Author's Note: Story was written by several People: Myself, Katana, Oblivion, Epiphany, Screaming Infidelities, Naomi, silvercrystal, Nero, and Crimson Regret.

Story: The sorceress Edea, and the crazy and powerful, Sephiroth are trying to drain energy from different worlds. A handful of people, drawn along against their will are the only light to quell the ever-growing darkness.

Story Includes Characters From: FFX-2, FF8, FF7, Kingdom Hearts 2

Riku

Riku stood against the trunk of a large tree that towered high into the sky, its beautiful lush leaves catching the light, the light of the sun as it shined through the large canopy of the forest he had landed himself into, the Keyblade gripped firmly within his palm, the majestic blade glimmering with the light that bounced and reflected around him, catching every detial of his body, the body that hadn't been touched by the light- the hope for so long. Sighing, he glanced towards the unconcious warriors once more, all nine of them obviously in pretty bad shape, he could see bruises already forming on some of them, which meant they had either been in a large fight, or they had fallen somewhere above...where the light still shined, yet wasn't strong enough to break through the darkness he once again stood in.

He had become ascustomed to darkness, the cold icy feeling of being alone with no one to help you, no one to speak to- even associate with. Yet he wasn't alone, not this time, at least, he hoped. He knew he wasn't dreaming, he knew that the nine warriors laying infront of him were real- he had been tainted by lies and the dark too long, it was about time someone else joined him. However, the light that shined down upon him shocked him, it had felt like an eternity in the darkness- and now the fresh rays of...sunshine beat upon his pale features, lighting up his eyes and rekindiling the hope within his soul. The hope that the darkness woulden't consume him, the hope that the light would free him from his state of chaotic peril. Shrugging inwardly, he lifted his head and brushed a strand of his pale hair out of his eyes, which were hardened and cold- a consequence of his actions so long ago. He knew what he did was wrong, he knew when he was aligning himself with the evil that destroyed his life that it was wrong- yet he was blinded by love, which he still hadn't gotten in the end.

Shaking his head and forcing himself back to the present, he merely gripped his Keyblade tighter and thought back to the odd silver haired man that had appeared before him not too long ago, it was obvious that something was brewing, Riku had felt the power flowing through both Sephiroth and the odd woman that they had met up with, yet the most disturbing thing that met his eyes was the petite blond girl that they had encountered- Sephiroth had killed her companion, and he had thought he would have done the same to her...yet there she lay, right infront of his eyes. Tapping the Keyblade against the tree tunk , he silently hoped that by helping, and guiding the nine before him, that he would somehow atone for his past sins, for the past evils that he had commited and tainted his heart with- he was no better then the Heartless he had battled...and he hoped that somehow, by the arrival of the new warriors infront of him. He would find peace.

Squall Leonhart

Squall lay sprawled against the cold forest floor that he had came in contact with. His cheek numbed from the impact from the fall, his Gunblade clutched absentmindidly within his palm. He had drawn it out when relizing that someone had freed Edea, the evil Sorceress that they could only imprison, and even in his unconcious state...the visions of the open cage still flashed within his mind. Each of his teams horrified faces etched into his mind as they saw the open prison. Who would do such a horrible thing, as to let evil incarnete reign free?

That was what haunted him the most, the unknowing of what vile thing had let Edea out of her cage. Edea was possibly the only thing Squall feared, or her power- her power to destroy them all, that was what frightened him. Squall stirred in his unconcious state, images and flashbacks of the fall into the vast expanse of darkness he was now lost within flickering in his minds eye, the screams and startled yells of his teamates- of Rinoa, still pounding within his ears, his own heart beating rapidly even though he wasn't awake. The impact of the fall still stung his body, and he hoped- deep within his body, that everyone would be ok- he had learned so much things from Rinoa already- in their years together. He didn't want that learning to stop, not yet, not ever.

Rinoa

One small breath, and another, soon they were coming in short gasps until her eyes snapped open and she studied the ground upon which she laid. She put her hands out in front of her, she could still feel them, which was a sign that she was not in fact paralyzed from the cruel fall that they had all experienced. Her eyes darted around, blinking several times in the blinding light that was the sun. Her back was stiff, and rigid with pain. She bit her lip before moving her head slowly, to see the others that laid beside her. There was Squall, next to her on the right. She could see his chest rising and falling, and she knew he was alive. She reached out to grasp his hand, and entangled her fingers in his.

