~Vincent~

My eyes burn against their dryness, snapping them closed when tears flood back through my ducts. An unforgiving tension fills my lungs as air enters them once more. I wince, clasping my wrist against the power radiating beneath the skin. Blood red light filters through my fingers before it finally subsides.

"So," I mumble hoarsely before willing my saliva to moisten my throat. I press my fist against the lid of my coffin, the hinges creaking as it opens and fresh air floods into the box with me. Sitting up, I glance around taking in my surroundings. "It is time then," I say aloud, gripping the rim of my box before pulling myself over the edge. I crash down on the floor beside the pedestal my coffin sits, my limbs failing to recall their functions. A sigh slips past my lips when I push myself up from the ground, standing for the first time in who knows how long. I lean against the coffin, grasping my wrist while I take a better look around the room I am in. Red velvet curtains line the stone walls, the occasional candle sconce hangs unlit. Given the cleanliness of the room, I decide I must have been moved here recently, or someone is in charge of the upkeep. Flicking my hand upwards, the sconces ignite, lighting all the candles at once. An orb on my opposite arm lights up when I force the fire to light the sconces, the materia weakening after its use is done.

"Oh!" A timid voice squeaks behind me, dropping some sort of tube she was once holding to the ground. I stare at her hungrily, feeling urges I hadn't felt in ages come to life. "Mr. Valentine! You're awake!" she breathes, bending to retrieve whatever it is she dropped. She holds it up in front of her before slowly stepping towards me. "Here, this is for you. It- It's time for your feeding," she sputters out, tensing up more with every step. My eyes narrowed to slits, teeth baring themselves when I sneer.

"Feeding?" I question her, enjoying every drop of fear oozing out of her. I notice I seem to be better at movements after waking up this time compared to others, but was that because not as much time has passed, or something else? The girl quickly nods, gesturing to my arm before a shaky hand reaches out towards my cloak. I grip her wrist between two of my fingers, gaining a squeak and stopping her from going any further as my nose catches a familiar scent. Her fingers are gripping a syringe of blood, but something in the blood smelled...off.

"It's animal blood. Rats, mostly, since we have them here for studying. I am required to come down here daily and inject you with some to maintain your… well, you," she explains quickly, eyeing her wrist in my fingers. I release her and snatch the syringe out of her hand. Tilting my head backwards, I push the plunger and drain the blood into my mouth, calming my cravings a bit before the liquid disappears all too quickly. Handing the needle back to her, I press my finger against my lips as I swallow the remaining drops.

"Here's what you're going to do miss," I glance down on her white coat and see embroidery above her heart. "Odine Laboratories. You're going to get a lot more of this blood and bring it to me, then you're going to tell me where I am, do you understand?" Her forehead creases as her gaze looks down to where I glanced to find her name. She releases a chuckle, looking back into my eyes with a nervous smile.

"Oh, no, I'm Dr. Odine's assistant. That's not my name, that's where you are." She places her finger on the embroidery. "See? Odine Laboratories. You're in Dr. Odine's laboratory here in Esthar." I stare at her while my mind tries to recall a place called Esthar in the past. The girl notices my hesitation, waving her hand as she slides the syringe into her pocket. "Which you don't remember Esthar because there wasn't an Esthar where you're from, right?" She shakes her head, internally scolding herself for being so naive. Slowly she steps back to the door, promising to bring more blood as quickly as possible before promptly turning and leaving the way she came. I remain in place, staring around the room I am in. It looks almost identical to my room from my home, did they transport it here? Or did this lab get built where my home used to be? Seems like a lot of effort to make to keep someone like me comfortable while I sleep. My wrist burns once again causing me to wince and squeeze the bones beneath my fingers. I hiss at the pain while my heart begins to grow heavy, knowing what it means.

"Soon, old friend," I whisper, rubbing my wrist with the palm of my hand. "Let me find out where we are and when we are first."

~Squall~

I gasp, fingers still tingling where they were pressed against his face. "Prompto," I mutter, fluttering my eyes closed as I will his image to return to me; the warmth of his skin on my fingers, the weight of his body in my arms, the smell of gunpowder and leather that filled my nostrils. I can almost taste the blood sprayed on my face from the beast we were battling again before a voice makes me crash back to reality.

"Squall?" Ellone whispers, gently resting her hand on my arm. My eyes flicker open, focusing on her face seated on the floor beside the couch I am laying on. Her gaze is pained as she witnesses my unraveling, tears springing to my eyes without my permission. She drapes herself across my stomach, clinging to my shoulders in a hug for comfort while I attempt to fight the tears from falling. Why am I so upset, I wonder, feeling my heart crackle under an unknown weight that is making it heavy. Ellone leans back, letting me wipe my eyes as I sit up to face her.

"That was intense," she mentions as a way of explaining my tears, but we both know that isn't the cause of the sudden burst of emotion. I nod my head, agreeing with it for now until I can think more on it alone at a later point. I sigh, leaning back against the couch while I regain control. Ellone takes a seat beside me, resting her hand on my arm once again in comfort. "I did not recognize anything again, did you?" She asks me when I lower my hand from my eyes. I shake my head, focusing on the details we just witnessed.

