4. Cupid's Arrows

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7, but you know, I'm up for hiring you need a script writer, heh. Ok, I'm going now...

Greetings! Yes, I've revived this story from the cold, dark depths of...err, anyway. Here I am once again, begging for forgiveness. Ok, maybe not, but I've finally got a chapter out for this thing. I hope it reaches your expectations, and that someone actually remembers it. It has been a while.

Thanks to Cendrillo for giving me the motivation to finally get another chapter done. (I love all you guys for reviewing my work though, so don't go feeling left out)

Chapter 4

The heavy mist that sunk in around us obscured anything beyond the reach of my hand. I started in surprise as Chaos suddenly slumped to his knees beside me, his cold dark eyes staring motionlessly into empty space. He remained in that trance like state even as I tentatively nudged him in the shoulder.

"What the...?" That voice again, clearly befuddled by something. She was somewhere up ahead of us. It was followed by an almost hopeless whine, "This isn't supposed to happen!"

I tried to pinpoint the direction in the which the sound had come, but as I attempted to turn, my body remained paralyzed by an unseen force. Panic was wheedling its way under my skin as the ground seem to fall our from beneath me. Everything was spinning around me like I was caught in the middle of a tornado's eye.

My head lulled back as my body rose upwards weightlessly, and I hovered in clouds that were many shades of ghastly pink. At first I smiled, feeling a tingling sensation in my stomach, like butterflies. I wanted to sink into its warm, comforting embrace, and close my eyes.

I know this feeling. I must be dreaming...

"Holy crap!"

Yuffie's exclamation snapped me back to reality, if only briefly. I struggled for a moment against the mind numbing bliss that threatened to engulf me. My thoughts entertained ridiculous images of love and happiness, but who was that with me? Everything here seemed so warm and fuzzy.

Why is everything so pink and frilly? This can't be right. I'm not Aeris. I don't even like pink.

Another voice broke through the spell, giving me just a little more sanity. It must have been Marsellis. He was mumbling sarcastically to himself, "I'm going to kill her..."

Kill who?

My mind felt so scrambled at this point that I could hardly decipher up from down anymore. There was no up or down. It was like floating in empty space, only far more pleasant I would imagine. This feeling was almost wonderful, if not for the tiny voice of reason that kept screaming "something is very wrong here!".

What is going on here?

I remembered Chaos, or Vincent rather, had been beside me, and I wanted to reach out to him suddenly, but I couldn't find him. The fog was too dense and I was suffocating in the thickening aroma of cinnamon and lavender. It was so intoxicating...

I could live here forever, I thought dreamily. But what about my friends?

"Now, now, you don't want that." Said a sweet and powerfully hypnotizing voice. I wasn't sure if it had come from outside or inside my head. Maybe it was a bit of both.

"But we all could use a bit more...love." The woman's laughter was like music to the ears as it radiated loudly all around me, and then gradually grew fainter. I felt my heart sinking as the sound was suddenly gone and I was left alone to ponder this strange, yet oddly enticing predicament.

Why do I have this sudden urge to touch someone?

I frowned, my mind suddenly focusing, and I started fighting against the bonds of the spell that held me captive. Something moved amidst the mist to my right, but all I could see was a blur. An instant later it was gone and I had to question whether or not I was hallucinating.

Then a sharp object pierced my chest, the momentum jostling my entire body. I looked down apprehensively, and to my horror there stuck a golden arrow from my heart. My brow furrowed in confusion though, as I couldn't feel any pain, nor was there a trace of blood to be seen. There was this strange yearning though, an ache in my chest for something that I could not put a face or name to. It was more psychological than anything else.

The arrow suddenly burst into tiny flecks of golden light that dispersed into the air and dissolved before my widened eyes. Then I was falling through the air and landing painfully upon the soft, moist earth. I wheezed, the wind knocked out of me from the impact, and tried to sit up.

Everything had come back to normal and the mist was entirely gone. There knest Chaos beside me, now blinking rapidly in obvious bewilderment. He lifted one massive hand to his chest, glaring narrowly at the area above his heart as if it had done something to offend him.

I hadn't realized until the flicker of movement from my left that there was someone else nearby. When I turned my head I saw her, sitting back in the grass with her hands planted in the earth behind her, bracing her upper body. She scowled at her boots as she clapped her feet together absentmindedly, eyes distant.