Rinoa Forced herself onto her knees, despite the waves of pain that threatened to send her sprawling onto the ground into another state of unconsciousness. With her spare hand she pressed it to her forehead and shook her long black highlighted hair out of her eyes. The sorceress was missing, everyone was unconscious, with the exception of herself, unless more were starting to revive, and they were in some unknown place. Rinoa looked around to see faces that she didn't know, which aroused her curiosity. She pressed her hand more tightly into Squall's and silently hoped he would awake, to protect her, for she was afraid.

Rinoa's head slowly turned to rest on a pair of piercing blue eyes. She let out a small gasp and her mouth turned into an 'O' of surprise. She stared at the pale-blonde haired male in shock and surprise for what seemed to be an eternity. Then she came to her senses and mustered up enough courage to ask the question that had been forever burning in her mind since she had awoken.

"Where are we?"

Sephiroth

Sephiroth scowled. The boy was proving to be more trouble then he was worth. Reaching out his hand he placed it against the keyhole as if trying to open the door through sheer willpower. Unfortunately, willpower had nothing to do with it, or Sephiroth would not only be at the promised land by now, but he would have all the powers of a destructive god.

Feeling the beat of the energy against the keyhole, a smile came to his face. The boy miscalculated and once Sephiroth gained just a little more energy, perhaps by going back to that last world, he could rip right through and get Riku or the keyblade. Somehow he'd make it work, and if not, he had his methods of persuasion. Sephiroth glanced over at the sorceress Edea, wondering if her magic could do any better. He doubted it, but once they went back... Riku would have nowhere to hide.

Rikku

It is your destiny to die...destiny to die... to die...die...

The words echoed in her head, and she saw the man step forward and stab Gippal through the heart... again and again... as the scene replayed in her dream over and over.

"Gippal!"

Rikku bolted upright, tears drying on her face, still tormented by the dream, and even worse because everything came flooding back, it was all real. She looked down at the ground... then around her... no sand anywhere... there were also people lying all around, unconscious or dead.

Where am I?

The last thing she remembered was Sephiroth choking the life out of her... no she also remembered... hearing a voice... Rikku was shaken out of her thoughts. She looked over to see that another girl was awake, the others weren't dead, they were unconscious like she has been... Turning her head, she saw for the first time the other person in the clearing. It was one of the men that had killed Gippal, no not actually killed him, but he was there, he could have done something to stop it. Rikku's eyes narrowed and she began to struggle to her feet, then feeling a wave of pain from all the bruises she had acquired she thought better of it and sat back down, ok, alright, fell down, content for the moment to glare at a distance and see what his response to the question the girl had asked. Rikku wanted to know where she was also.

Squall Leonhart

Squall still lay against the cold forest floor, his heart beginning to decrease in its rapid pounding inside his chest as Rinoa came in contact with him- bringing him back into the present reality, and shattering the horrible images that rushed out of his mind as he slowly opened his eyes. At that moment, when he opened his eyes, and breathed in the brisk air around them, he wished he was unconcious again. The pain that shot through his left cheek was almost unbearable, and he was sure he could feel his skin bruising just as he rubbed the tender skin that had broken his fall, from who knows where.

"Rinoa...", he spoke softly and smirked warily towards Rinoa. Sitting upright and instantly gripping her hand in his, and staring at her for a few moments before he heard a rather unfamilair, and loud voice erupt off to the side. Flinching slightly, Squall turned his neck and smoothed down his matted hair, which was dusty and dirty from laying on the ground. However, that didn't matter at the moment, what did matter however, was the fact that there were several unfamilair- unconcious bodies around them, all which seemed to be stirring awake just as Squall glanced towards the petite, and rather odd looking girl that had startled him.

"What the...?", Squall scratched the back of his head and looked around, studying the rest of the unknown people that were sprawled around him and Rinoa- who was safe, at least, as safe as she could be. He shook his head and blinked his eyes a few times, becoming acustomed to the pain that numbed half of his face before glancing towards Rinoa once again. Brushing a strand of her raven black hair behind her ear and struggiling to stand up, bringing her up with him and trying to steady her on her feet, as well as trying to remain upright as well. He tried to recongnize the forest around them- but to no avail. He didn't have the faintest idea where they were...but something told him that the pale looking boy off to the side knew something, for the fact he was the only one not speaking- and was staring at them rather oddly.

