Fang hated the smell of Gaia VIII. She found it reminiscent of her Academian dreams with its whirring technology and faint oil. Some gas, too. Snow and the Reds didn't seem to care, but Vanille also scrunched up her nose. Burned metal and steam smelled… unnatural.

Eight stopped before an unlabeled door and forced it open to find a dead body on the ground, soaked with blood.

"Oh, great," Fang said. "What did we just walk in on?"

Vanille covered her mouth. "I don't feel a pulse!"

"Come on!" Snow dove in and got to resuscitating the man, but Vanille shook her head. It was too late.

Nevertheless, Deuce joined him and pumped the man's chest while Snow checked the wound. Blood stained Snow and Deuce's knees.

"A troubling symptom," Trey murmured. "… Possessee?"

Vanille snapped, "Of course it was caused by a possessee! They're the ones causing all these messes across all these worlds! Why won't they stop?"

"Because Bhunivelze has an agenda." Eight drifted toward what looked like an operating bed. "And he's found no reason to give up."

"We'll give him one," Fang said, "won't we?"

Deuce gave up and placed a hand over the man's eyes. "Bhunivelze should be recovering now. It would explain why he's sent out for so much carnage—it'll distract us from his recuperation."

"It won't work." Snow swore and slapped the man's chest before standing and looking at them each in turn. "We're not idiots, right?"

"No," Eight said. "We'll see these worlds survive Bhunivelze's three-fold apocalypse. But it means we don't get to interfere in his recovery."

"We'll keep both from happening! We can do both!"

"But can we?" Desperation betrayed Vanille's uncertainty. "How would we find him?"

Eight said, "There must be something in the minds of his pawns. Could we probe their minds, perhaps?"

"Hardly," Trey whispered. "Not without Cater."

"Cater's specialty lies in memories," Deuce said. "It might work, but it wouldn't be reliable."

"Of course!" Vanille snapped a finger. "Each pawn receives a copy of Bhunivelze's orders, yes? They understand the set pieces he arranges without the privilege of receiving a view of the full picture. Or so they say! Bhunivelze doesn't understand people or souls, only the physical shell that houses their intelligence. The mind is part of that, isn't it? Perhaps we could retrieve something from their subconscious?"

Quiet.

"That's kind of a long shot, isn't it?" Fang asked. "The mind is a part of the body, after all."

"The brain is, yes." Trey put a hand to his chin, the faintest smile playing on his lips. "It's a matter of great debate where the body ends and the soul begins, but if such a point exists, it has to lie within the brain. The mind is where the soul operates and the makings of it are so complex that even we can't yet comprehend the exact workings of it."

"So," Fang said, "even if what we wanted lied in their brains, we couldn't find it?"

Trey said, "Maybe not. But I see it as our best chance all the same. But what picture do they form together?"

"Eight?" Snow asked. "Do you agree?"

Eight agreed and Trey shrunk again. Fang wondered what it was they did to finally get him to shut up. Silent echoes in an empty hall, stained green from time. He played his silence well and she hated him for it.

She snapped out of a daydream and caught Trey staring at her.

Deuce frowned. "Even so, we'll need someone who can get inside and access their thoughts. None of our powers relate to, so we'll have to try mind games."

"Interrogation was never my strong suite," Snow said. "But I'll volunteer."

"I say Trey does it," Vanille said. "He's the best-suited of all of us."

Fang chuckled. "Is he? He's not exactly intimidating. I can give you intimidating. Let's just find the guys and put 'em through the ringer before I settle on something more violent."

Everyone agreed to that and they split up to find their targets. Deuce went with Fang as usual and the two took the courtyard and surrounding classrooms. The air changed.

They found the building eerily abandoned, with not nearly enough students in what was supposed to be one of the biggest schools in the world.

Passing hallways, they found cryptic messages on the walls spelling out a welcome to the return of some "sorceress Ultimecia" and the ghosts of dead kids scattered about the place. But no sign of the perpetrators.

