Chapter 10 – Blood on my Hands

So many words can't describe my face.

The feelings evolved, so soon to break out.

I can't relate to a happy state,

Feeling the blood run inside.

"System" –Queen of the Damned Soundtrack *

Cloud felt cold. Not the cold that tickles its way through your body, but a deep, internal freezing gale. His body was warm, but his teeth chattered and his neck twitched on occasion. He'd felt this way before, of course. He knew the cause of this unholy scream of the dark.

It was always there deep in his mind, watching him with a emerald gaze. And even now, Cloud was just a pathetically small part of all the complexity that was the mind of Sephiroth.

Cloud could never understand Sephiroth, but he did know the power and the insanity. There was nothing human left behind that malicious stare, nothing but a complex mass of madness and unshed tears.

Cloud had no pity. Sephiroth had taken too much from him. He had broken the grip of pity – it was only hatred that Cloud felt for the one winged angel.

What was more terrifying was the unnerving feeling that there were worse things than Sephiroth in this labyrinth of human suffering. He could only hope so much that this was a false suspicion.

He tried to shut his mind from thought. He'd failed. He'd failed to protect his friends from capture the first time, and now he'd done it again. Ahead of him, the falcon man Pitasha led the way. He looked at the floor with a sigh. The strange place all seemed the same, a long corridor filled with cells. Cages.

Finally, the group reached a large metal door. This all looked like your stereotypical lair for the enemy you knew nothing about. He'd done it all before.

Why did it seem so bad this time?

The doors opened, and his eyes widened.

"So what now?"

The deep voice was blunt against Yuffie's ears, she had no need to wonder right now. But Tifa was thinking the same as Rude, pondering.

"I don't know. They could be anywhere…"

Rude took a couple pacing steps around the altar, thinking hard. Tifa watched him, she had nothing else to do, no ideas. She felt weak, and she missed Cloud. She wished he could just tell them in his cocky way where to go.

"Lifestream…"

Tifa and Rude both turned and looked at Yuffie. She was facing them, her face low and her eyes slitted and dark. The look on her normally happy face was frighteningly sharp, like the sudden choke of cold water washing over Tifa.

"Go to the Lifestream." She said in a harsh voice.

Tifa walked over cautiously, and began to put a hand to her shoulder.

"Wait." Rude murmered.

"Come to us, we need you."

And then Yuffie looked up at them, and the dark expression cleared to one of angry confusion. "What are you staring at?"

"You were talking…" Tifa said, just as confused.

"No I wasn't!" Yuffie paused. "What am I doing over here?"

"You were talking about the Lifestream." Rude told her softly.

She shook her head. "Stop fooling around, you jerks!" Another pause. "What did I say?"

"Something about someone needing us."

Tifa brightened a little. "Maybe that's where we need to go then?"

"I don't trust it."

"Oh."

"What?" Yuffie demanded. "The Lifestream, that's great! That's where Vinny's going!"

"It could be a trap." Rude cautioned. It seemed obvious to Tifa that he wasn't really sure what to do. Apparently, none of the three were used to making the decisions.

"Rude, I don't give a rats ass what you do, but I'm going to the Lifestream. I can fight my way out of a trap!" Yuffie wiped a dry tear from her face and looked fiercly at Tifa. "Tifa, are you with me or not?"

Tifa was still shaken by the anger on Yuffie's happy-go-lucky face, but she nodded. "It's the only lead we got."

"Fine, I'll come too then." And then the stern man was quiet.

"How do we get to the Lifestream?" Yuffie asked. Apparently, the thought that she had unknowingly spoken their next move didn't bother her, but Tifa shared Rude's view on it. It was too easy. Would they just be leading themselves into disaster?

Did it matter?

"Me and Cloud got there through Mideel, during the Earthquake. I don't know any other way." Tifa thought aloud.

"Too bad Midgar doesn't have the mako-chasm anymore. But that would be too easy." Yuffie muttered.

"Maybe there is some connection to the Lifestream here?" Tifa asked, thinking about all Aeris and Bugenhagen had said before.