"You ok?", he spoke towards Rinoa whilst gripping the Gunblade he had picked up off the ground. The cold mettallic handle bringing more awareness of the warmth around him then before, and brought him to look upwards at the canopy of lush green tree's above him, the faint streams of warm sunlight creeping through the cracks within the large trees above them.

Riku

Riku watched expectantly at the group before him, raising an eyebrow as one girl, dressed in blue stirred in her unconcious state. Followed by the odd blonde girl he had saved from death, as well as a strong looking man with brown hair, and a large tear around his upper thigh area, probably caused from a tree branch from his fall. However, Riku was entralled by the sunlight overhead, his eyes stinging slightly as they struggled to get used to the light, his Keyblade shining as the light encompassed it and heated the blade up, the same warmth spreading up Riku's arm and all over his body as the blanket of darkness shyed away from him- allowing the young man to feel the true warmth of the light for what seemed like the first time in his life.

He shook his head as the black haired girl spoke towards him, seeing he was the only one not laying across the ground at the moment. Sighing, Riku shifted his posture and turned around, running his hand across the rough bark of the tree trunk he had came across, when his hands fell into an...indent, a large gash in the tree's trunk that seemed to be from a blade. Raising another eyebrow, Riku lifted his Keyblade up and ran his fingers across the blade, he had been to this forest before...he had fought in this forest before. Turning around once more, Riku nodded towards the girl that had questioned him and motioned around him, waving at the tree's that seemed to stretch across the whole planet as he spoke.

"We're in Sylth, the eternal forest", he spoke once again as he nodded around them. The keyblade reflecting more light as it caught the light that crept through the forest leaves. He shrugged and stepped forward, c0cking his head and glancing at the three that were awake. Tring to figure out if he had seen them before, shrugging once more- he c0cked his head once more and spoke aloud, asking the black haired girl one of his own questions, that had plauged him ever since he layed eyes on the nine of them.

"Who are you?", he nodded and leaned back on the tree trunk once more, resting the Keyblade at his side and glancing at the odd sword the man held in his hand, obviously threatened by Riku's pressence, or startled at least. He sighed and sheathed his blade, showing that he meant no harm- and folded his arms impatiently as he awaited an answer.

Seifer Almasy

As he lay there, his ankle bruised badly from the fall; the breaths of air hit him like bullets shooting down his esophogus and filled his lungs like balloons to a carbon dioxide pump bringing life screaming back into his body. His eyes opened wide and he gasped for another breath of air as he gleaned his surroundings. Where was he? For a second there was the question of who was he, but his memory shot back in full after a few minutes. The mystical blow from the fast paced change of dimensions had caused his mind to revert like an old wall being sanded of it's paint after many, many years.

He stood up now looking around seeing eight other people some still laying down, others standing and looking slightly confused the same as he did. Seifer pulled his gunblade from his belt and held it out in attack position as he continuously scanned the forest in all directions from his rooted spot. He looked over now to Squall and Rinoa who looked equally as confused as he was.

The haunting image of the opened cell tormented his already frazzled mind now. Where was he?. He stumbled foward trying to reach out to Rinoa and Squall, his depth perception seemed to be gone but now in an instant found its way back as he hit the floor. "Where..the f u c k ..are we?" He asked slowly and as patiently as he could.

Rinoa

Rinoa felt her grip tightening on Squall's hand, she was scared, and now that an actual question was shot back at her, she didn't know if she should tell this guy or not. Rinoa found herself inching closer to Squall, almost as if he was her only security in this world, or any world. She felt cold, despite the heat of the sun bearing down upon her back. She gripped tightly onto her necklace, before swaying slightly on her feet.

"I'm Rinoa Heartilly, we come from Balamb Garden....welll....the four of us anyway...."