Deuce stopped short after they finished the round and said, "Are we still displaced?"

"Yeah, no duh." Fang looked about them. "We got dead people and messages in an abandoned school that was only under attack for what, half an hour?"

"We're stuck in a maelstrom of time here, right? What happens when a maelstrom stills? Or the eye of a storm closes? Cater mentioned alternate timelines that merged around this place, likely caused by the incident last year. What if the effects reach further than a distorted shoreline?"

"Cut to the point."

Deuce gave a dim smile at that. "Are you sure you're okay? I thought you'd feel better after Kefka."

"No digging there, missy."

They moved on and Deuce remained quiet for once. Hell, she even avoided looking at Fang. And if something got Fang's skin all prickly, it was that odd avoidance thing she did. "I repeat the question," Fang said after too long staring at walls. "You sure we're not lost again?"

"… Not really."

"Damn it." Fang looked about them. "How do we correct our position?"

Deuce said something, but Fang caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. A blonde kid ran and turned the corner away from them with a squeaking sound like he had wet shoes. "Wait—there was someone there."

She moved to chase, but Deuce took her by the wrist. "Don't."

"What? You don't want any answers to this mess?"

Deuce shook her head. "I think that's Snow's friend and we can't afford for him to get distracted."

"Well ain't that just a load of bullshi—"

"I mean it. He might have killed the man downstairs."

"And you want to just let him get away?"

"We can catch him later. I doubt he'll do anything without his friend."

"There you are!" Rinoa slipped in from nothing and struck a coy pose. "I got time all figured out, now! Here, let me set you two straight."

"We have friends," Deuce said. "You'll take them, too?"

"Yeah. You make a neat signal when you're traveling, so it's easy to tell you apart."

Fang asked, "Got the distortions fixed?"

"Not quite, but some of your friends are helping us out and I bet we'll have it figured within the… month? It's all blurring in my head lately. Come on—I'll take you to Squall and the others."

Fang checked for the telling glow of her eyes that marked Bhunivelze's possession and cast Deuce a look to confirm. "I'll trust you this time," Fang said.

"I know—I'm pretty amazing."

She took them to the side and they stepped through nothingness to find a glimpse of the Historia Crux before stepping back into the same place, but full of students. Rinoa popped back out again before they could say anything.

Deuce opened her mouth, but was interrupted by Snow shouting from the end of the hallway, "We're gonna leave you behind!"

They joined up and gathered with Rinoa in an empty classroom. Well, mostly empty. One student sat in the back on a device, ears plugged with wires and eyes locked on their screen.

Rinoa took a seat on the desk that faced the rest of the classroom and clasped her hands in her lap. "We've got problems," she said.

"No duh," Fang said. "Cut the openers—we're here to find the chaos-wreakers."

"And friends," Snow said.

Vanille raised a hand. "What about saving possessees?"

"That takes the backburner," Eight said.

"Whoa, whoa." Rinoa put her hands out. "We're not about stringing people up by their toes around here—we've got a reputation to uphold! Well, maybe not Galbadia, but Balamb certainly does and I'm not letting any of you go around killing people!"

"Isn't that your job?" Deuce asked. "Killing people?"

Snow punched his fist. "These punks took Noel out! I'm not showing any mercy!"

"I don't think we'll have time to worry about that," Eight said.

It went quiet for a moment. Rinoa shifted and said, "We've got the help of two of their victims. One says they saw a hulking giant and a bratty half-pint."

"Their words?" Eight asked.

Rinoa nodded. "Galbadian students back that up, but we've yet to see them ourselves. Squall's taking a trip out here soon to help out, but for now we'll have to work on scattered rumors if you're certain you want to chase those ghosts."

"They haven't given you the same headaches?" Fang asked.

"Not after Noel. One of our friends has also gone missing, but the more we look at it, the less connected they appear."

"Let's do it!" Snow said. "I'm ready to go chase some bad guys!"

Deuce said, "I think there's an easier answer to this. The Council complained about some spirits wreaking havoc, and one of them mentioned this world. They might have a better lead for us to follow."