It was the same woman who'd been snooping about my shop the night before. Judging by the blank expression on her face now I doubted she had any reasonable explanation for what had just occurred though. I doubt any of us would. Speaking of which, where were the others?

They no where that I could see, and I was too concerned the with the person to my left. She was mute and deeply immersed in though as I stared at her, waiting. The suspended silence was making me crazy. Someone had to say something, I decided, and by the looks of things, it would have to be me.

"I'd like my map back." I said bluntly.

Nice conversation starter.

She tilted her head at me in mild surprise, frowning slightly. "Oh. That." Her cheeks flushed slightly pink. "I'm sorry. Stealing really isn't a common practice of mine. Only when duty demands it."

"Duty?" I echoed.

"Something like that." The woman mumbled, one hand reaching into the confines of her cloak. After a bit of rummaging about she revealed a fragile rolled up fragment of paper clasped gently in her fingers.

She crawled towards me slowly, her gaze lingering wearily on the impassive figure of Chaos nearby. He seemed to be in his own world and was paying neither of us much notice. I watched the woman curiously as she clumsily dragged herself beside me, taking great care in preserving the condition of the paper at the same time.

"Here." She held it out to me expectantly.

At first I could only gape at it, much like a fish, as I was hardly expecting her to just cough it up. It seemed so outrageous that I immediately began imagining all sorts of possible explanations of why she was doing this. There had to be a catch, obviously.

Maybe she was hiding a dagger up a sleeve?

"Go on, take it." The woman insisted.

My forehead wrinkled indecisively. "Why are you giving it back when you stole it in the first place?" I asked plainly. "Doesn't that seem a little... strange?"

She sighed, her shoulders slumping forward in exasperation. "Like I said, only when duty demands, but I can't keep it if you want it back. I was hoping you wouldn't want it."

"But you had to have known something about what was going on. You left me that bottle of cold medicine because you knew we'd end up going somewhere." I countered evenly.

Her eye twitched and she grimaced slightly. "Touche." She admitted. "I didn't have a choice, though, honestly."

"That doesn't explain why you're suddenly giving it back." I retorted.

"There you are! Gawd, we've been looking all over for you!" Yuffie's voice jerked my heart into my throat momentarily and I twisted around at her. I was extremely relieved to see a familiar face though. Even Marsellis, who was clamoring incoherently behind her, was a sight for sore eyes.

Then it happened.

Yuffie halted sharply, glancing between me, the new girl, and Chaos. A second later Marsellis bulldozed into her back accidently, glanced up in surprise, and froze as he met the woman's eyes. Recognition clicked instantaneously.

"You!" He exclaimed, his voice trembling.

I could've almost laughed at the way he was twitching, if it wasn't for the fact that he suddenly went for his sword. Everyone flinched at the metallic ring as the blade slid sharply from its scabbard. Even Yuffie, who was now on the ground, had rolled onto her back, gazing up at him in mild shock.

The woman groaned inwardly and forcefully shoved the rolled up map into my hand. "Take it." She said curtly.

Marsellis glowered, but it seemed to lack the proper venom. "Don't think that's going to save you now, missy." He warned her, shaking a chastising finger in her direction. "You owe me a fair and square fight. I've got to redeem myself you know."

She stood up carefully, smoothing the folds of her mud covered cloak, and looked up at him sadly. "Do we really have time for this? I'd actually like to know what just happened."

He brandished his rapier high, or tried to anyway. Evidently it didn't have quite the effect he'd hoped for, and so his arm eventually fell limply at his side. "Bloody hell." Marsellis muttered, as if it just dawned on him that something out of the ordinary had occurred only moments ago. He spun around sharply, teetering off balance for a moment as he did so, and collapsed to his knees, shouting some of the most obscene curses known to existence. This was followed by loud groaning and moaning noises, which closely resembled that of a dying animal.

Yuffie and I exchanged nervous glances.

"What the hell's the matter with you!" Yuffie exploded.

Marsellis was not paying her any attention though, as he was too preoccupied with whatever had caused him to break down in the first place. He was currently grasping his head and muttering to himself.