"I don't know. We should split up and look around." Yuffie shrugged. "I'll go look in the forest, and – er – you and Rude can look around here."

Rude nodded, and looked pointedly at the shore below them. "I'll go down there."

Tifa nodded, and the three of them began down the steps. She watched Yuffie carefully as she desended, who paused only to take one last look at Vincent's body. The girl dragged the other one, the soldier, to the edge of the altar and threw him into the indigo water. Tifa held back a sobby sigh and began to look for a way into the Lifestream, to get away from here.

Aeris halted as they approached a huge building structure that gazed intimidatingly down at them. It was made all of cold metal, and she could hear the silent screams echoing eternally through it's halls. She grimaced, then pointed and said. "This is it."

"So what exactly do these people do?" Reeve asked, his dark eyes intent on the place.

Aeris shook her head. "They can control anyone in – my position – with a small amount of effort. That's how Feliyui made me appear when Reno and Elena were attacked."

"I think I understand. What do they want with peoples departed souls?" Nanaki asked.

Aeris shrugged. She really wasn't sure, but she didn't get a positive reaction from the happenings. "All I know is they lock a lot of them up there – the more important ones for whatever they're doing. After that, I'm just as confused as you."

"Well, let's go. We'll just have to beat the answers from them." Reeve's voice sort of had a sighing quality to it. "Too bad though."

"I won't mind scuffing them up a bit." Reno said thoughtfully. Elena nodded, but Reeve looked at them weakly.

"I'd rather you didn't. It could be dangerous. But, I don't control your lives, do what you want."

No more words passed as they stalked forward to the fortress. Aeris almost cried out as another silent scream ripped through the air. And suddenly, there was someone there in front of them.

The light was too bright for his eyes, and Vincent felt as if something was wripping at his body and mind, tearing through his defences. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth against it the pain. His head hurt like holy hell.

And then, the weightlessness stopped. He tried to look around and only saw the blinding green light, even though he was sure his ruby eyes were open. He wasn't sure of much right then though, if blindness was all that happened to him, he'd be lucky.

He heard his name being called somewhere out there. At first, he thought he'd imagined it, but as it repeated over and over in his head, he became more and more sure that it was a startling reality. A number of people flashed through his mind at the sound, though he couldn't place anyone. At first, it sounded like Lucresia. But it was softer, and for some reason he thought it was Yuffie.

But with a sharp clarity he locked onto the identity.

"Aeris."

His mind conjured an image of her face, and he was surprised to be realiving the image of her death like some sort of movie. His head was on fire, the pain was agonizing.

"Vincent, are you alright?"

He wasn't sure, but he choked out, "Yes" through the pain.

He blinked as the light began to dull, changing instead to a strange, midnight-type seen. Right above him was Aeris.

Her auburn hair was soft against his skin as she bent over to look at his face. He had hardly even known her, but the familiarity was relieving. Her skin – almost as pale as his – her green eyes and her delicate elegance; it was all familiar.

He sat up and gazed around in confusion. His entire body ached, but it was almost nice compared to the flaming pain from earlier.

With a start, his memory jogged back, and he wondered if he was still alive.

He doubted it.

Strange though, this isn't what I expected…

He looked around and saw that Aeris wasn't alone. Reeve, Red XIII, Reno and Elena all looked at him in concern. Marlene wasn't with them, and he hoped that they had left her somewhere safe, instead of that she was lost by herself.

"Where am I?" He muttered, half to see if he was dead, and half because he didn't know what else to say.

Red XIII looked up at the sky. "Lifestream."

Vincent grunted in acnolodgement. "Where are you all going?"

"We're finding a way home." Reeve told him with a smile.

"Did you get eaten by the green thing too?" Elena asked.

All this was too much for Vincent to take in at once. He paused a moment, then said, "Not that I know of."

"Then your – like me?" Aeris asked with a hopeless look of sadness, mixed with a strange little glimmer of hope. Vincent was slightly upsetted by that look. He nodded.

"Oh."