"I'm not leaving this place," Fang said. "Not if we're coming back. This time twist makes me sick."

Deuce looked around them. "We can bring them to us. But we'll need a vessel. Maybe two."

"Vessel?" Rinoa asked.

"To house the spirits." Trey cleared his throat and grimaced like he swallowed something foul. "They need a medium to speak through."

"Why don't we do it?" Vanille asked. "I've gotten kind of used to it."

"You're a god," Eight said. "Almost. Gods don't take influence, they give it."

Vanille frowned and Fang put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't need some trash ghost," Fang said. "Not anymore."

That earned a weak smile.

Rinoa clapped her hands. "So, I'll talk to my friends about providing bodies. In the meantime, how about you help us out with these time shenanigans?"

"That's not why we came," Eight said.

"I know. But I find this really fascinating and I want your help."

Snow said, "It's not like I can say no to that."

"Much as I want to," Fang said. "We really don't need everyone on the spirit case. Who wants to help the girl with her thing?"

"I have a name."

Fang said, "Don't all speak up at once—who wants to help the poor kid?"

Vanille said, "Perhaps Trey and Deuce should handle the spirits while the rest of us help Rinoa?"

"Sounds good to me." Fang gestured. "Get going, you two. We don't got all day."

Deuce cast an odd look between them before taking Trey and leaving.


"Why did they send us here of all places?" Seifer asked before shoving open the doors to the abandoned lab.

"Beyond," Fujin said.

"We don't even know if this place has what we want."

"Do we know what we want?"

"I know it's that way."

"Compass?"

"No idea. I only got in the ghost business recently. But they want something that way. What, didn't they leave you with some directions, too?

"Not like that."

"Then what?"

"Unsure."

With the distance they traveled, he expected to need water, but since their visit to hell, he felt… different. The desire to drink or rest felt diminished and he wondered how long he went without sustenance. He felt weak, but that must be from the travel. Maybe he already started on his way to immortality.

Fujin didn't say much and Seifer tried once or twice to find out what she thought. But then she explained herself as unsure and that signaled him to leave her alone.

They stepped over fallen papers, burned cloth, and blackened vials. What used to be a dozen test tubes narrowed to two surviving capsules. The rest were blown out or sealed shut. Seifer wondered what used to go into these things.

"Recordings." Fujin flipped between blocky pieces of technology that kind of resembled what they used to use back home. "Helpful, maybe."

"Won't know if we can't view them."

Fujin checked out a chunky monitor. Seifer helped her find a slot for the disks and after too much finagling, they got it playing.

"The hell is this?" Seifer asked when it showed someone floating in the tank for the first several minutes. "I don't like watching people sleep."

"False."

"I don't like watching most people sleep. This is a subset of most people." Seifer jabbed her in the head and she chuckled.

Fujin then found the speed toggler. They skipped past a lot more sleeping and resumed at the appearance of someone approaching the tube.

"Lab coat," Fujin said.

"I guess we're not the only ones. Looks the same, too."

"How?"

"No idea. Oh, shit, they left again. So much for that." Seifer worked the toggle and they skipped further. "Was the thing labeled?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"Dates."

"Any idea how they work?"

"Little."

"Figure that out, then. We'll skip to whatever end we have and work backward. That's usually the most interesting part."

"Different place."

"Which?"

"Tapes. They're not this lab."

Seifer paused and looked between the recordings and the place they stood in. Their lab here suffered too much damage to make it obvious, but when he compared them, he found different wall layouts and different tubes. "The hell…?"

"Copies," Fujin said. "Of the original tapes."

"These aren't tapes."

"Whatever."

"We can't tell if these are copies without the originals to compare them."

"Protection."

"Doesn't seem very effective to keep them in another lab for protection."

"We can't tell if it's effective without knowing the planet better."

"Fine." Seifer shuffled through the blocks. "Let's just try another one."