She said this, gesturing to Squall, Seifer, Quistis, and herself. She didn't want to use anyone elses names in fear that if they told this man their names they might be in trouble, so she would rather risk her own safety than those of her friends, and her lover. Rinoa turned slightly, so that she was no longer facing Riku, but facing Squall. She saw the bruise on his cheek, and went to touch it with gentle fingers. She smiled at him sadly, before sighing softly and dropping her hand by her side.

Will we ever get out of here?

This was her biggest fear, and she could sense that it was also the fear of almost everyone that was revived at the time. She turned to Seifer, and acknowledged his previous question.

"We're in the eternal forest known as, Sylth. I don't know exactly where that is."

Her shoulders slumped and she frowned deeply, the fear visible in her eyes. She was looking forward to a nice, safe life with Squall, but all hopes of that pretty much shattered when they landed in this mess of a world. She rubbed her arm, which was now covered in bruises. She then went to study the faces of each and every person that surrounded her, she studied them for a long time before her gaze came to rest on Squall. She looked at him, longingly, and sadly before dropping her gaze to the forest floor.

Yuffie

Black. There was darkness all around her as Yuffie struggled to regain conciousness. Flashes of what had happened before hand raced through her mind as her hands clenched at the ground beneath her. She remembered a clear view of Cloud's money pouch, then Vincent reprimanding her. She scowled subconsciously at that. There was a vague memory of a path, then the earth plummeting beneath them, then- darkness.

Groaning quietly, Yuffie pushed herself up, her already dirty hands clenching at the grass beneath her. There was noise, and her shattered mind tried to piece together the words, knowing that they were voices. Blinking several times, her eyes slowly getting used to the change in light, she glanced around. She noticed several of her friends on the ground, and she wanted to check if they were alright, but the bruises on her body prevented her from moving much.

Unable to support her own body weight, Yuffie settled with crouching, warily observing those around her, awake or unconscious. She had awoken in time to hear one girl's introduction, and she gazed at the group of people who were already standing. She was pretty, the girl who had spoken, and her hand was clutching a handsome man's, whose other hand held a blade.

Her eyes trailed to the other two men standing, one was casual, as though not worried at the predicament they seemed to be in, and the other was wary...'Paranoid, is more like it.' thought Yuffie as she cautiously touched her bruises.

Well...she was in a hell of a lot of trouble, that was for sure. But hey, at least there were more people to steal from.

Rikku

Sylth?! The eternal forest?

Riku glanced at the girl who spoke... Balamb Garden?

The names were meaningless, but one thing was clear. She wasn't in Spira anymore, and she would know, she had seen all of it when she had traveled around with her cousin Yuna. That had ended badly too, but this... It seemed so cruel that she had lost Gippal and her home, all in one blow. Another tear trickled down her cheek and she furiously brushed it away as she tried to stand up a second time. Swooning slighty, she took a step to steady herself and managed to stay up this time. The memory of a voice drifting through her conscious before she had passed out filtered back to her, only to be pushed aside by Gippal, the look on his face as he died. Pain laced through her chest. Yet another person she had loved had died, and for what exactly?

Clenching her fists in rage, she took a step towards him, then another, and another weaving her way over him as fast as her bruised body would allow, looking for all the world like an angry and perhaps slightly inebriated (due to her unsteadiness on her feet) blonde little pixie, the outlandish garb of the Al Bhed desert people only adding to the impression. Her fay appearance was probably why people so frequently made the mistake of underestimating her. It was an extremely foolish thing to do. After all when Yunie had died, who had come up with the plan to save the people of Spira? Who had disassembled Vegnagun? Damn straight. Of course no one ever believed it was her, she just didn't have the presence that Yunie had. "You're a little short aren't you?"...or "You?!... Ok, seriously now..." and then there was her personal favorite, "Hahahahahah... ahahahahah!". She just always seemed more like the type to fall down a well then to save the planet, even with help, and wells were rather hard to come by in the desert. Of course Rikku had shown them all, whether by saving their lives, or lightening their purses. She had at the very least wiped the obnoxiously amused smiles off their faces. Which brought her back to the present, she couldn't just let this guy who had let Gippal die just smugly stand around, saying in a voice all full of mystery...

Sylth. The eternal forest... and that means what exactly?!

Rikku rumaged around desperately in her pack which fortunately still lay at her waist. With hand behind her back so as not to alert him, she tried to see if she had anything to mix up or use on it's own to blast him with. Feeling the sharp prick of glass against her finger, she realized it was likely too late, all the vials were shattered from the fall. But, there had to be something...