Chaos, I noted, was quite attentively watching us. The commotion had no doubt stirred him from his thoughts, and now he was more interested in seeing Marsellis' unraveled state of affairs. In fact, he seemed terribly amused by the whole thing.

That doesn't look like Vincent.

I planted my hands firmly on my hips, glaring between Marsellis on the ground, and the woman. "I'd like to know what's going on too." I said.

"Well," The stranger began feebly, "First things first I guess. Did everyone get shot with a golden arrow?"

Yuffie sprang up beside me, frowning. "I know I was." She answered irritably, crossing her arms.

"You?" She glanced at me questioningly.

I nodded.

Her gaze drifted hesitantly towards Marsellis' back. "I think it's safe to say he got hit by something." She averred. Lastly, she looked at Chaos. "What about him?"

Everyone, with the exception of Marsellis, who was now whimpering, turned towards the silent demon expectantly. He smirked coldly, reclined on his side against one hand. "What about me?"

Definitely not Vincent.. Chaos had evidently gained control again, but at least he wasn't like before. As in he wasn't stark raving mad at the moment, just annoying.

"Well?" Yuffie prodded. "Didya get shot or not?"

Chaos shrugged, a hint of a scowl on his face, and he muttered in response, "I'm not inclined to tell you anything."

She rolled her eyes, seemingly unsurprised by the lack of cooperation from the demon. "Good luck talking to that guy." Yuffie grumbled. "He's worse than Vinny is."

"Oh shit..." The woman mumbled quietly, her brow furrowed in concentration. Apparently she'd come to a conclusion of some sorts, and not a pleasant one by the sound of it. "Please tell me this isn't what I think it is."

I glanced at her, one brow raised. "What is it?"

"You don't want to know." Marsellis drew out ominously. He walked in between Yuffie and I to stand in the center of the group, looking at everyone in turn gravely.

"Whaddya mean 'We don't want to know'?" Yuffie blurted out impatiently. "I want to know!" She expressed clearly, hands on her hips.

He chuckled coldly, biting down on his lower lip as he shook his head in mild disbelief. Marsellis cleared his throat shakily and gave me a helpless look, before glancing down at Chaos, who was glaring at him with utmost hostility. "Any of you familiar with Aphrodite and Cupid?"

"Bloody hell." The woman blurted out unceremoniously, more to herself than anything. She glared at him skeptically. "You can't be serious. Why?"

"Because we - they're gods, that's why." Marsellis faltered.

She gave him a suspicious look and her lips parted in question.

"They like to meddle in the lives of mortals to get their rocks off." He swiftly cut her off, throwing in a glare for good measure.

He's acting awful strange, I thought.

"Woah, hold it right there." Yuffie interrupted. "I'm not getting the drift here. You mind filling me in?"

"Yeah, that would be nice." I agreed dryly.

"Oh come on." Marsellis cried. "You've got to know about Cupid. You know, the ugly fat cherub that goes around shooting people with his 'arrows of love'? It's a Valentine's Day thing."

I nodded slowly, understanding. "I get it." The horror was gradually sinking in now, but I was not yet to a point where I was willing to accept the inevitable truth. It was simply too outrageous to fathom.

Yuffie laughed hysterically. "You've gotta be kidding me!" She shrieked emphatically.

"I wish." He muttered, wincing.

"So, you're saying we've all been hit with Cupid's arrows?" I asked seriously.

"Yep."

I chuckled nervously, glancing around at the many horrified expressions. My gaze halted for a moment on Chaos, as he too seemed somewhat paled by this news. That couldn't be right though..."S-so, how do we know who, uh, falls for who?"

Marsellis smiled grimly. "That's the thing. We don't know."

An eerie silence crept into the still air and for a moment all we could do was glance furtively around at each other, each of us harboring the same general thought.

I hope it's not you.

Yuffie scowled suddenly and broke the silence. "But there's five of us, and technically only two guys, if you count Chaos."

The demon stiffened visibly. "What makes you think I'm taking part in this stupid charade?" He hissed.

"Good point.." Yuffie agreed. "He's a demon after all. It probably doesn't effect him."

"It might affect Vincent though." I pointed out grimly.

"Well, let's pretend it doesn't!" She barked irritably. "That leaves us with an even number, right?"

