The three took their bowls and hungrily began forking in the foodstuff when Ellie felt someone staring at her.

She glanced up at Amos and Shelby, but both were busy with their dishes. And out of her peripheral vision, she saw the orange pair of burning eyes that pierced straight through the patio glass. Stifling a shriek, she realized it was Angel. You motherfuckin' bastard, she glowered. She promptly set her bowl down and stood up, made her way around the coffee table and opened the patio door.

"What are you doing?" Shelby inquired, then punctually dropped his bowl to the floor. "Wh-who are you!" He yelped out when he saw the black-cloaked figure in his living room.

"He's a friend, he means no harm," Ellie replied matter-of-factly. "He might look scary, but he's pretty nice when you get to know him. Straightforward. Good with fighting, mh-hm," she nodded.

Shelby was speechless.

"So you awaken," Angel looked calmly at Amos.

Amos nodded. "You are safe?"

Angel smirked and turned his gaze to Ellie. "Your friends are safe. They are in Kalm."

"How'd you find out?" Ellie asked him excitedly. "You have a phone or something? Can I talk to them?"

"Go to Kalm." He turned to Amos. "They know where you are."

"What! How!" Now Shelby was getting excited.

"Get out of here, now," Angel's voice remained composed.

Ellie looked at Shelby. "I know you just met the guy, but I wouldn't listen to him if I were you."

"How... do you know him?" Shelby stuttered.

"We ran into him in the Shinra tower when Maya and this other guy Theo, and me, went to get Amos out."

"Theo?"

"Yeah, he's some science journalist or something."

"I've heard that name before."

"Get out of here," Angel's voice was a little louder this time.

"Okay, okay!" Ellie squeaked. "Alright Shelby, we gotta jet." She leaned over to him and whispered in his ear. "This guy can disappear into thin air! I've seen him do it!"

"..." Shelby narrowed his eyes and looked up at Angel. And the smirk on Angel's face told him that he had heard every forsaken word out of Ellie's mouth. "Alright. Let's go then."

"To Kalm."

The three looked up at Angel.

"Neo-Midgar is a danger."

Yeah, we knew that, Ellie frowned to herself. This guy was just... weird! Shelby sighed dolefully, got up and stepped over his shattered dish of green noodles, and went to his bedroom.

Ah, that whale-killer thing he's got. Hey, that could come in real handy! And sure enough, he came back out with it. Even Angel looked at it for a second longer. I'd love the hear the history on that thing, Ellie smiled, and the three followed Angel out the front door. He headed for the stairwell.

"Shit, we're going to climb down twenty flights?" Ellie complained.

"..."

They scrambled down the stairs trying to keep up with Angel who practically flew down. They promptly crashed into him circa the fourteenth floor.

"What - the fuck!" Ellie wheezed, gathering herself and glaring at Angel.

He was silent, then placed a hand on the cold white cemented wall as if he were listening. She scrunched up her face. Trim your nails, pal! They were sharp to a point and shiny, like glass. Before anyone could blink, he was flying down the stairs again.

"Those motherfuckers! Who gave'm the slip!" Kirin screeched.

"..." Helix tilted his head, noticing that the patio door wasn't closed all the way.

Kirin ripped out her mobile device and pounded into it. "Nik, you motherfuckin' liar!"

"What, I couldn't hear you!" Came the reply.

"They're not here!"

There was silence on the other end.

"Well?" Kirin demanded. "Where are they?!"

"Find them, dumbass!" and the line clicked.

Kirin slammed her device shut. The little click it emanated hardly complimented her fury.

With Angel guiding them, they made it to Kalm in no time.

"For the millionth time," Ellie carped, "how the hell do you know they're here?!"

He lowered his head, for the millionth time, but never took his eyes off the cobalt town just ahead.

"You're a nag," Amos stated.

"Oh shut up!"

They approached the front of the town without any more words exchanged. Ellie vacillated from Angel's anonymity to the skill Shelby showed in fighting off those wolf creatures with his eight foot lance. The three followed Angel to the inn and he led them straight upstairs, leaving the innkeeper gawking after the strange visage of the orange-eyed man.

