"Can I help you?" asked the attendant at Wutai's general store.

"Yeah." Cid replied, trying to put his spear somewhere a trifle less noticeable. He wasn't good at dealing with people, he had to admit, but if it was him or Vincent, the choice was obvious. "I'm lookin' for a kid, might've passed through here… about…" He placed his hand at his mid upper arm. "…about this tall, brown hair… carryin' a damn big throwin' star thing and some kinda shield? Answers to… um… kiss a…"

"Kisaragi." Vincent added from the back of the store. "Yuffie Kisaragi."

"Yeah, that."

A flicker of recognition in the attendant's eyes, and Cid thought they might have gotten what they were after for one brief moment. Then she bowed, raised her head, and replied: "I'm sorry. We haven't seen anyone like that."

Cid flipped a cigarette from the packet in the band of his goggles, ignoring the curl of the attendant's lip as he lit it. "Damn. Well, thanks anyway. Uh… you got any materia?"

She shook her head, silently.

They're talkative little bastards in Wutai. "All right. Vinny?"

"Hold on, Cid." Vincent said, his voice as soft and calm as ever. "Is this box part of the store's storage?"

"...the hell should I know, Vin?" Cid asked, shaking his head. Valentine was a puzzle.

"It was left here a few months ago," answered the store attendant. "The original owner has likely abandoned it, and I have not been able to open it. If you wish, you may take it, as I doubt its owner will return."

"Thank you," Vincent replied, not taking his eyes from the box.

"What's up?" Cid asked, coming over to look at the box with him.

"I've seen boxes like this before, when I worked... in my old position." Vincent didn't like saying that he had been a Turk, and Cid had to agree that – particularly in Wutai – it wasn't the smartest thing to say. His golden claw clicked over what Cid had assumed was simple decoration. "It's a puzzle-box, made in the old style."

Vincent laid the box on the floor again, and started manipulating the designs with his living hand, pushing some designs into the box and pulling out others. The box occasionally clicked as he pressed a design, and every time it did, Valentine paused and stared at his handiwork so far.

"So... when you get it in the right position, the box opens?"

Vincent nodded, not turning his eyes away from the box. "An early combination lock." He pressed one of the designs a little further into the inlaid wood, and with a click, the box's lid flew open... revealing a shining blue orb within.

"That one of ours?" Cid asked quietly, looking at the materia.

Vincent shook his head. "I don't believe so. I do not recognise the patterns. I think I've seen materia like this before, though... in my old position." He picked the materia up in his flesh hand, held it up for a moment, and stared into it.

Suddenly, it was missing. Vincent blinked, and then turned to see Yuffie Kisaragi running out of the general store, materia in hand. Cid was in hot pursuit, having even dropped his cigarette, and Vincent stood to follow them.

Outside, Cid was leaning against a pole, breathing heavily, and Yuffie was nowhere to be seen.

"You should stop smoking," Vincent observed.

"$^@* you," Cid replied.

Vincent scanned the area, half-raising his Peacemaker out of habit. "Where could she have gone?"

"That's the damn problem.. She couldn't have gone nowhere. 'Less maybe she dived." Cid raised himself from the pole enough to gesture at the lake the general store was set over.

Vincent walked to the edge of the bridge, and looked into the water. Shaking his head, he turned back to Cid. "Do you think we should tell Cloud?" he asked.

From the way Cid looked at him, Vincent knew exactly how receptive he was to that plan. Cid pulled the packet of cigarettes from the band of his goggles, shook one out, lit up, and took a deep drag. "$^@* it," he announced. "I need a drink."