"And only one guy!" Our nameless acquaintance reminded us darkly. "I for one am as straight as an arrow, but that's just me, and by the gods I'm not falling for you," She gestured wildly in Marsellis' direction.

Yuffie cringed. "Oh yeah." Her eyes widened momentarily. "Well, I'm not falling for him either!"

The two girls looked at me expectantly and I frowned. "Don't look at me!" I protested. "I'm not falling for him."

Marsellis was shaking his head thoughtfully, thoroughly oblivious of the character assassination going on over his head. "There could be someone else for all we know." He said. "Just because Cupid shot us all at once doesn't mean we necessarily have to fall for someone here right now. It depends on who else he gets."

"Oh, well isn't that just peachy." Yuffie exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. "What if he goes and shoots some 400 pound fat guy?"

He smiled sympathetically. "Unfortunately, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he did do something like that. Such is the cruel sense of humor of the Gods."

Her face blanched in horror and she gasped. "N-no way." She shook her head fiercely. "That's SO not happening. I'll-I'll jump off a friggen cliff first."

Marsellis regarded her with mock sadness. "I'm afraid that it works both ways though, kiddo. He falls for you, you fall for him," he shaped a heart with his hands, "Happily ever after."

Yuffie turned green. "I think I'm gonna be sick." She croaked, clutching her stomach reflexively as she spun away from us.

"Is there anyway to reverse it?" I asked, dimly hopeful.

"If there were I wouldn't be standing here right now watching grass grow." Marsellis retorted moodily. "At this point all we can do is wait."

"For what?" The nameless one piped up hesitantly.

"To fall in love." He answered, grimacing at the statement, and sighed. "I can't believe this is happening to me."

"I'll say." I murmured in commiseration.. "Are you positive there's no way to reverse it?"

Marsellis lulled his head, shrugging. "If you march up to the Goddess herself, you might have a shot, but even those chances are slim. By the time the opportunity presents itself we'll be too out of our minds to want things to be fixed."

"What about Cloud?" Yuffie inquired impatiently. "He's still in trouble."

"We just continue on as if nothing happened." Marsellis explained simply. "There's nothing else we can do."

The nameless one was fidgeting uncomfortably apart from the rest of us. "S-shouldn't we split up or something?"

He whirled around at her, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Oh no you don't. You're staying with us, missy."

"I don't mind going with you," She said quietly with a faint scowl."but if you call me 'missy' one more time, I can't promise that you'll come out in one piece afterwards, ok?"

Marsellis stroked his chin thoughtfully, eyes twinkling mischeivously. "But it has such a nice ring to it." He persisted.

"In that case, you may lose something more dear to you than your very soul." Her mirthful eyes darted below his equator briefly, and she nodded at his thoroughly shocked expression. "You get the idea."

He bounded away from her, taking refuge behind a disgruntled Chaos, of all people. "Damn, why is it always the psycho who joins the party? Couldn't we've run into someone, I don't know, normal?"

"You're one to talk." I mentioned.

Yuffie snickered. "They deserve each other."

Chaos plucked the squirming Marsellis out from behind him and dropped him in front of him. "This is going to be a nuisance." He muttered. "Let's go."

Everyone looked his way questioningly. It hadn't even occurred to me that Chaos would be coming along, which was another one of her many worries right now.

How was Vincent holding up and was he ever getting back to normal? I certainly couldn't guarantee anything if Chaos went off on his own, and who knows what he'd do in his free time. It seemed almost too good to be true that he would chose to stay.

The thought sent a shiver up my spine and I approached him with a scrutinizing gaze. "So, you're coming with us then?" I asked hesitantly.

The demon rolled his eyes effectively and sneered. "Against my better judgement, yes." He grumbled. "If it were up to me, I'd have left you filthy rodents a long time ago, but I don't get much say in the matter."

I crossed my arms, smirking dryly at him. "Oh right, and you can't just choose to leave now either? Aren't you the one in control?"

"Only marginally." Chaos indicated. "Besides, someone has to keep you idiots in line or you'll be off rolling in the hay instead of doing what you're supposed to."

My jaw went slack and I inhaled sharply. There didn't seem to be an insult fitting for him though and my mouth clamped shut abruptly. I frowned, "I don't think it works that way."