"Maya! You're okay!" Ellie ran over to the lone figure in the room upstairs. As much as Maya tended to get on her nerves, she was happy to see the ditzy girl. And she knew the ditzy girl would be happy to see her again. And actually show her happiness, unlike the rest of the apathetic crew she hung out with.

"Oh, Ellie!" Maya jumped up and put her arms around Ellie. "And you found Amos! Thank goodness! How wonderful, you're all here!"

"Yeah, he came to, believe it or not," Ellie turned around and glanced at the tall long-haired fellow who was looking at her peculiarly. Ugh... I think the bastard likes me. Shelby stood there huffing and Angel appeared to be hanging back in the hallway.

"Where's Theo?" Ellie asked, noticing some familiar backpacks and such beside the other bed.

"Oh... he must still be lamenting the loss of his... spy place."

"'Spy place?'"

Shelby's ears perked up.

Maya continued. "Yeah, Lon Peri whisked us away after you ran after Amos. He took us to the upper plate, and then Theo took us to this underground association place. That's where Lon Peri stayed. And then we came looking for you." She finally noticed Angel in the back of the crowd. A light bulb visibly went off on her face and she perked up. "Hi Rose, er, Angel. You wouldn't happen to know of a Lawrsy, would you?"

He glanced at her with disinterest. "A specimen. Of two."

"There's another one?"

He shrugged.

"What happened?" Ellie interjected.

Maya reiterated her story to them. She looked back at Angel. "What happened to you, by the way? We didn't mean to ditch you, but we had to keep moving."

"..."

Maya opened her mouth to keep going, but Shelby interrupted her. "I wouldn't, Maya."

Angel feigned deafness, and Ellie senses that Angel wasn't too thrilled at Shelby's intervention.

"Well, now that we're all back together, let's get Theo and figure out what we're gonna do." They figured it was an idea for now, and Maya took them to the lower level tavern that she'd seen him at last.

Ellie spied him as soon as they entered the establishment. He was plastered beyond consciousness at a table in corner of the room.

"Holy shit, and another holy shit!" She said when she had ambled over to him. "What in the nine hells happened to you?"

Theo muffled something and blearily unraveled himself and rested on his elbows. The four gathered around him. The bartender turned his attention elsewhere when he saw the hooded Angel enter his building.

"Theo!" Ellie shook his shoulders. "Wake up!"

"Oh..." Theo blearily looked at the people at his table. "Hey guys... sorry you gotta see me like this. I don't know what to do... It's rough. I don't know what happened to them. No one's answering."

"Well, we're sorry to hear it," Ellie comforted.

He pulled out a pager device from his pocket. "And no one's gotten in touch with me. I couldn't give them any warning..."

"It'll be alright," Ellie put a hand on top of his. She turned to Maya. "Ask the guy at the counter if he's got a newspaper or something. And a glass of water."

Maya obediently got up and Ellie turned back to Theo. "Listen, Maya's told me about some specimen that the Shinra's been tampering with. Lawrsy? Did your spy place know anything about that?"

Theo shook his head. "Naw... that's what we were trying to figure out right before... Nik ambushed us. I wonder what happened to Lon Peri..."

"I bet that wizard's just fine," Ellie shrugged just as Maya returned with a paper and glass in hand."

"The paperboy just came in when I asked," Maya said. "Look." She pointed to the main story on the front page.

"Treason Band Scammed!" Ellie read off, then handed the paper to Theo.

"Well, no mention of Lon Peri," Theo offered after a few moments. "Angel...?"

Ellie and Amos looked curiosly at the silent figure still hooded. They saw him lower his head, then suddenly a great flash emanated beside him.

The bartender gaped at the never-seen-before events unfolding before him. He saw a figure appear as soon as the flash was gone, shook his head to make sure he's seen what he'd seen, then turned around and began rearranging all the bottles on the shelf. "Foreigners," he mumbled to himself.

"Lon Peri!" All but Amos cried out in unison. "How...?"

"Greetings, my friends," he smiled at everyone and placed a hand on Angel's shoulder.

The companions looked oddly at the old man's affinity for Angel, and Theo broke the silence. "What happened up there?"

