Oh, I'm so bad. ; I've taken so long over this chapter, and I really shouldn't be writing right now anyway, with an exam tomorrow morning... not to worry. It's English lit, so I'll be fine. Anyone who recognises the Tidus quote in this chapter... heh. I swear, it came out before I even realised Tidus said it. I've been playing too much FFX, maybe.

In case you hadn't noticed the blatant references to mythology, this chapter takes it even further. Heh - I didn't mean it to, either. The only thing I meant was the naming of Medea, but the rest of it sort of followed on from there on it's own. Medea is, of course, not from the same legend as is mostly used this chapter.

Seifer POV

After hours of walking through this maze of passageways, my faith in any possible exit is fast fading. Even Squall and Quistis seem to fade a little. The dark numbs a person, the lack of light dulling the senses so that sensation is just a remembered dream. Ultimecia knew that. It was one way she loved to punish me. Sensory deprivation.

I tighten my hand around Hyperion, feeling the solid of the hilt, but even that doesn't cut through the hazy dream. We've been silent and in this darkness ever since the whole place dimmed, just walking onwards in hope of finding an exit. I swear if this goes on any longer, I'm going to go insane. I speak just to reassure myself that I still have a voice, "Shit, is this place endless or something?"

"It's a maze," Quistis says, patiently, as she said the last time I spoke. "We'll find the way out soon. There's nothing I can do to get us out of here any faster."

"Sure, like, tomorrow soon, I bet. You said that a few hours ago, when the lights went out." I glance sideways at Squall, but his silence isn't helping me at all. In this darkness, he and Quistis might as well be just dreams or illusions and I wouldn't know.

"Afraid of the dark?" she asks, teasingly, but to my shame, it's annoyingly close to the truth. The dark is impersonal, threatening, pressing all around me.

"Fuck it," I mutter, and even though it's childish and stupid to need comfort, I reach out and take Squall's hand, switching Hyperion into my left hand and entwining the fingers of my right hand with the fingers of his left. He squeezes a little, perhaps sensing my unease, and I resist the urge to yank my hand away and pretend I didn't just do that.

We walk on, of course. There's nothing else to do. After a few more minutes, Squall speaks. "I would prefer it to be light, too, Quistis," he says, quietly, and then shuts up again. At least with his hand there, warm and solid, I can't imagine that he's a ghost.

"Maybe there is something I can do about that…" She stoops to pick something up, and I hear her muttering softly before fire bursts into life, horribly bright after the never ending dark.

"Shit, Quistis, could have warned me!" I close my eyes for a moment and open them slowly, getting used to the new light.

"Sorry," she apologises, looking at my hand joined with Squall's with a raised eyebrow. I just glare at her and she doesn't comment, holding the torch she's made higher. "I should have thought of this before." She turns away from us and carries on walking, and I'm about to follow her when Squall speaks up again.

"Wait," he says, and turns to examine the floor at the foot of the wall, his hand pulling free of mine now anyway. A small smile appears on his face and he shakes his head. "That's why they turned the lights out."

Along the foot of the wall runs a woollen thread disturbing the dust and I remember the few lessons we had on navigating through difficult buildings, like this one. "A ball of thread, carried with a person to make sure they could find the exit again," Quistis says with a small smile to match Squall's. "I guess it must be Medea's, no one who lives here or is a bit more professional would do that."

"Right. And all we have to do is follow it and we should find the right exit." The thought of getting out of these damn passageways has never been more welcome. It isn't even a long way, now that there's light again from the bit of wood Quistis lit with a fire spell. Squall finds a small lever in the wall that we'd never have noticed in the dark, and a part of the wall opens to let the light in.

"We probably passed this place quite a few times in the dark," Quistis says, dropping the still burning torch before the flames get down to her hand, "There's nothing but the lever to show that it's the exit."

"Probably in the original design of the place. It's hard to attack if you can't find the entrance and hard to come back and attack another day when you can't find the exit," Squall agrees with her, looking around. "I think we're about a mile away from where Medea and the others will be waiting."

"We won't get there before night," Quistis says, worriedly. "Maybe we should call for reinforcements from Garden."

"To the Ragnarok first, then. We need to call Garden before we can do anything else, and then we should stock up."

I don't know about them, but I think the most important part is not what we'll do when we get to the Ragnarok, but finding the Ragnarok at all. "Whoa, you two. Do you have any idea which direction the Ragnarok is actually in? There's no landmarks here, remember?"

