Author's Notes: WOO! I got my computer back, so I am back to writing again! Sorry about the extremely long delay, but combining the facts I had to fix my computer myself, dealing with the school musical, and school midterms… I really did not have much time for myself. Anyway, enjoy the chapter… and enjoy my two original character additions. I thought it might be nice to have them in here, just as comedy relief. Well, right now, they only make one appearance. I might just make more appearances of the characters (or even make them official characters) if I feel like it.

Chapter 7

Relief, Release... the boy of fire.

"Shit!"

Frog jumped up when he heard Cid shout the expletive. Cid had been vehemently expressing his thoughts under his break in the most profane way Frog had ever seen. Cid's "speech" was morbidly fascinating to the creature, which had rarely heard anyone use such obscene words in as large of a quantity as was being expressed now. The stream of words reminded Frog of a babbling brook. The words just issued out quickly and noticeably, as water would run down a stream.

However, on the other hand, it seemed Vincent was not as amused or pleased with Cid's tirade. After Cid shouted the expletive, Vincent turned to Cid and blandly said, "I know you're under stress, but shut up."

Cid said, "Well, sorry Mr. I-Have-No-Emotions! Not everyone can take stress like you can."

Vincent glared at Cid for a short time before turning away and shaking his head. He knew that one of these days Cid's mouth was definitely going to get him in trouble. Tifa, it seemed, was being rather quiet during this whole ordeal. Even Cait Sith seemed to keep his silence. Everyone knew that every one of them were in deep trouble, but it seemed only Cid was the one being vocal about it.

Finally, after a seemingly endless trek across the field, the group arrived at an encampment. Each of the group were forced to go inside one of the tents, tied up, and had their weapons taken away from them. Tifa smiled at Cloud, who nodded back at her. Already, Cloud was starting to formulate a perfect escape plan in his head. All he needed to make sure of was that Tifa was fast and strong enough to break her bindings.

As if on a cue of bad luck, a soldier came in and took Cloud out so the leader of this ragtag army could interrogate him. A few of the escorts blindfolded Cloud and took to one of the tents in the area. However, he was unsure as to which one they were taking him.

Cid looked at Tifa and said, "Damn, damn, damn! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna fucking die!"

Vincent finally snapped and said, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut your goddamn mouth you pansy!"

Sighing in exasperation, Tifa said, "Break it up, you two. This is not the best of times to be fighting among ourselves."

Giving each other one last death glare, the two ceased their argument and turned away from each other. Tifa shook her head and muttered, "Kids… I don't know what's wrong with these kids today. Well, they're older than me, but they act like kids."

Frog, who silent during the bickering, was intently focused on the exit where Cloud left. He muttered under his breath, "Let the wind guide you, young one."

Meanwhile, Cloud had just been un-blindfolded. He looked around himself, taking in his new surroundings. It seemed he was in an office of some sort. He saw a purple-haired man sitting down on the desk near him. He said, "I am Magnus Gallant, General of the Palatinian Army. A reliable source has informed me that you are working with denizens of the Netherworld. I was also informed that the green, frog-like creature you were traveling with just happens to be one of them."

Cloud looked at the general but did not reply right away. He looked Magnus over clearly before slowly saying, "And what if we're not?"

Magnus laughed and said, "Coming out of a blood-red portal near your companion, hopefully to avoid him getting caught with you? You two seemingly fight to throw off any spies. Not many people have the inhuman strength that you two did. Only a fair few humans and denizens of the Netherworld to be exact."

Cloud replied, "Your point is?"

Magnus laughed and said, "Playing stupid is not going to help you. For as long as you don't confess, we will torture your so-called friends until one of us tells us the truth."

In the tent, Cid said, "This is getting weirder by the minute."

Tifa said, "The truth is sometimes stranger than fiction."

Back at the office, Cloud said, "Simply put, you are I go free with the truth."

Magnus' officer, who was hidden in the shadows, stepped out. He was wearing heavy, golden-colored armor and was wielding a spear. He didn't seem that old either. In fact, he seemed younger than Cloud did. He looked at Cloud in the eye and said, "No lies. We'll let you go… depending on if your story is true or not."