"Well, are you coming with us?" Red asked, looking back at him. He felt somewhat uncomfortable under all those eyes. He nodded again, wondering what exactly they were doing. Red obliged. "We're going after a shapeshifter – three, technically – that we think brought the green things on us. They have some kind of power over the dead, and we think they can return us. Well, me, Reeve, Elena and Reno anyway. We – um – aren't sure about Aeris and you."

"I see." He looked passed them, and saw the huge fortress they seemed to be headed towards. He gritted his teeth, thinking of the Falcon Man. "Cloud and the others may be there."

The effect was instantaneous, though whether the reaction was more positive or negative, Vincent wasn't sure. Everyone's faces lost a large amount of hope at knowing that Cloud and the others hadn't escaped, and were most likely in trouble.

But Aeris. The pure joy on her face at the mention of Cloud's name sent a warm feeling throughout Vincent's mind.

It was like the feeling he got when thinking of Lucresia.

He stood wordlessly and followed Reeve and Red XIII as they began towards the huge stone building that seemed to radiate so much pain.

[The Mistress wants you to bring the new prisoners to her. I'd hurry too, if you value your head.]

Pitasha nodded and began to walk away from Safiris, looking as though he'd rather be in his falcon form. But Safiris knew his vision was better the way he was.

Honestly, she was having trouble seeing through the darkness of the corridors, but she didn't want him to know that. She hissed up at him with a telepathic laugh and slithered in the opposite direction, thinking on what she should be doing.

At first, she considered checking on Feliyui, but decided against it. He was probably fine, and she was not his closest friend anyway.

But she could take over his shift of checking on some of the prisoners. Especially the ones that knew Cloud and his friends; they might be acting up at the sight of their old friends. She started at the front of the corridor and turned back human. She peeked into the first cell, avoiding the dirty gaze it's prisoner gave her, and shook her head, looking into the next cell. This time, she saw someone she needed to see.

She unlocked the door and walked carefully inside. The prisoner looked up at her briefly and growled,

"Whatcha want?"

"Your name is Dyne, correct?"

He shrugged, a harsh look on his face. "Ya, guess I am. What's your problem?"

"Just checking on you." She took a moment to gaze around the room, then shrugged. "Everything looks alright. You keep quiet, okay?"

"Screw a squirrel bitch."

"If that's how you feel." She turned, already irritated, and made her exit.

She walked down the long hallway a way until she reached another person of importance.

They had not found the canyon guardian Nanaki yet, but they knew they would soon, so they had captured his human "grandfather," Bugenhagen when he died.

The man looked up at her with empty eyes and said, "I know you have Nanaki's friends now. I can feel them."

"Shuttap you old idiot." Safiris snapped, annoyed that he had so easily seen through them.

"What you are doing is not good for the planet."

This tipped the viper woman a little closer to over the edge, and she raised a hand menacingly. "We are going to save the planet! What we do now is none of my affair!"

"It's your choice. But I'm warning you, you must be careful." The white-haired canyon man chuckled dryly. "The bad guys always lose."

She kicked him with a snarl and walked away, now severly more angered.

It took her a fairly long time to find the next person, but for a minute she almost didn't go in to see him. Who cares how important he was, this man was dangerous!

She wondered why The Mistress had kept him, but then decided that he could become trouble if let to be reborn on Earth again. Safiris' master was definitely wary of him, possibly even scared of him. It made sense, he had done a lot of damage.

She took a deep breath, ignoring the mocking words coming from one of the cells, and entered through the strong door that opened into a bone-chilling room of raw, unfocused anger and insanity. She closed the door behind her.

And stood there staring, unable to move. She felt like something had struck her deep in her soul in a place where there was no healing. She now felt the awesome power of the one winged angel as those lethal eyes beat into hers, just as horrible and more so than even Feliyui's best descriptions. She couldn't escape, she couldn't run. She couldn't even scream.

She walked forward without even noticing, and put her hands over Sephiroth's magical shackles. They began to dissipate slightly. A sharp laugh echoed through the room, a laugh that was not quite human.

And then, she began to feel again, like her whole body had fallen asleep and was suddenly awake again. She struggled against the power of the silver haired man and this time, a satisfactory scream erupted from her throat. She pushed hard at her limbs, terrified and wanting only to get out of this place!