"Actually, it depends on what kind of arrows he used." Marsellis remarked drearily, lying on the ground still with his hands behind his head in a reclining position. "It could be like that for all we know, but at this point I doubt it. Usually those kinds get right down to business as soon as they hit ya."

"That's comforting." Yuffie grumbled and lashed out with her foot at a large pebble. Incidently it knocked Marsellis upside the head.

"Ouch!" He yelped, springing to his feet instantly. "What did ya do that for?"

Yuffie feigned ignorance. "Huh? You talkin' ta me?"

He scowled, but she maintained her air of innocence with a bright smile."Bloody hell." He rubbed his sore head, and started walking in no particular direction. "Let's just get going."

"Um, names first maybe?"The woman asked. Then she grinned. "Unless you'd rather I use the ones I've fabricated for each of you."

"Please don't." Marsellis replied edgily. "Marsellis is the name."

Her eyes seemed to brighten with mischievous intent."Like Mars?"

The blood drained from his face and he lifted a shaky finger towards her. "Do not call me that."

She winced at the rage hinted in his tone. "I was just kidding." She insisted softly. "I'm Jade, by the way."

The rest of the introductions were hastened, as we were hard pressed to move on. Jade, it seemed, had plans already made for a voyage across the sea. It was a smaller boat, she said, but it could easily take all of them across, and the captain was supposed to be one of the best. She would not reveal any further details though, which left us all feeling a bit nervous.

Still, she seemed trust worthy enough.

Chaos was tagging along, as he called it, to make sure us 'kiddies' didn't start getting ideas of steamy rapture in our heads. It sounded so ridiculous the way he said it that I almost laughed, but for that searing glare he fired in my direction as his acute hearing detected the muffled giggle leaping from my throat at the time. That look was enough to stop a dragon in its tracks.

I smiled guiltily at him and he shuddered.

"Don't look at me like that." He uttered sullenly and pulled one of his enormous leather wings around him to block me from view.

"Someone's ornery." Yuffie said, hoisting her weapon onto her shoulder lazily. "So, how long do ya think this is gonna take?" She asked me quietly. "I mean, shouldn't we call Cid or something?"

I frowned. "Cid has a family, Yuffie. We shouldn't drag him into this mess. It'll get him all worked up for nothing."

"Who says we have to tell him the details?" She articulated smoothly. "Just say we need a ride or something."

"How are we supposed to explain Chaos and Jade though?" I countered. "We'll be raising too many questions."

Her lips parted, about to speak, when the ground gave a sudden violent jerk beneath us and cries of alarm flooded the air. A high pitched screech boomed in the distance and the earth trembled harder. I spread my legs wide to steady myself, but I could not for the life of me gain control of my body amidst the shaking.

"What the hell is that?" Jade cried, having fallen into a bog hole when the quake occurred. She looked none too happy about it.

Marsellis was staggering desperately about near her as he too tried to maintain balance. "Oh boy," He said worriedly, "this can't be good." Eventually he made it to Jade's side and, reluctantly, helped her from the mud bog she was swimming in.

Yuffie and I had managed to latch onto each other to keep ourselves upright. My brain was practically vibrating within my skull the shaking was so terrible. Staying on our feet was more of a chore than it should've been.

Chaos had taken to the air and was hovering safely above the ground beyond the chaotic disarray below. He crossed his arms, looking down at us sanctimoniously, and I scowled.

I hope whatever it is that's doing this smacks you out of the sky like a fly.

As if on cue, something very large and snake like sprang up from the immense depths of the swamp at our right (where had that come from?), and I felt myself regretting that last thought as Chaos was abruptly knocked stupid by one of the creature's several heads. His flailing form plunged into the murky depths of the swamp with a loud splash.

"Vincent!" I cried, momentarily stunned.

I didn't mean it, I swear! I thought weakly.

Bubbles disrupted the surface where he had disappeared, but there was no sign of him.

"Holy crap!" Yuffie yelped as she stiffened beside me, and I grudgingly tore my gaze away from where Chaos had been swallowed by the water. "It's gotta be 20 feet tall!"

"What is it?" I gasped in horror, now focussing entirely on the creature looming above us.