"We have to go speak with Laguna," I decide, standing from the couch. Ellone grips my arm, keeping me from leaving the room. Glancing down at her, our eyes lock.

"Squall, you spoke to him," she says, watching me carefully. I nod once, remembering me telling him my name before it all ended.

"I controlled that Noctis person as well towards the end there," I trail off, refusing to let my emotions show again. Ellone stands up beside me, dropping her hand from my arm.

"Did Prompto see you?" Ellone asks me, wondering how much I was able to do. I shook my head, unsure of the answer myself and wishing there was more time to find out.

"I don't know, he only mentioned seeing my eyes. He's seen them before." Ellone nods, staring at me as if I hold some answers she is unaware of.

"I'm worried Squall, I've never been able to force change in another time. We've never been able to do that before."

"Or be able to be somewhere you aren't familiar with, or inside of someone you aren't familiar with," I agree with her, frowning. None of this made any sense. But, it often doesn't when it comes to Ellone and her abilities. One thing is certain though, I decide, turning towards the door. "We need to talk this over with Laguna," I say as we leave her room. I go over the details of what I saw while we head to the president's office, studying every moment for some sign of familiarity and coming up short. Nothing there looked like anywhere we've been. The vehicles were more advanced, the land was more sparse and the weapons…

"Come in," Laguna's voice sounds on the other side of the door before I open it, letting Ellone enter before I follow. Quistis and Kiros nod at our arrival as Laguna stands from behind his desk, coming over to Ellone to hug her. Quistis eyes me carefully, probably noticing my unusual mood or appearance.

"Well? How'd it go?" Laguna asks after releasing the girl, turning to smile at me. His smile falters when he sees my face, noticing the red rim of my eyes. He looks back at Ellone, scanning her for any similar features. Before he can ask, I dive into my explanation, informing them of the unusual time and place the group was located at and how the surroundings appeared.

"The vehicles are far more advanced than ours are, practically driving themselves. And the fiends…" I trail off when I suddenly think of the bandersnatch we fought, remembering Prompto getting slammed into the boulder causes me to wince.

"They were abnormally large. Quite larger than anything fought here," Ellone finishes my sentence when she sees me falter. She places her hand on my arm, urging my consciousness back into the room. "Tell them about the weapons too, Squall," she directs my thoughts which I nod my thanks for her help.

"Their weapons materialized out of thin air, gigantic greatswords, handguns, daggers and standard swords just appearing in their hands when they will them to. I have seen them with weapons before, but they already had them in hand. This is the first time I witnessed how they drew them to themselves."

"And Noctis could throw his weapon in any direction at any distance and he himself would disappear and reappear wherever the weapon landed, materializing in the same way the weaponry did." Ellone mentions in awe. It truly all seems like something out of a movie, one that only Ellone and I could watch. Or sometimes participate in, I think to myself with a shiver.

"So, what were they doing? Just fighting fiends?" Quistis asks, her finger pressing against the edge of her glasses. Her stance reminds me of Ignis, making me flash a smile before I answer her.

"They were told by someone that they weren't ready to face the man that destroyed their home, claiming they were missing pieces and needed to return to the start, which is their home. A kingdom called Lucis, or Insomnia," I trail off when I think of the memories I made Noctis recall of their encounter with the spirit guiding them. Glancing over to Ellone, she watches me knowing what I'm about to say.

"The person that told them to return is a spirit named Gentiana, someone that aids their oracle and is a clairvoyant." I look to Ellone, waiting for her to continue since I also heard her own memories while we were connected. Ellone sighs, turning to face the others. "She is the same voice I heard while I was unconscious in Odine's lab, warning me of something coming." Laguna's eyes widen, leaning against his desk in front of Ellone. Quistis slowly nods as she begins to pace.

"So, someone that is a spirit is speaking with you and speaking with them. A spirit would be able to speak to each of you no matter what time difference there is, and she's clairvoyant, so she's warning all of you about something coming. Any idea what it is?" She questions the girl when she stops in front of her, her arms resting on her stomach. Ellone shakes her head, trying to remember exactly what the voice told her.

"She said I need to keep an eye out for something called Umbra. That when I see it I have to follow it to receive my answers." Quistis nods slowly as we all fall silent. Eventually, she throws her arms up and faces me.

"I don't think we have enough to figure anything out just yet. None of this is really making any sense, other than some spirit is trying to help us and/or help them by reaching out to you, Ellone. We aren't even sure if we should trust her or not."

"Or sure if we shouldn't trust her either," Ellone counters as she shakes her head. I shrug at them, growing more agitated at the need to see Prompto taking precedence over anything else at this point in my mind.

"We can't jump to any conclusions yet. Not until we think everything over. Maybe we should wait on making any decisions until after we've discussed it with the others," I offer as the door to the office swishes open.

"Hey guys!" Selphie chirps, waving vigorously with Rinoa on her arm giggling. Irvine, Zell and Seifer follow the girls into the room, clearly amused by their actions until they see the looks on our faces.

"Whoa, what'd we miss," Seifer asks, staring into my eyes. I turn back towards Laguna, placing a hand on my hip while the other pinches the bridge of my nose.

"Will you ask someone to bring up some coffee please? Tell them to bring a few pots."