There wasn't.

Finally arriving where the pale haired man was standing, and still finding nothing, she removed her hand from the bag and glared furiously up at him into his icy blue eyes.

"Remember me? You killed my boyfriend Gippal... Don't recognize the name? Maybe that's because you and your friends stabbed him not two seconds after you came through that gate!"

Barely acknowledging the odd blade that the man carried, and the fact that he was probably willing to use it, if his companions had been anything to go by, Rikku curled her fists and swinging hard, she punched him in the face.

Quistis Trepe

Quistis Trepe lay in a foetal position a few feet away from Squall, Rinoa and Seifer. It was daily routine to check on the sorceress Edea, not one that Quitis liked but she had to do. They had gone about it as they normally did but with a feeling in their hearts that something was wrong. She could remember the fear she felt as they made their way over to Edea's cell, the fear was not without reason, someone had let the sorceress out. The last thing she remembered was walking towards a vortex in Edea's empty cell. It was what led them to here, wherever here was.

Flashes of light filled the darkness she had been in just moments ago. Slowly the the light diffused into the darkness till it was no more. She raised her left arm and fixed her glasses, they had slid down her face. Squall, Rinoa and Seifer were already concious, Quistis could see the three of them next to her. Rinoa was talking to someone, Quistis couldn't see who it was. She used her left arm to balance herself so she could get up. A loud scream rang out in the quiet surroundings.

'Aaahhh. '

She could feel the sharp bolts of pain shooting down her right side. Her arm was turning a purplish blue colour, her leg was already looking really bad. She didn't want to see how the rest of her body looked. There was a broken tree branch lying next to her, it looked just the right size to use as a walking stick, she's use it till she got her balance back. The pain only got worse when she rose to her feet and began walking, every bend of the knee was like someone ripping her muscles apart. She made her way over to where her team members stood. It was there she noticed the white haired boy Rinoa had been talking to. She caught the last few words of their conversation. He called this place Slyth, she could not remember ever coming across the name in any of her past research.

'Was it her? Did she bring us here?'

Quistis was referring to the Sorceress Edea, she looked at Rinoa and Squall as she asked the question.

Cloud Strife

Cloud awoke to the sound of voices as his eyes adjusted to the light and he realised he was on the floor. The floor of a.. forest?. The last thing he'd remembered was going after Sephiroth with a bad feeling. A feeling that was now well justified. He'd then fallen down a hole and he figured this is where he'd landed and pretty obviously been knocked out. The place was cold. There were many trees and of course grass but there was something about it that gave him an odd feeling - this was no normal forest. We - I, should have known that it was some kind of trick, some plan. And the thing is, it was us that went after him in the first place. Oh well, i guess everything happens for a reason but right now, what that reason is, i have no idea..

Sighing, he pushed himself off of the ground. He was not alone, he knew that but who was he with? His main concern was for finding Tifa, making sure she was ok. Then they'd be able to sort this out. Friends or foes, Cloud kept his hand poised to draw his sword, a weapon that he was more than able to use for he had great sword skills and was nearly, if not just as skilful as Sephiroth himself. It only took a few moments for him to spot Tifa's dark hair. Running to her he could see her chest rise and fall, she was alive. Near her lay Vincent and also nearby stood Yuffie, surveying the strangers who were presumably in they same situation as they were, unless of course they were part of the plan. Then again, was there even a plan? He didn't know the answer. All he was sure of was that he needed to find out who these people were and what the hell was going on. After, of course, he helped Tifa.

Shaking her shoulder gently he whispered her name, watching her face for signs of her regaining consciousness. He could no longer hear the talking, his ears were focused on the soft inhaling and exhaling of her breath. He smiled as her eyes began to blink as they fluttered over. Looking into her eyes he kept his voice at a smooth, re-assuring tone as he greeted her with nothing but a simple; "Hey".