Its three heads twisted and slithered, watching us intently. Swamp gunk dripped from his moist scales, giving off an awful rotting stench, and slime dripped from hungry bared talons. The serpent wriggled in anticipating, hissing gleefully in anticipation of a meal.

"It's the Hydra." Marsellis replied quickly. "You wouldn't happen to have any fire on you, would ya?"

Yuffie and I glanced at each other apprehensively, then at our weapons. We should've known immediately what we had equipped, but in the heat of the moment, our minds were blank. One doesn't think particularly straight when a 20 foot tall serpent his hovering above you in anticipation of a meal.

"I've got a maxed Fire materia." Yuffie said at last. She looked up at me, "you?"

I scowled deeply. "Nothing."

"One's enough." Marsellis called, his voice heightening on the last syllable.

The Hydra lunged for his position, and he and Jade dove in opposite directions, narrowly avoiding the serpents jaws. They scrambled to their feet, now on opposite sides of the beast.

"What do ya want us to do?" Yuffie hollered uncertainly, fingering her weapon in anticipation.

Marsellis was breathing heavily, his sword held out in front of him as he carefully dodged and countered the Hydra's advances. For some reason the serpent really had it in for him. He called out to Jade, who had her own sword, but looked unsure as to what she was supposed to do with it. "Chop it's heads off!"

Jade looked back at him questioningly. "But won't two more grow back in its place?"

He let out a strangled groan as he rolled away from another close call. Marsellis wiped the mud from his eyes as he got back to his feet, a shallow gash on his left shoulder where the Hydra's teeth had struck him. "Not if you burn it."

"Oh, I get it!" Yuffie announced happily. "Go ahead, I'm ready when you are."

I glanced around helplessly, having nothing useful to do at the moment, and then I remembered Chaos. He still had not surfaced though.

He'll be fine, I thought.

I bit down on my lip in frustration, staring around stupidly.

"Hey Tifa, we need some bait." Marsellis called.

I whirled around at him sharply. "What!" I exclaimed. "Why me?"

"Because you're standing around like you need something to do." He retorted and ducked beneath the serpents tail as it swept a few inches above his head.

That wasn't exactly what I had in mind...

His face was contorted in obvious panic when he looked up at me again. "We don't have all day!"

"Oh brother." I mumbled and, sparing one last glance back at the cloudy water in hopes of a sign of Chaos, sprang at the Hydra with trembling legs.

It's attention was still focused on Marsellis at the time, so my swift approach went unnoticed until I'd struck the startled creature in the body with a powerful combo. I felt much like a gnat trying to bite a whole into sheer steel. The metal studs on my boots and gloves caused some minor scratches at the most. My blows merely ricocheted off his thick skin.

However feeble my attempts at doing the creature harm, I had successfully drawn its curiosity towards me. That put me at a mild disadvantage as I was standing right beneath it when the three glistening heads all twisted around at me. I had scarcely more than a few seconds to react as they pulled back to strike, but my reflexes were reasonably fast. There was a chance I'd escape with my life, however minimal.

I love contemplating odds...or not.

I sprinted the left, pushing myself as hard as I could go. There was a loud cry behind me, and a writhing head hit the ground a few feet front of me, showering me with clumps of mud and blood. Yuffie summoned a fire spell from somewhere to my left as I slid to a startled halt to avoid tripping over the ghastly appendage, and I spun to face our query.

It screamed as the stub where the one head had been sizzled and burned, and the earth shook again at its bellowing voice. Then, to everyone's horror, two heads sprung from the burning flesh, fresh and ready for battle.

So much for that idea.

Marsellis visibly paled, "Not fair!" He shouted and spewed an yet another array of colorful profanities, shaking his fist threateningly at the sky.

One of the heads lunged for him while he was sidetracked by the sudden rage of failure, and if not for Jade's intervening he would have been Hydra lunch meat. She struck a gash across the serpents neck that came dangerously close to cutting its head right off, but she had been deliberate in doing so. With half of it still intact, nothing could grow in its place, but it was also rendered quite useless for the time being.

"Watch out, Marsellis." She said, smiling faintly.

"What do we do now?" I yelled, keeping a close eye on the three heads that were still functioning at full capacity.

The Hydra was staying at a distance though, simply glaring between each of us maliciously.

Why wasn't it attacking?