She tripped and fell to the ground, and a twitch shuddered through her. She slowly regained herself fully and noticed that Sephiroth was not even looking at her. She closed her eyes, just noticing salty tears that fell down her cheeks. She let out a terrified sob and began to scurry away from Sephiroth. He seemed preoccupied by the dissipating shackles.

And then, the door swung open, and a woman Safiris did not know walked in. Her eyes were both red, symbolizing she was one of the closest of The Mistresses servants. She stood there, watching Safiris, and said.

"She is not pleased, you have nearly freed him."

Safiris just looked sheepishly up at her.

"However, you have proved a point. You and your companions have no right to be able to remove his chains." The woman informed her coldly.

"What does the Mistress want?" Safiris choked out.

A smile graced the face of the woman, a smile almost as horrific as the one of the one winged angels face as he watched the proceedings. "She'll come and repair the chains later."

Safiris began to stand, and the woman shook her head. "No, you're staying here until she gets around to coming to fix things." And then she walked out of the room, closing the door tightly.

Even as the cell became dark and freakishly quiet again, the green energy disappaited on the shackles.

Safiris was not sure which came first, his deep, malicious laugh of triumph of her blood curdling scream.

Sephiroth found the madness stronger in him than ever before. He couldn't resist, it had him taken over, transfixing his sanity much like he had the Viper Girl.

He had recognized the woman in the doorway. The name would not come to him, but somehow he had known her. And for some nameless reason, it sent him into a snarling fit of hysterics. He lunged for her, seeing her face before him mocking him with it's scarlet eyes. He didn't realize that she had left, and that he was mercilessly thrashing the shapeshifter instead. All he could focus on was that gratifying scream. He laughed wickedly and knocked her to the ground, clawing at her face with his bare fingernails. Thought was impossible as adrenaline and power rushed him like a hurricane.

Blood splattered onto his nearly bare chest as he showered his power unto the unfortunate girl. Every scream fuelled him farther.

Even without his sword, he was a force to be reconed with. Safiris, who to him appeared to be the woman with the red eyes, tried feebly to kick him, but he felt nothing but more desperation.

And then she managed out of some amazing strength to flip him away from her, and he landed on his back on the icy stone. This sent him into even more insane laughter, and he leapt at her again.

However, he was tiring of this, and his burst of madness and adrenaline was running out. As he lunged for her, she instinctively kicked him in chest, and it managed to mess up his attack. He tripped and fell neatly on top of her. It took him a long time to realize this was not what he had planned, not from stupidity but from the mindless arrogance he felt with the need to kill. He lay there a moment, and then fatigue hit him hard from the pause and he returned completely to a somewhat half-sane state of confusion. At once, two things occurred to him.

One was that she was not the red eyed woman, and the other was that he was crushing her.

Had he been another person, he would have also noticed that he was on top of her in a somewhat irresponsible position, but he was too busy clambering slowly to his feet to notice.

She ran deep into the farthest corner and watched him with huge eyes. He shuddered and examined her carefully. She was bleeding from deep claw-wounds and her clothing was in tatters.

He held his head and sat down against the wall, watching her carefully. His mind was full of troubled thoughts.

With a sigh, he put his head against the wall and closed his eyes. The shapeshifters blood flowed down from his hands and chest in a gruesome manner, giving him the look of what he was.

A maniacal killer.

He hadn't realized he was asleep until he awoke, his back aching from leaning on the wall, and a migraine beating down in his mind. He had also missed when Aklojha had come and remade his magical chains.

He licked his lips and waited, with the eyes of a predator.

* I think this song is sung by Chester Bennington and um, that guy from Korn, I forgot his name, hehehehe.

Authors Note: Yay! New chappy! I wouldn't had it out earlier but I had to go to my dads.  (cries) MY DOGGY DIED!! I know that has nothing to do with anything but… (goes into a severe state of depression) Maybe I should lay off on the depressing music…

Anyhoo, I LOVE YOU GUYS!! PLEEEEEEEEEASE KEEP READING!! xD