Chrono, Luca and Nadia enter the throne room. But after having come up from the dungeons, there was no doubt in their minds that the girl has escaped. There were several guardsmen, sitting, lying, or nursing injuries caused by her mad dash for freedom. It was unlikely that the king was unaware of this as well. P
"I heard that one of the warriors had escaped Captain. I wish to know how, and why, this was allowed to occur. NOW!" P
"Sir, I swear this was not intentional. My lord, I was attempting to break up a fight when…"P
"ENOUGH!! Haven't I told you NEVER to call me my lord? Honestly Chrono, I don't know what to do with you. I cannot order you imprisoned because of that last incident. And an execution…"P
"FATHER! How could you even think about that? After all Chrono has done for us…"P
"And that is why I cannot order him executed. I do not know of any higher ranking position that I could give you. Furthermore, I do not believe that there was any evidence of wrong doing by the party in question. Is that not so, Luca?" P
"Yes sir. It is. But…"P
"The attack. I know. But it may be that she was uncertain about how to deal with a large number of armed men coming towards her. Besides, this is not the first time such an incident occurred. If I recall correctly, this was just the way that you're now legendary adventure first began. Is that not so?" P
"Umm, sort of." P
"Well then, what can the harm be in letting one more loose? It may just benefit us yet again. If not, I'm sure that you can recapture the girl." P
"Yes Sir." P
Suddenly, a guardsman rushed into the room. P
"My lord! I have a new report on one of the rouges." P
"Excellent. Chrono, get you troops ready to march. We shall soon have the black-haired trouble maker in custody…"P
"Umm sir, it is the yellow haired youth, not the black one…"P
"WHAT!? But how? We have him locked up, don't we?" P
"I shall go and check on him immediately!" P
Chrono leaves, and heads down to the prison. Sure enough, Cloud was there. P
"You, come with me. The king wants to see you." P
Cloud looks at Barret, and Red XIII, and shrugs. He follows Chrono out, and they head up to the throng room. P
"As I told you. We have him in custody." P
"But my Lord, I saw him attacking a town this morning. How could he be here and there?" P
"I don't know…Still, it is something that must be considered." P
Cloud looks up, then decides the only way he'll get out of this mess, is to take a risk. P
"Let me guess. You saw someone who looked like me, south of here. Right?" P
Chrono looked annoyed that Cloud had said anything. The guardsman looked shocked.P
"Yes…But how?" P
"I just …..know. It's very hard to explain." P
The king looks at Cloud. P
"Well you'd better find some way, and fast. I do not like things I can't understand." P
"I believe it may be because he is in league with his double. In which case, we cannot trust a word he speaks." P
"Perhaps you are right…"P
Cloud looks at them, then decides. (I've gone this far. Why not go all the way?) P
"It's because of a curse." P
"A curse?" P
"It all started about 5 years ago. I was nearly killed by a man. The man I now chase. His name is Sephiroth. He's a mad man, who works with a demon called Jenova. They nearly destroyed my world. Anyway, I managed to kill Sephiroth, or so I though. Somehow he managed to survive. But in the process, Sephiroth nearly killed me. Another man, his name doesn't matter, took me, and everyone left alive, and altered us. He attempted to make us like Sephiroth. It failed. I'm the only one of those people left alive. Because of what was done to me, I can feel where Jenova, and Sephiroth are. They are the ones causing you trouble. Both of them have the ability to change forms. Like another person I know." P
The others in the room looked at him, then started to laugh. Chrono looked at him. P
"You expect us to believe that you can tell where the two shape-shifters are because of something done to you by another man? That's crazy!" P
"I know it sounds crazy, but it's true." P
Luca looked at him, then shook her head. P
"Theoretically, shape shifting may be possible, but not really." P
Cloud looked at her. "Well if you want to go into science, then I should be dead, as well as Jenova, and Sephiroth. I shouldn't be here, or my friends for that matter." P
"Perhaps, but that dose not explain how two of you exist." P