The quality was worse with this one. It kept cutting out and getting all scratchy. Seifer caught the sleeping man opening his eyes once or twice. They tried another block and heard voiceover about the man in the tube, but it was some boring crap about his hometown and how he almost died and whatnot.

"Mako," Fujin said. "Dangerous."

"What?"

"They're treating the man with mako energy. Sounds closer to what we need."

"Oh. Hm."

They didn't watch the videos in chronological order. There were so many of them, they spent time trying to decipher the notes written on the sides in the hope of finding something worth watching. There must have been months between all these things.

"What are you looking for?"

Fujin snapped to attention and Seifer reluctantly looked to find a sharp-dressed man standing in the doorway. Even the suits looked similar on this world.

"Who?" Fujin asked.

"Call me Tseng." The man approached them like Rinoa's pops would. "Who would rifle through Shinra's old recordings?"

"Weird place for random recordings," Seifer said.

"Weird place for strangers to watch movies. And such movies they are."

Seifer gave up on this one and turned away from the screen. "What are these things about, huh?"

"The effects of Nibelheim and Mako on a victim. What else?"

"They keep mentioning those. What does it mean?"

"What does Mako mean?"

"And all that other crap you're talking about."

Tseng took a seat near the screen. "This is a year into Cloud's imprisonment. The poison's effects have settled in for the long-term. Do you know Cloud?"

"No."

"Then what have you come here for?"

"Information."

"What kind?"

"Screw you."

Tseng knit his brow together. "You make the strangest of travelers. Most wouldn't leave their home ground on such a wild goose chase."

"We aren't most people."

"Clearly."

"Mako," Fujin said.

"I can tell you about Mako," Tseng said. "It fuels our planet, and the once-owners of this ruined place used that to ruthless ends. This demonstrates only one of the ways in which we abused the planet for cruel means."

When they didn't say anything, Tseng gave them another odd look and continued. "Cloud survived severe physical injuries, so Hojo used him as a baseline reading for the use of Mako on weakened humans. He wasn't the only one, but I couldn't save all recordings of the other experiment."

The video glitched out and when it came back, personnel crowded out the view of the sleeping man.

"Did he die?" Seifer asked.

"Both Cloud and his friend escaped. No one knows how they broke out, especially since Cloud remained comatose for the two years he and his friend spent on the run."

Something burned in Seifer's chest and he looked to the surviving tanks. "They broke out."

"Yes."

"How?"

"… We don't know."

"No, I'm asking myself, dumbass. They're soaking in that freak juice—"

"Mako."

"That green goo does stuff to them, doesn't it? Does it give them power? Heal them?"

"It poisons them."

"It does more than that. Unless you wasted four years' worth of reelers on a curiosity, that is."

Tseng raised an eyebrow at him.

"Different." Fujin held up another video.

"Give it." Seifer replaced the video and they found footage of both tubes this time. "That first one broke out."

"Yes."

"How were they different? When they first came in?"

"They were injured in different places and the one that broke out had previous exposure to Mako."

"That made him a boring subject." Seifer leaned in as if he could get more information from the grainy mess of an image. "This mad scientist didn't care about bodies that didn't react. Even if that guy decided to spend all those drugs on this blondie, there's no way he'd spend extra money on the other one. They relied on the Mako to keep them comatose, but tall-dark-and-handsome there broke through the conditioning."

"You're correct so far."

"State the obvious, why don't you." They couldn't rely on people breaking out of free will, though. There had to be something else they could use. "Bout time I test it out for myself. These tubes still work?"

"The reserves might have some left, but I wouldn't recommend—"

"Good to know." Seifer got to work starting one up and Fujin helped him. Eventually Tseng gave in and showed them how to work it. Fujin let Seifer step in and absorb the energy they kept talking about.

Green stuff flooded the glass and fear gripped his chest at the thought of being trapped in it. But it didn't act like normal water, so he forced himself to relax.

As it approached his chin, he watched Fujin grow tense. He knew she felt the same draw as he did to the breath of death that filled him.