Marsellis answered the question as if I'd spoken it aloud. "It's healing the wounded head." He said. "We need to get out of here."

"But-" I was in the midst of protesting when Chaos himself burst upwards from the swamp waters, eyes aglow with rage at the serpent. "Never mind."

"We really need to get out of here." Marsellis repeated timidly and made a run for it. He called over his shoulder,"Chaos will keep him occupied."

Yuffie grabbed my wrist and dragged me after her. "Don't worry, he's a demon. He can handle it." She assured me.

Who said I was worried?

I sighed in defeat and ran after them, glancing back once to make sure that the Hydra was not following. Chaos was indeed keeping it busy. I'd even go as far as to say that Chaos was enjoying himself, flying circles around the disoriented snake while it feebly struck out at him. The demon was far too quick and strong to get caught by the snapping jaws, but he couldn't do much either.

When we entered the canopy of a jungle and they drifted out of sight, I averted my attention to keeping up with the others. They weren't too far ahead of me, but Marsellis was going so fast! I didn't know how long I could keep up a pace like this. It wasn't like I was in shape or anything.

My chest was feeling tight, my sides were burning, and my legs were like jelly after about three miles, but the others showed no sign of stopping yet. According to Marsellis' breathless jabbering, the Hydra could cover the same amount of distance in a third of the time, and so resting was not an option at the moment.

"I don't...remember...that swamp...being there..." Yuffie wheezed beside me a while later.

"I imagine...there are...a lot of things...that weren't here...before." Marsellis managed to answer between breaths. He had slowed considerably and was only just a head of us. Jade was on the other side of Yuffie.

I glanced at him in dawning horror. "Whatdoyoumean?" I didn't have enough air to talk slowly .

"The map..." He began, hurdling a log, "there's an...incantation that...unlocks the spear...it opens a doo-oooor..."

His explanation was cut off as the wet, spongy earth suddenly collapsed beneath him and he went sliding down the muddy hillside, out of sight. Before I had a chance to react at what had happened the ground simply jerked out from under me, and I was suddenly gliding uncontrolably down amidst the mud and water in much the same manner he had just seconds ago. Judging by the cries of alarm from behind me, I guessed that the others must have been caught in the mud slide as well.

My eyes were directed towards the sky as I was skidding down the steep decline on my back. Everything was blurred by the speed of my descent. I tried to remain as still as possible to avoid injuring myself or catching a limb on a tree, as I was eventually under cover of tree tops again. It didn't dawn on me until later when I'd landed in a thoroughly drecnched heap beside Marsellis, half submerged in muddy water, that I'd been screaming almost the entire time.

"Well that...was exciting." I breathed, grinning stupidly.

An instant later Yuffie plummeted into me, shoving my head into the water. Fortunately for me, she moved off of me as soon as she realized who she landed on, and I was able to come back up for air.

"Sorry Tif." She said, giggling.

I coughed, choking as I sat up again. Jade had come down too, right after Yuffie, and was currently untangling herself from Marsellis.

"Well, that was kind of fun." She remarked, smiling.

"It's about friggin time we stopped." Yuffie muttered irritably and threw a glob of mud in Marsellis' direction.

He dodged the attack, only to trip over Jade, and land head first into the water.

"Woah." She groaned in surprise as Marsellis'caused her to topple over onto her side. Her hands caught her though and she uprighted herself quickly, wiping the dirty water from her eyes.

Marsellis came up sputtering and thoroughly infuriated. "Blast it woman, watch out!"

Jade stopped what she was doing abruptly and gawked at him in disbelief. "You're the one who tripped over me." She argued, splashing water at him accusingly. "I was just sitting there minding my own business, thank you."

He made a grunting sound as he stood up slowly, his robes thoroughly soaked and weighing him down considerably. "Sorry." He mumbled and offered her a hand up.

She smirked. "No, don't worry about it."

Yuffie and I exchanged a side long glance, smirking to ourselves. She snickered, leaning towards me mischievously, "So much for not falling for the idiot."

I smiled slightly. "Yeah, but what options are left for us? The 400 pound fat guy, and who else?"

She scowled darkly. "He was kidding."

I nibbled my lip hesitantly. "I'm not so sure..." I trailed off as her eyes narrowed dangerously in my direction. "I'm sure you're right."