Cloud sighed and said, "We come from a parallel universe. This blood-red portal pulled us here by some kind of weird accident. Frog, our green companion, became caught up in this whole affair as well. He was separated from his friends; so now we are looking for them as well as a way back him."

The officer took his spear, poked cloud, and exclaimed, "I said no lies!"

Magnus said, "I don't think he's lying. The Netherworld is a parallel universe. The blood-red portal is their portal here. Their accomplice was caught up in this whole affair. Perhaps, he was an unwilling person who was chosen for this task. He was separated from his regiment. Now, they are looking for a way back. That means that they are looking for a way to accomplish their mission. When they do that, they can finally return home. You have to read between the lines, Troi."

Cloud sighed and said, "Suit yourself. I told you my story; you just interpreted it wrong."

Magnus said, "Why don't you prove that you're not from the Netherworld?"

Cloud said, "And how, Mr. General, can I do that?"

Troi said, "Join the revolutionary army, and help us clear the rest of the Netherworld scum."

Cloud said, "Tempting offer, but we have to find our way home."

Troi grinned and replied, "You're acting as if you had a choice in the matter."

Cloud said, "You could just kill me. Put an innocent person to death to accomplish your goals."

Magnus said, "Enough, both of you. Troi, leave the tent. I shall speak to this person al—"

A sudden explosion was heard outside, and screaming could be heard. The tent that Cloud was currently located suddenly heated up to a very high temperature, probably from the commotion that was occurring outside.

Cid said, "Damn, it's like someone set the temperature to 'burn, bitch, burn!'"

Tifa said, "Will you shut up?"

A guard ran into the tent and said, "Prisoners, we are under attack. The attackers are denizens of the Netherworld. It seems like your partners in crime are looking for you."

Magnus appeared behind the guard with Cloud and said, "Let them go. They are innocent."

The guard sputtered for a second, unable to believe what he heard. He finally said, "Okay general."

The guard walked in and unlocked everyone, distracted only for a second by Cait Sith. Magnus said, "Okay, listen up. We are under attack by two possible members of the Netherworld. I have assigned all of you to help defeat them and save the camp. Complete this task, and I shall deem you innocent."

Tifa said, "That's it? Can we get our weapons and materia back?"

Magnus pointed to a corner, where a chest seemed to just sit there. He replied, "Yes, you can have it back."

Cloud said, "Is everyone ready?"

Cid said, "How many times must I say this? You are a damn wimp! Say it like a man!"

Cloud sighed and looked at Cid. He cleared his throat and said, "Move out!"

As everyone got their equipment, Liedel Klein was doing battle with the intruders. She looked at the two in front of her and said, "Who are you, and how many more are coming?"

One of the two, who seemed to be nothing more than a teenage boy, replied, "Who are you to ask of my name? I'm here with my dog right here. As far as I know, we're alone"

The girl said, "What is your purpose?"

The boy said, "Well, short-term is to burn down this shit-hole of a camp. Honestly, you have no security or anything. Long-term is to get back home. These damn blood-red portals came out of nowhere and claimed my friends. At least two came out of nowhere."

Liedel said, "What is yo—"

She paused in mid-sentence as the boy conjured a fireball and threw it at her. She quickly ducked to the ground and it whizzed over her. He laughed and said, "You're quite flexible and fast, and you're a blonde. Hmm…"

The boy grinned to himself as he stared at the archer. The dog looked up to him and, after a few seconds, bit him hard on the leg. A voice was projected into Liedel's mind, "Sorry for the inconvenience. It seems he can't stay dedicated to his girlfriend."

The boy said, "I'm not an exclusive man. I can go around if I damn well please."

The voice once again projected, "You are a stubborn fool." He looked at Liedel and said, "Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Rufius. You may be wondering how I am communicating with you. It seems that I can connect myself to your feeble mind through telepathy. This boy here prefers to be called Flame."

Liedel pulled her bow, nocked an arrow, and said, "Enough."

Flame smiled and slowly said, "Ooh, bad girl. Wanna play with me?"

Once again, Rufius bit Flame on the leg, who jumped in pain and swore at the dog. While the commotion was going on, Liedel let the arrow fly at the dog.