Quistis smiles slightly, "Technology is a wonderful thing. All registered SeeDs have these for missions now, thanks to Estharian technology and President Loire's kindness." She pulls something out of her pocket to show me; a locator. "It took a while to get the system installed, but a squad leader's locator keeps an eye on all members of his or her squad. Squall's keeps tabs on all SeeDs, since he's the Commander. We'll be able to find Selphie, Zell and Irvine with this, even if they've been moved."

Of course. Garden has used its ties with Esthar to its advantage. I'd never have been able to disobey orders with such style back when I was a cadet if these things had been in use back then.

"Come on," Squall says, already starting to walk. I follow slightly behind him, anticipating a long and extremely boring walk. At least it's a nice view.

Zell POV

Darkness fell about an hour ago, as my stomach is constantly reminding me. I must have missed at least two meals by now and I don't like it one bit. The traitors haven't deigned to feed us, although the girl has stopped pointing a gun at us every two minutes. We can talk, quietly, but none of us feel much like it. Selphie managed to slip me a potion earlier, and I appreciate the effort although it hasn't helped much with my aching head. Everyone seems to be waiting, which just makes my stomach rumble even more with hunger and some kind of nerves. We must be waiting for Squall, Seifer and Quistis to get back. I hope they're okay, and I hope they aren't going to be caught in this trap.

I've long given up trying to concentrate and eavesdrop on our captors, so I'm lying back against this highly uncomfortable rock with my eyes closed when I hear the little clicks of handcuffs being released. "Ssh," Selphie says, and then her hands are on my handcuffs, freeing me. "They're not looking right now, but lay still. Squall is here, with reinforcements."

Irvine is asleep, his hat over his face, since someone found it for him earlier. The world could tumble around us, and Irvine would still have his bloody hat. I nudge him to wake him up as Selphie climbs across as quietly as she can. "Wait for Squall's signal," she whispers, but there's no point in that as a girl in the camp cries out, a black gloved hand going over her mouth as Squall, Seifer, Quistis and the few reinforcements from Garden attack.

"The Commander!"

Seifer restrains her for only a moment before getting sick of her struggles, letting go of her for a brief moment and rapping her smartly on the head with the hilt of Hyperion, "Shut up, you little whining bitch." He looks up at us, grinning, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Squall rolls his eyes as he knocks out another one, disarming her as well. "Are you three okay?"

I stand up, a little too fast, feeling dizzy. "My head hurts."

"Not surprising, considering how often you get hit," Quistis says, looking amused. "We're not going to attack tonight, so don't worry, you'll get a chance to get some revenge."

"I'd better do," I mumble, rubbing my head.

"You let Medea get away!" Selphie says, bouncing up, about to run after her. Even watching her energy makes my head hurt right now.

"That's all part of the plan, so you can relax. Come on; let's get back to the Ragnarok."

The reinforcements turn out to be well stocked with magic, casting curaga on all three of us and offering their support on the way back to the Ragnarok. A couple more spells and a hot dog later, I feel fine, though I keep quieter than usual as the others speak, my head still hurting a little when I get too energetic.

"Medea fled, and we assume she fled into the base, since the only punishment for treachery is death or life imprisonment," Squall says, putting his locator in the middle of the table. "She's stupid enough not to have ditched her locator, so we know where she is. It doesn't matter much that she knows where we are, because we can just leave our locators behind when we attack. They won't be expecting it, hopefully."

"Just don't forget your balls of wool," Seifer mutters, leaning back in his chair.

Quistis and Squall both laugh, lightly. "We aren't going to get lost in that maze again, either."

"Maze?" Selphie asks, tilting her head to one side.

Seifer sighs quietly, rubbing the scar between his eyes thoughtfully. "We were lost in a great big maze because we decided that we'd do the clever thing and completely avoid the trap, in which you were the bait."

Quistis nods, "I'm not so sure now that it was a trap. I think the main trap, at least, was the maze. They weren't expecting us to find a way out."

"In a way, Medea helped us there," Squall agrees. He stands up, looking at Seifer with a small smile, "Early bedtime for us all, I think. We'll attack quite early in the morning so make sure you get enough sleep and are stocked up."

"Yes, sir," Quistis and Selphie chorus, to Squall's displeased look. Seifer gets up, and they both leave together, the door shutting behind them.

"Are there any more hot dogs?" I ask, hopefully.