"Because Sephiroth is impersonating me! I don't know why though. Unless it's to slow me down. If I'm busy trying to convince you that I'm not him, then he has more time to do whatever it is that he's here to do. But I have no idea what it is he's here for." P
The king shook his head, but Nadia nodded. P
"That makes scene. If you're busy here, then you can't stop him, and he can take over our world. Which means that we should help them. Right?" P
Luca shook her head. P
"You idea is logical, but only if they are speaking the truth. Since we don't know the truth of his words…"P
Cloud though for a moment, then got an idea. P
"And what if I were to tell you where Sephiroth would strike next? And help you to stop him?" P
Chrono looked at him, then turned to the king. "It's a good idea. If I took him, and a few of his companions…"P
"And some guardsmen. Still, if we were to hold some of his allies here, it's unlikely he'll betray us." The king turned to Cloud. "Either you accept this, or you can come up with a better way to prove the truth of your words." P
Cloud nodded. "I agree. Just, don't get Yuffie to come. Otherwise she'll rob you blind, and lie about it." P
Chrono laughed. "Now that I find hard to believe. My Lord, if I may be excused, I shall go and gather his companions, and their equipment." P
The king nodded. "Very well, but leave him here. We would not want to ruin the surprise." P
Chrono left, and Cloud stood there, suddenly very concerned that he had mentioned Yuffie's talent. P
"I'm going to get stuck with that thief. I just know it." P
Luca looked at Cloud. "Well, Chrono was one to never turn down a challenge." P
CENTER* * * * */CENTER
P
IIn the dungeons./IP
The guardsmen standing outside of the section housing the rest of Cloud's party snaps to attention as Chrono walks in. P
"Sir!" P
"Relax. I'm getting a few more of the prisoners. We're going to find out what is going on. I want the man with the metal hand, the beast, and the one named Yuffie." P
"Yes sir!" P
The guardsmen head into the dungeon, and come out a few minutes latter with Yuffie, Vincent, and Red XIII. The three follow quietly. P
"Here they are sir. Anything else?" P
"Yes. Where was their equipment place?" P
"It's in here." P
One of the guardsmen opens a closet, which displays a collection of equipment. Without waiting, Yuffie runs forwards, and picks up her shuriken. P
"I'm glad you didn't break this. My dad would be seriously mad…Hey! Where's the Materia that was in here?" P
"You mean those funny rocks? There're back here." P
Sure enough, there was the Materia. Yuffie went forwards, and picked up the three largest one. The moment Red XIII saw them, he forgot where he was, and spoke up. P
"Yuffie! You told Cloud you left the master Materia on the Highwind!" P
"Umm…I forgot I had them in here. Besides, didn't we agree you weren't supposed to talk around other people?" P
Red started to grow deep in his throat. Before things could get any further out of hand, Vincent stepped between them. "Stop this now, or I'll get annoyed…".P
Chrono, and the guardsmen watched in shock as this occurred. But there shock seemed to be more towards the near fight between the allies, then the fact that Red could speak. Red turned towards them, and apologized. P
"I am sorry if I suppressed you. I also ask forgiveness for trying to start a fight here." P
Chrono just shook his head. "This is nothing unusual, or at least your taking is. I've seen stranger stuff before. Will you just get your stuff, and the stuff that belongs to your friend. We've got to leave soon." P
Yuffie looked up from the Materia. "Where we going?" P
"You'll find out soon enough." P
Soon they all had their own stuff, and Chrono was carrying Cloud's. When they returned to the throng room, they fond everything in order. Cloud nearly collapsed when he saw Yuffie thought. P
"You just had to choose her." P
Red looked at Cloud. "Perhaps you should ask her about the Master Materia latter." P
Cloud looked at Yuffie, but she refused to look back at him. "I should've guessed." P
Chrono walked forwards, towards the king. "My lord, the men and I will be off now. When we return, we will know the truth of his words." P
With that, Chrono lead the small band out to the main hall, where they were joined by more soldiers. And soon the party move out into the woods. P
HR
Author's notes: Yes, I know I never mentioned the Master Materia before. But then again, do you really think Yuffie would pass up the chance to grab something like that? Besides, in chapter 4, Thieving from a Thief, she losses it again.