Squall Leonhart

Squall tightened his grip on Rinoa and pulled her in closer to him as she spoke, he didn't know who this mysterious pale man was- and seeing that he was the only one without bruises or any signs of struggle, he didn't trust him at all. Not to mention the odd Key shaped blade that dangled effortlessly from his hand, and from the looks of him...he knew how to use it. Inadvertantly gripping his blade tighter, Squall craned his neck to glare towards Siefer and c0cked his head slightly, signaling for the arrogant young man to stand- he wasn't only annoying Squall, but he was making him look bad, it didn't matter if they didn't know where they were...Edea was involved somehow- and that meant that Squall was still the group leader, whether Seifer liked it or not.

"Squall Leonhart, and you are?", he spoke towards the pale man with the odd looking blade. His own Gunblade glimmering in the sunlight that danced across the forest floor. However, he didn't get to hear a response before his ears perked up at the sound of an er splitting scream, instantly whirling his head around. Squalls confused eyes lay upon his former instructor, Quistis. Cringing as he glanced towards her arm, Squall instantly glanced towards Rinoa and walked over to Quistis to help her steady on her feet, leading her over closer to Rinoa and Seifer and supporting her weight, although still being relatively close to Rinoa, he didn't know what was going on- and none of his Squad members were going to get hurt, that was certain.

Glancing around at his surroundnigs once more, Squall's eyes caught yet another rather large blade, belonging to another one of the eight people around him, this one blonde- and obviously just as confused as Squall was when he awoke. He merely shook his head in confusion and glanced back up towards the unknown man, his eyes hardened with his intense determintation, he wanted to know what the hell was going on. Now

Riku

Riku merely nodded towards Rinoa as she spoke, and surveyed the other three that were around her. Catching the gaze of the man that was reassuringly close to Rinoa- obviously deeply in love with her, a deep love that she obviously returned. Seeing the two together brought his feelings of Kairi back up to the surface. Resulting in his eyes instantly tearing away from the two and focusing on the ground, his pale hair falling over his eyes and shielding him slightly from veiw- at least his facial expressions.

However, it wasn't only a few moments after he had pushed the memories of Kairi back down into the darkest depths of his mind that his ears picked up the same loud high pitched voice he had heard before- the voice belonging to the odd looking blonde girl that he had saved from Sephiroth. Glancing up into her green eyes, he merely gazed into her own saddened eyes emotionlessly- he hadn't killed this 'Gippal', and he had been nice enough to save her life as well, and being yelled at for his heroic's wasn't what Riku had in mind when he had saved her. However, he didn't get a response before her fist shot up speedingly towards his face, taken by surprise- the impact from her punch not doing much but annoy the wielder of the Keyblade. Wincing and rubbing his cheek where she had hit him, he glanced back up into her eyes and brushed his hair out of his eyes- his same emotionless face etched into his features.

"I didn't kill him- Sephiroth did, I did what I could to save your life, glad you appreciate it", he sighed and stepped forward. Trying to ignore the blonde girl as he spoke towards the one called Squall, responding to his previous question. "Riku, your guardian in this world", he nodded and stared at all that were concious- awaiting some kind of reaction. It was obvious that they didn't know what was going on, sighing and shrugging inwardly, Riku turned around and glanced back towards the girl that had punched him before continuing with his speech.

"It's obvoius none of you are from this world, and by the looks of it- your not of any of the worlds I've been too. Theres dangers in this world, in all the worlds- and I believe...those dangers are responsible of you being here", he glanced over towards the head of a blonde man with a large sword who had recently stirred and awoken. For some reason Sephiroth coming to mind, shrugging his shoulders. RIku turned around once more and faced the group with his usual cold eyes, careful not to get his hopes of that the nine before him would be the ones to save him from the darkness.

"There was a man, he called himself Sephiroth. He wanted to use me to get to other worlds, and find...a promised land, yet I escaped. Soon after he aligned himself with an odd woman, Both have extreme power, and I believe its their actions that have brought you to the Eternal Forest, to thise dimension". He breathed in and allowed the rest to take in what he had said, he wasn't much for talking- another result from being lost in the darkness for so long, yet the sunlight and the hopes of the nine before him brought something out in him. And he wanted to tell them everything he knew to let them trust him, so that he could guide them, guiding them to the light...which hopefully, would banish the darkness that had tainted his soul for too long.