He woke to something green and pale. It felt similar to hell, only this drained him faster. Every breath ached and he struggled to stay alert. Sound muffled. He floated amongst nothingness.

"Hey." Speaking above a whisper took effort, but he did it. "I have some questions for you."

No one responded. His skin prickled. The air thinned and Seifer found breath. Weight increased on his shoulders like a sack of bricks, but he kept straight. He wasn't going to embarrass himself in front of all these spirits.

"What brings you here?" came a rumbling and raspy voice. "Why use my equipment for such tiresome shenanigans?"

"Screw your equipment. I just want to know what it takes to break out of this place."

"You want to leave?"

"I can leave whenever I want. How does a wimp get out of here?"

"Mm, a fine charade you play." The voice coalesced and a wispy-haired old man grinned at him. "You've seen your own share of darkness, have you not? Yes, you'd make a lovely subject."

"Get out of my head, Hojo."

"You stepped into this realm, child. You may be ghostsworn, but that doesn't protect you from the laws of the worlds. In this place, we learn you as well as you learn us."

"I said can it."

"My, my, you do lash out. Like a flower protects itself with thorns, you have something sensitive in there, don't you?"

"I said shut it!" Seifer forced a step forward and felt something pull him back.

Hojo's grin turned wicked. "You make it too easy, child. Very well, you wish to know of Zack's escape? You know he's here with us? Perhaps he'll make an appearance and tell us himself?"

"Not today."

"And how would you know?"

"You said yourself that I'll pull in this place as much as you'll pull me. Zack's not here, old coot."

"Doesn't mean we can't see the scene as he remembers it." Dusty ground formed beneath them. "Death brings everything back in such clarity, does it not?"

Rain fell and blood mixed with the puddles. Seifer refused to look down. "You trying to scare me?"

"I'm educating you."

"It's not working."

"Everyone likes to paint resistance as some pretty dream of glory with happy freedom at the end. Really, it gets valuable bodies broken. Do you want to die riddled with lead?"

Seifer yanked past the force holding him back and grabbed for Hojo. "No games, you hear me?"

"Oh, but you know games now better than anyone else. Or did you mean to let your sorceress play you for a fool?"

Seifer spiraled at the reminder, but he couldn't let this guy win. He wouldn't!

"If you stick around, we could even replay your worst nightmares for you. Do you want a play by play?"

Despite his resistance, the things holding Seifer back grew in strength. This place posed a greater risk than Hojo's taunts and Hojo knew it. Seifer should get out while he could.

Hojo took on a look of smug satisfaction. "You already know the answer you seek. You just don't realize it."

"Maybe I'm dumber than you think."

"Maybe you're better at putting up a mask than you think. Honestly, you're wasted working for the living. … Knight."

"I don't work for them anymore."

"You do by extension. Alas, the ghosts you bound yourself to are better than nothing. Did they send you here to get information or to practice, I wonder?"

The pull on him grew stronger. He gave up and slammed into glass.

Mako fled back through the pipes that brought it and he gasped down living breath. His body hurt and his lungs burned. He fell through the opening and Fujin caught him. She helped him find his feet before mentioning that Tseng left hours ago.

"You left me in there for hours?" Seifer asked.

"No sign."

"We didn't agree to one."

"Done?"

"I got what I needed."

Fujin sniffed and helped him sit. "Leave?"

"Soon." He doubled over, hunger overtaking him. "Shit, we haven't eaten since we found Pandemonium. Got any food?"

"Negative."

"Let's get that done."

"Not hungry."

"Why the hell not?"

"Hell."

"… What?"

"Realm change did something."

Seifer groaned. "Then why did it hit me now? Never mind—let's just hit the first food place we see and threaten them if we have to."

"Tseng left gil."

"Fine. We'll use that. But let's get going because I can barely walk as is. Next time it's your turn to deal with ghost bastards."

"Agreed. And you should know that a lady snuck up on us. Says she's also hunting."

"Let her get in line. We get ours first."

"Roger."