"That's more like it." She said and yanked me up out of the water with a surprising amount of force. Yuffie turned towards Marsellis then. "So, you think we lost him?"

I'd have given anything for her not to have said that. It's one of those things that seems to carry doom in its wake, kind of like that phrase, "Well, it can't get any worse.". It always does.

A familiar shriek split the air and I clamped my hands over my ears reflexively. Something crashed into me from behind, knocked me forward. I thought I'd for sure fall back into the water, but instead I was being lifted completely off the ground and carried through the air. On first impulse I was inclined to feel a sense of freedom and breathless awe. I'm flying!

I dared a glance at my captor then and choked back a startled cry. Chaos was staring ahead intently, his powerful wings propelling us away from the pool where the Hydra had appeared with one arm clamping me firmly against his chest. The others were shouting urgently amongst one another below.

"Stop." I said urgently, wanting to go back and help. "We've got to help them."

Chaos gave no impression of having heard me, or if he did, he wasn't listening, but he was circling around back towards the battle. My eyes widened momentarily as I saw he was heading straight for the Hydra, and with me in his grasp.

What's he doing?

He descended sharply all of a sudden, causing me to yelp in surprise, and he placed me on the ground near where Yuffie was standing stiffly, her conformer poised and ready. He continued towards the Hydra, avoiding one of its sweeping heads, and began buzzing around it, antagonizing the serpent for his own amusement.

Yuffie looked at me anxiously. "What should we do?"

I shrugged helplessly. "I don't know! Marsellis is the only one who seems to know anything, and his plan obviously was a disaster."

"I heard that!" He barked.

"Well it was!" I maintained irritably.

"How was I supposed to know," He glared up at the sky abruptly, as if to accuse someone above of thwarting his plan, "that some filthy bastard had rigged the fucking rules!" Marsellis angrily lashed out at the Hydra as it attempted to devour him once again, muttering through clenched teeth. "It worked for Hercules, damn it."

"Well, we're not Hercules, are we!" Yuffie fumed impatiently. "There's gotta be something we can do."

I jumped back, startled, as the Hydra whipped its tail around at us.Yuffie had tucked into a roll to avoid the attack.

She scrambled back to her feet, rapidly going through the materia in her slots as if searching for something specific. "Hey, maybe we can turn it into a frog?" She suggested suddenly, eyes lighting up.

"That's what you came up with!" I shrieked. The heightened emotional tension in the air had evidently caused a momentary break down on my part. "When has frog ever worked on anything but weeds!"

She looked at me contentiously. "As much as I hate to say it," She muttered, "do you have any better ideas?"

Chaos crash landed a few yards away just then, wings tangled around his massive form as he sprawled awkwardly in the thick mud. His head lifted slowly, spitting out whatever foreign substance had found its way into his mouth. "Anything is better than that."

Yuffie made a face at him. "Fine," She said haughtily, "but you'll all be groveling at my feet when this sucker does the trick."

The demon snorted, and burst into a fit of hysterical laughter.

I blinked in amazement at the scene, temporarily unaware of the Hydra and everything else. Chaos was laughing himself silly. Was that possible?

Yuffie's eyes went ablaze with fury, but she averted her focus on the Hydra instead and prepared the spell. "Just you wait, you pompous windbag." She grinned, "Here goes nothing!"

Everyone did wait, tensed with eager anticipation. Well, with the exception of Chaos that is.

There's no way this is going to work, I thought.

Author's Notes: Mwahaha, they've all been hit by Cupid! It's simply beautiful material to work with. I actually might be able to update this again before, you know, the next year, lol. I hope it was to your satisfaction. I'm actually looking forward to writing more of this, but I'm a little worried I've lost everyone. Oh well, I've read through the first three chapters, and they aren't too bad, so I don't think it would be too much of a painful endeavor to read through them again.

About Jade. I'm not fully happy with her development at the moment. She didn't get a lot of air time in this chapter because she's supposed to be a little shy. I'm hoping that she'll start to perk your interests a little more in later chapters. For me, it's extremely important that an original character be interesting in a story like this. I don't want you guys to be turned off by her, so I hope that she doesn't come across as too mundane.

Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll try to update sooner. My life is in minor turmoil right now unfortunately.

Happy days, I've finally updated it!