"Ah," Lon Peri shook his head. "I was fast asleep with it happened. Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure. I prepared a wonderful breakfast for everyone, but alas, when I opened the door, I saw the Shinra soldiers and decided it wasn't a good time for breakfast. How may I help you?"

"What about Lawrsy?" Maya blurted out.

"Who?" Lon Peri replied colloquial.

Maya shook her head. "I have to find him..."

"My most recent discovers, Theo, is that Scarlet is back in the office and there has been a sighting of a strange being in the presence of Sable. My senses tell me it is an event worth investigation."

"Strange being?" Ellie echosed.

"Yes," Lon Peri replied. "I am quite positive it is related with the red materia discovered in the Forgotten City."

"Forgotten City? Red materia?" Ellie turned to Theo. "What the hell is going on?"

"The Promised Land," Theo finally replied. The rest of the table turned their eyes to him. "I've been doing my own research on it, too. they're trying to uncover an ancient library that supposedly contains something to have power over the planet."

"Sheez!"

Theo nodded.

"What do their specimens have anything to do with that?" Maya asked.

"I'm not sure," Theo tapped his finger on the table in contemplation.

"Well whatever the specimens are for," Ellie frowned, "what Shinra's doing up in the Forgotten City doesn't sound too good. Sounds like another one of their 'take over the world' schemes. I say we should stop them."

"Sounds like a good idea, Ellie, but I think we should stick with what's in our control," Theo suggested. "I think we can do something about Lawrsy and the other specimen, and meanwhile keep Amos and Angel away from them, too."

Shelby nodded. "Whatever we can do to throw a wrench in their plans, I'm all for it."

"So let's get rid of Shinra, let mako stay underground where it belongs, and keep the ancient library a secret like it's always been. I think... we need an army. What'd you say?"

"An army is hardly necessary," Lon Peri exclaimed. "Infiltration would be much more effective."

"Aw, I don't wanna go back to the Shinra Headquarters!" Ellie whined.

"I recommend the Forgotten City as a starting point."

"What about Lawrsy?" Maya asked the hundredth time that day.

The group sighed. "What about Lawrsy, what about Lawrsy, what about..." Ellie mumbled.

Shelby intervened. "Maya, the odds of finding their specimen is really out of the question. For all we know, he's at the Headquarters. We would have to come up with a very elaborate scheme to get him out of there, and most of us, if not all of us, are wanted. For desertion and otherwise," he glanced at Ellie. "I'm sorry about the young man, but at least we have two of their 'specimens' out of reach."

Maya sighed. "Wull... then how are we getting to the Forgotten City?"

"Alas!" Lon Peri announced suddenly, pulling out a bejeweled pocket watch from the folds of his robe. "It is time for my morning tea! Too-da-loo!" And with that, he disappeared in a bright flash.

The tender dropped his handful of utensils but hastily clapped his mouth shut and disappeared behind the counter to retrieve his things.

"And shit," Ellie huffed and propped her head on her hands. "I was just about to ask him for a ride. Tea time my ass."

"There must be a ship or something... but we're probably on a list..." Shelby mused, leaning his head on his hands, too.

"Look," Theo had been glancing through the paper on the table. "They cut off all travel between here and the Northern Continent. I wonder why...?"

"The Forgotten City's there, that's why," Ellie answered a moment later.

"What are they doing?" Maya wondered.

"They must be making progress," Theo trailed off, his finger tracing the fine print on the pages.

"So there's no boats going over there. Do any of yous know any gold chocobos?"

The group laughed simultaneously, and the more sympathetic Maya offered an explanation. "I'm sorry, but no one's seen one of those since the storybooks were written."

"But Cloud and his gang had one!" Technically, I made it, of course, Ellie ho-hummed to herself.

In an instant, the table was silent.

Ellie looked around the table. "But... they did... didn't they?"

"How... do you know him?" Theo said after a long moment of silence.

"Uh, I don't know him personally, I've uh, heard stories. That's all. Like the rest of you guys," Ellie defended. She looked around the table again. Everyone stared at her incredulously - except Angel. She couldn't see his eyes. Was he sleeping? "What's the big deal? You guys know the stories too, I'm sure, how could you not? And whatever happened to them, anyway?"