Vincent

All Vincent could see was just black. Like a shadow consuming him, enveloping him in its hold, never letting the light seep in. Suddenly in his mind, a pure light suddenly exploded and a series of flashbacks began playing. He had remembered how he was once a Turk, an elite group mercenaries working for a ruthless corporate empire seeking to control the world and steal the energy from the earth. He was called Shinra. Even though Vincent is a mysterious, cool, calculating and stoic guy; he had once fell in love with Lucrecia an ancient. It just hit him and as they say; love worked in mysterious ways. However, Hojo, the head scientist who worked for Shinra shot Vincent over Lucrecia. Vincent wasn't sure what experiment exactly did Hojo used on him because in one experiment he became a shapeshifter. He learnt that Hojo impregnated Lucrecia, and experimented on her as well as her unborn son, who happened to be Sephiroth. Vincent was led to believe that to his dismay; Lucrecia had died before Hojo had imprisoned him by Shinra, locked in some kind of stasis, untouched by time for 25 years until a man who they called Cloud freed him. Vincent was determined to stop Shinra and deep in his heart he owed it to Lucrecia to stop Sephiroth. Slowly, but sure, he began to open his eyes and as ever; he hid his emotions under his black robe. The only thing that betrayed his emotionless self was the way his eyes were icy, and piercing, continuously gazing. Even in situations such as this, Vincent always kept his cool so why should now be any different? He forced himself in a sitting position then stood upright, and saw the way Yuffie had been looking. He could read her like a book; it was obvious that she had been thinking of stealing.

"Don't even think it Yuffie."

Seifer Almasy

The Sylth...where was that? Did he miss it in his studies? All these thoughts had rant hrough his head within the course of two minutes. He turned to face Squall as he smirked. "So glad we all willingly followed you through that bright light at the back of her cage.." He knew in his mind that he had discovered it and had indeed walked over there first, but never would he let on to this. He would deny it till the day he died.

He walked somewhat foward into the forest and then looked toward Riku as he was punched in the face by Rikku. Not caring at all he looked over that the both of them. "God damn't can we just get the hell out of here!?"

Rikku

Rikku glared stubbornly back at him and and the strange brilliant green spirals that marked her as Al-Bhed became evident in her emerald eyes as they darkened even further in anger. The punch didn't do a damn thing but hurt her hand. He just blew her off. Still it did cause her to think back on that voice again, the one that she heard before she passed out. Right, he "saved" her, then why was she even here? And if he had actually saved her, the he could have done something sooner and stopped Sephiroth from slaying Gippal. And that he made her sound ungrateful? Better that she had died with Gippal then find herself lost, away from the home she loved, and for what? Rikku shook her head slightly as the man ignored her and began to explain.

Rikku reached down and pulled a knife from her boots all in one smooth movement, pausing for a moment when the man finally introduced himself... Riku If she hadn't been so upset, she might have laughed at the irony of it. As it was, she was trying to make sense of his words.

Liar...

Rikku remembered the feel of the ice on her as the woman's magic closed her in... he had been working with both of them, or at the very least was content to just let them run around on their mission of mayhem. Sure he'd guide them... right to the farplane!
Unwillingly, tears began to well up in her eyes again. Gippal would be there, not really him of course, it was all an illusion, the pyreflies reacting with memories... but that was enough...

He shouldn't be no more then a memory... and oh not a fiend... not a fiend.

Rikku was nothing if not extremely quick, and in a graceful gesture, she had the blade pressed into Riku's back.

"Oui Asudeuhmacc pycdynt!!"

You emotionless bastard!

In her fury she had unconsciously reverted back to her native language, she paused then spoke again.

"You just don't get it... standing by and doing nothing is just as bad as if you had helped kill him yourself... and you have more of a role in this then you are trying to make it appear. You and that..." Rikku referred to the keyblade, as strange memories of when she was half-conscious fluttered back to her.

Letting the knife fall to the ground, and she turned away, not really having the will to try and hurt him, but only to get her point across. Rikku took a step back, not bothering to pick up her dagger, and glanced around at the other people in the clearing, all the unfamiliar faces... The tears began to flow freely now and taking another step back, then turned to go, then paused looking at Riku for another second. He was as cold as that ice the sorceress had conjured.

"I feel sorry for you, you know?"

Turning she fled the clearing. She didn't want to hear any more of what Riku had to say.