Cloud, Tifa, and the rest of the group arrived in time to see the arrow shot. Rufius heard the whistling and turned toward the arrow. A split-second later, the arrow stopped in mid-air, as if it was just frozen there. He said, "Chronokinesis. It is a powerful tool. And that's one of my four main powers."

Tifa muttered, "Time control. That's quite a power to be facing."

Cloud said, "Whatever."

Meanwhile, Rufius said to Liedel, "You bore us. Come on Flame, we need to find a way home before that deranged girl takes it over again."

Flame said, "Let me have my fun. There's music to play, places to go, and people to see. I'm sure that even though we are in another world, there are quite a few hot chicks here. I mean, check out that archer…"

Rufius said, "And if you keep that up, you're going to get an arrow shoved in a place where the sun doesn't shine."

Flame pouted and sullenly said, "You're such a bastard… you're no fun at all."

Rufius playfully said, "I am not a bastard. I'm not even a bitch. I'm a male dog."

Flame groaned at Rufius. It was a bad pun, and they both knew it. He said, "Your puns begin to annoy me. They're so stupid."

Tifa, seeing the opportunity muttered to no one in particular, "Have a taste of Fire 3."

She held out the materia and shot out a great blast of fire at the two. Immediately, Flame jumped in front of the attack and absorbed the fire.

Liedel looked over to the group and said, "Netherworld scum! You escaped!"

Tifa thought, "Mental note… don't EVER use a fire attack on a fire enchanter."

Cloud calmly replied, "We were set free by your general. We are not from the Netherworld, and you can get your general to confirm it. Neither are these two. I can tell from the way they converse with each other and with you that they are in the same problem we are."

Liedel replied, "They attacked us."

Cloud said, "An irresponsible action that we shall now punish."

Flame looked over and said, "You're gonna punish me. Which one of you was nice enough to heal me?"

Tifa walked forward and said, "I'm right here."

Flame leered at Tifa for a second before saying, "You healed me. Can you make me a happy boy? Punish me all you want."

Rufius groaned to himself and said, "Flame, you know I'm going to tell Liz about this, right?"

Flame said, "Okay, okay, I'll stop. Geez, are you sure you aren't the one with the arrow stuck in the Hershey Highway?"

Tifa said, "And where do you think you two are going?"

Flame said, "Home. Where else?"

Rufius sarcastically said, "A bathroom."

Flame said, "Goodbye."

With that farewell, the two disappeared into the air. Tifa said, "Well, well, idiots galore. It seemed that it took too much energy for that bastard to look me in the face."

Cloud said, "Well, we must be going now."

Liedel looked at Cloud, with an untrusting look in her eye. She said, "It will take a while for our camp to rebuild. Our general requests, if it is not too much too much to ask, to set some traps around the area."

Cloud sighed and replied, "Sure, I guess a few net traps and a few pitfalls and net traps will be enough to slow down an enemy and warn you of them.

Liedel looked carefully before smiling. She thanked the group and reported to the leader's tent. By the time an hour passed, traps were set on three sides of the camp. The fourth side was open for the guards to watch, and for the army to move out when ready.

Magnus looked at Cloud and said, "I, on behalf of the Revolutionary Army, apologize for all the misunderstandings and mistreatment you had. You are welcome back to Palatinus, should anything be needed from us for you."

Cloud nodded at Magnus and said, "Likewise. Hire us if you need help at all."

Magnus said, "If it's any help at all, we found a portal similar to the one you went through. It could be possible that it's the one those two came from."

Cloud replied, "Where is it?"

Magnus replied, "North. Follow the path that you didn't trap, and eventually you'll reach it."

Cloud bowed in reply and said, "Thank you very much."

Yuffie jumped up and said, "Yeah! Let's go!"

Cloud looked and said, "You didn't steal anything, did you?"

Yuffie said, "Nothing good here for me to steal anyway."

Cloud shook his head and said, "You shouldn't steal… regardless of if the stuff is good or not."

Yuffie replied, "Aww, but Cloud!"

Cloud replied, "That's final. We don't need trouble in other worlds."

Frog saluted Magnus and said, "Fare thee well young warrior. May fate smile upon us to once again meet. Perhaps we shall test our swordplay against each other. May thy sword hold true until then."

Magnus returned the salute and said, "Likewise."

With that note, the group set off along the trail to find the portal that might lead them home.