Maya put a hand over her mouth and looked away. Shelby and Theo shook their heads and looked away, too. Only Amos and Angel sat like two statues.

"Um, guys?" Ellie looked the two remaining compaions. "Was it something I said?" She noticed two orange dots like cigarette butts glowing from under Angel's hood. Wow, he is really creepy!

"To utter those names is considered bad luck. Their fates were unusual, if not unknown," Angel said quietly.

"Sooo, I can't say their names? Or find out what the hell happened to them?"

"No, it's a bad omen." Angel leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "But I believe no old wives tales."

"Geez, I didn't know you guys were so superstitious," Ellie said flatly. "So give me a little history lesson then."

Angel shook his hood off and looked at her. "Come."

He promptly stood up, and Ellie glanced at the tender. He'd been staring, but when he saw Ellie look his way, he jumped and began rearranging the bottles on the shelves. She smirked, but she saw Angel give him an irate scowl.

Angel began for the door and Ellie got up and followed him out. "Cute old man," she commented after she emerged from the arched entrance. "He just wants a story to tell his patrons."

"This is not a story for the telling," Angel corrected. Without further ado, he strode to the second nearest house on the west side of the circle - the one next to the tower.

Does he know someone in there? How does he know so much... "Hey!" Ellie caught up to him as he reached the front door. "How do you know so much about all this stuff?"

"...?"

"Like..."

Amos suddenly appeared beside them.

Ellie gave him a look before continuing. "Like about what the Shinra's doing, all these people and places and thing."

"..."

Ellie sighed loudly. He's fishy or he just likes being mysterious, she grumbled to herself.

Angel turned away from her and opened the door with his two followers behind him.

Inside, an old woman sat rocking back and forth in her rocking chair by the window, humming to herself. Barely disturbed, she looked up at the gusts and a smile warmed her face.

"My child! Oh, I knew it was all lies they said!" She exclaimed, her fingers steadily darting back and forth with her needles.

Angel walked over to her, she gave him a hand and he kissed it softly.

What the...? She couldn't even finish her thought and she turned to Amos. "I thought this guy was a serial killer or something!"

Amos peered down at her. "Assassin. Everybody has a mother." And he looked back at Angel.

"Your things are upstairs," the woman patted Angel's hand, and he kissed her atop the head before he motioned the two to follow him upstairs.

The room was small and housed a bed, chair, and a chest in the corner, with a few motherly touches and aromas. Amos and Ellie seated themselves on the bed as they watched Agnel seat himself on the chest. She felt like she was in an interrogation room or something.

"Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, and Valentine disappeared. Barret and Marlene live in Corel. Cid is in Rocket Town. Zack is dead."

Ellie waited a full minute before allowing her aggravation out. "That's it? You brought me here just to tell me that?"

"Do you have anymore questions?" Angel ignored her protests.

"Aw, come on!" Ellie folded her arms.

"Sephiroth is still alive," Amos offered.

"Yeah okay," Ellie mumbled.

"Yeah... just kidding," Amos rolled his eyes.

Ellie almost began chuckling, but caught herself. Wait, old Sephy's still around? Is he serious? "I thought he got... cut up into a million pieces...?" She looked at Angel. Now she watched how much information she divulged herself in. But she didn't think these two really cared all too much about how she knew these things.

"There is nothing on file," Angel replied. "Partly because the Shinra are afraid of the Midgar Underground Society and the like, but mainly because they don't want to believe it themselves."

"Did you see him? How do you know?"

"I felt him."

"..." She furrowed her eyebrows and frowned. "Buuuuut, you didn't see him?"

"..."

"But we- I mean they killed his body and spirit! He can't still be alive."

"..."

"I don't believe in ghosts," Ellie folded her arms and looked out the window.

"Believe what you want." Angel stood up and opened the chest with his 'things' inside. Apparently, that was the end of the conversation. "There is a gold chocobo on the Farm."

"I knew it!" Ellie exclaimed. "Wait'll the rest hear about that!"

Amos just looked at her.

"Well, I guess that's that," she gave Angel a stare. "I'll tell the others to get ready then." She got up and began back down the stairs, muttering "don't believe in no ghosts..."